What 1,400 miles in an electric van taught me about range anxiety

Samsara co-sponsored Speedy Hire's entry in EV Rally 2026. Below, Kristopher Parkes, fleet manager and ESG business partner at Speedy Hire, shares his week on the road in his own words.

Would you feel comfortable sending an electric van out on a 1,400 mile trip across the UK? If your first reaction is “no way, it’d never make it the whole journey”, then what you’re about to read may surprise you. 

Last month, I completed my fourth EV Rally. Every year, a convoy of electric vehicles heads out across Britain’s roads, over dales, mountain passes and motorways, to test the limits of their range. It’s the best possible rejoinder to the ‘FUD’ (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) that still hampers EV uptake among fleets. 

As an EV evangelist and a very competitive person, I can’t turn down the  chance to prove how far EVs can travel under real-world conditions - and to push it as far as it can go. So what could be more fun than 1,400 miles, Devon to Northumberland via Snowdonia, and then down to London, all in five days, in an electric van? 

I set off to Exeter on the Sunday, and jumped into a Ford E-Transit Custom (double cab, Sport specification) decked out in snazzy Samsara branding, because travelling in style is almost as important as travelling sustainably. This year, I had Samsara devices in the cab to capture some data from the journey. Here’s how it all went. 

The EV Rally in numbers: how efficiency held up on motorways and mountain passes

I'm a numbers guy, and I like to know exactly what I’ve achieved against a goal. So here’s what Samsara told me about my time on the EV Rally. My stats might not be perfect, but I’m not afraid to show them. 

My longest day on the road came in at around 304 miles according to Samsara telemetry, with four hours 53 minutes behind the wheel on a mix of A-roads and motorways, plus the obligatory Birmingham traffic jam. I averaged 3.4 miles per kWh, which I think is very respectable. A quick 30-minute charge was all it took to get my battery back up to 90%. 

Then there were the scenic routes over rougher territory: 240 miles at 3.1 miles per kWh up through Llanberis Pass and past Peckforton Castle. Given the climbs involved, I'm happy with these numbers. 

What Samsara coaching taught me about my driving

The Samsara dual-facing dash cam and Vehicle Gateway were there to capture the journey and coach me if I displayed any risky behaviours. I didn't expect to need coaching, but it’s a good job the kit was installed. In the first couple of days, they flagged me four times for too-close following distances. Four. For someone who likes to think he's a decent driver, that stung.

My ego bruised, I watched the footage back. Seeing it from the camera's point of view made me think through the worst case: if the vehicle in front had braked hard at that exact moment, would I have stopped in time? Up to then, I'd only been asking myself whether I felt too close. The footage opened up the uncomfortable realities of these all-too-common driving behaviours, which I’ll be keeping in mind.

After that, I moved to a two-car gap on cruise control, and made a point of holding the same gap when I drove without it.

Every now and then, I'd catch myself creeping over the limit slightly, maybe doing 32 in a 30, and quickly bringing it back down. I’d love to say that I clocked up zero speeding infringements after that point, but that wasn’t quite the case. 

Five infringements in total (and a face I won't forget)

After the run of following distance flags, I thought I'd kicked my close following habit. Then I ended up tailgating an HGV with a giant smiley face logo on its rear shutter door, and that was infringement number five. After all that work on my following distance, it was heartbreaking. That smiling livery just seemed to taunt me.

I've left Samsara running in my own Ford E-Transit Custom Sport ever since, about 1,600 miles on the default safety settings. It’s helped me keep my following distance honest.

The moments that stuck with me most: a good deed and a fire fact

At heart, the EV Rally is a big get-together. There’s a sense of camaraderie that brings out the best in people and makes you want to help each other out. At one point, some of the lorries out on the rally couldn’t find anywhere safe to park overnight. We got them back to Speedy Hire HQ and set them all up with a secure spot. 

At one point on the route, I sat in on a fire safety seminar, and what I heard is worth passing on. There’s a common myth out there that EVs are particularly prone to catching fire. In fact, the firefighters there told us that they only see roughly one EV fire for every 20 fires in vehicles with internal combustion engines. If an EV does catch fire, the main practical difference in their response is that they need to use a lot more water, and the vehicle will need close monitoring because the batteries carry a greater risk of reigniting later. 

I’m sharing what I heard in order to present a more accurate picture of the actual risks of electrification.  

My advice to any fleet manager thinking about EVs

Don't decide on hearsay, and double check any factoids you hear. Talk to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and lease providers, get a vehicle on trial, and check out any industry webinars, events and other resources.

Don't try to electrify everything overnight, either. Start with the vehicles that make sense, prove the business case, then expand. The more data you can get to support your case as you go along, the better.  

EVs put a smile on your face

1,400 miles, five following-distance infringements, zero speeding, some new facts about fire safety, and a group of HGVs with a safe place to park for the night. Not bad for a journey in a van that people told me couldn’t handle long distances.  

Looking back on it all, I can say with confidence that EVs put a smile on your face. Even that lorry I got stuck behind was grinning.

Kristopher drove EV Rally 2026 with a Samsara dual-facing Dash Cam and Vehicle Gateway, connected to the Samsara Connected Operations® Platform. Learn more about Samsara safety solutions here.