Range Rover Hybrids press ahead on Silk Trail route to Mumbai

A trio of Range Rover Hybrid prototypes is well on its way to India on a 9,950-mile endurance drive through 12 countries. Land Rover is following the old Silk Trail to the east, but while it took ancient merchants months to complete the route, the Land Rover Hybrid team will be doing it in just 53 days.

The Silk Trail is a historical network of trade routes which connected Asia with Europe and the Mediterranean, and got its name from the Chinese silk which was a lucrative trade item well into the 14th century.

The expedition from Land Rover's home in Solihull, England to Mumbai, India departed on Aug. 22, and will travel overland for more than seven weeks, for a predicted Oct. 15 arrival. The Range Rover Hybrid prototypes on the expedition employ 47-hp electric motors paired with V6 diesel engines, which kick in at urban speeds to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

Expedition leader Dougie Dale said, "We are delighted with progress so far, but the European leg is the easy part with good road networks -- this has allowed us to use the Hybrid system to great effect predominantly in urban areas."

Land Rover
The city centers of Eastern Europe are far behind now.

And if there is one thing we've learned from watching TV shows about expeditions like these, you're more likely to run out of gas while sitting and waiting hours on end at border crossings than you are on some European autoroute. Crossing European Union borders is no problem, but when the expedition starts to go through border crossings in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, that's when we're really going to see the crews and the cars truly tested as they jockey for positions in mile-long waiting lines made up of hundreds of trucks. So far the expedition has made stops in London, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Berlin, and most recently in Krakow in Poland, where the Range Rover Hybrids encountered some serious urban traffic.

The expedition is taking this journey seriously, and it's not lost on anyone that the European part of the journey is the easier leg of the route. And the Range Rover Hybrids are filled to the top with heavy duty expedition gear. So far the expedition has covered the U.K., France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, and is now in Russia, with another 35 days worth of driving remaining.

But the difficult leg of the trip starts now.

By Jay Ramey