Range Rover Hybrid Silk Trail Expedition Reaches Mumbai

The Silk Trail expedition team set out from Solihull, UK, the main home of Land Rover, on August 22nd. The destination was Mumbai, India, where the headquarters of Tata Motors, parent company of Land Rover, is located.

Over the next 53 days the team passed through 13 countries, covering a distance of 10,472 miles or 16,853 kms.

The team consisted of three Range Rover Diesel Hybrid SUVs, along with four support vehicles.

The convoy travelled via France, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China (including Tibet), Nepal, finally reaching India on October 14th.

For most part of their journey the Range Rovers traced the centuries old trading route known as Silk Road that connected Europe with Asia.

The Silk Trail is the world's first ever hybrid vehicle expedition along the Silk Road and "one of the boldest driving adventures ever pursued by Land Rover."

During the journey the man and machine has to endure temperatures that ranged from -10 degree celsius to 43 degree celsius.

Not to mention, extremely tough terrain of all sorts. "Asphalt roads riddled with vast and deep potholes, dusty & hot desert trails and numerous miles of mud and gravel tracks and cattle trails."

The team even had to traverse through perilous mountain passes, river crossings and endure the thin air at extremely high altitudes.

For an entire week the team had to endure altitudes between 3,350 and 5,379 metres above sea level where the atmospheric oxygen level is as low as 10 percent.

Driving on China's Xinjiang-Tibet highway, located at an altitude of over 5,300 meters, the Range Rover Hybrids became the first foreign-registered cars to travel that route.

Range Rover Hybrid SUV is powered by a TDV6 3.0 liter turbo diesel engine, aided by a 35 kW electric motor.

The electric motors compensated for the engines which can underperform due to lack of oxygen, enabling the team to carry heavy loads.

Inspite of the rough journey the Range Rover Hybrids managed to typically deliver a fuel economy of 15.3 km/l to 15.7 km/l.

Challenges faced by the team were mostly minor and consisted of "15 punctures among the expedition's three Range Rover Hybrid and four support vehicles, four wheels damaged by deep potholes, and four windscreens cracked by stones thrown-up on loose surfaces."

The Range Rover Hybrids were also fitted with data loggers which transmitted some 300 gigabytes of detailed technical records to the engineering team at Gaydon in the UK.

The data collected will be used streamline the functioning of various components such as engine and transmission software to "ensure perfectly seamless performance in all terrains and extreme temperatures and altitudes."

Peter Richings, Jaguar Land Rover Hybrids and Electrification Director who took part in the final leg from Jaipur to Mumbai commented: "The world's first diesel hybrid expedition along the Silk Trail pioneered an ambitious route across Europe and Asia that would have been impassable to most other types of vehicle - but no matter how hostile the conditions, the Range Rover Hybrid prototypes took it all in their stride.

"In developing the hybrid-powered Range Rover, our objective was to gain hybrid's fuel economy and carbon emissions advantages without compromising the Range Rover's go-anywhere capabilities, its cabin space or its refinement. The success of this remarkable expedition clearly demonstrates we have achieved that."