Watt Rally 2027 to allow EVs with less than 300 km range
The Watt Rally 2027 runs from 8 to 17 June, taking up to 100 teams in fully electric cars from Amsterdam across the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway to Hemsedal. The route covers nearly 3,000 kilometres in ten days.
Range remains one of the main worries for electric holiday travel or multi-country journeys. Battery size is only one element; charger availability, charging speed, route design and daily-stage organisation also determine whether longer trips succeed.
To let cars with less than 300 km of claimed range join, planners are cataloguing every fast charger on the itinerary. The chosen path will keep the maximum gap between fast-charging points at 200 km and will include alternate sites so teams are not dependent on any single station.
The rally is not a speed or range contest. Its purpose is to show that vehicles of different capacities can complete the identical route when the number, duration and location of charging stops are adjusted to each car. The emphasis stays on tourism for couples, families and groups exploring new landscapes.
Teams decide their own charging stops according to the vehicle’s range, charging rate and preferred travel pace. Participants therefore do not have to charge at the same places or at the same times.
At an average consumption of 20 kWh per 100 km the 3,000 km journey requires roughly 600 kWh. First calculations indicate 12 to 15 charging sessions, each lasting 20 to 35 minutes depending on the vehicle and the charger’s power.
On a ten-day schedule many of these sessions can take place during meals, visits, rest periods or overnight stops, turning charging into part of the normal rhythm rather than a separate interruption.
“With the Watt Rally we want to show that a long trip with an electric car does not depend solely on battery capacity. Equally important are route planning, the existing infrastructure and the way teams design the individual stages. This way, charging can become a natural part of the road trip instead of being perceived as an obstacle,” explained organiser Jeoffrey Decoupigny.
Volunteer teams will record actual energy use, number of charges, time spent at stations, energy costs, real-world ranges on each stage and any difficulties met. Provided enough complete and comparable records are gathered, the Access Organisation Group intends to publish an evaluation after the event that illustrates how different-range vehicles managed the journey and offers practical reference points for future long-distance electric travel.
Norway was chosen as the symbolic destination because its charging network already exceeded 11,000 fast points by June 2026, including sites in mountain regions and remote areas, allowing electric travel to combine with wide landscapes and panoramic roads.
