Long Way Up - Harley LiveWire electric motorcycles

This time,Ewan McGregor (StarWarsObi-Wan Kenobi,Trainspotting, etc) and Charley Boorman ride from thetip of South America up to Los Angeles on modified Harley Davidson's LiveWire electric motorcycles. Also of interest are thesupport EVs provided byRivian.

Official Trailer:


It seems they have a diesel van with solar panels on the roof to provide backup charging? And atruck carrying a huge diesel generator as a backup-backup?
Their previous trips (Long Way Around, Long Way down) are also totally worth watching!

Interesting. I couldn't tell what they had a chase vehicle other than they were electric trucks. *quick google search* Ok, Ford EV trucks. They must of had several different types of electric adapters to charge the trucks. Maybe they had solar, I dunno. I didn't see any. As far as diesel generator, not sure either. I would doubt it though because it would go against what they were saying they were trying to accomplish. Do the route using electric. Maybe they'd have a small genny for emergency power, tho, but not for regular charging. I would think anyways.
Would be interesting to see the documentary either way



Hahah
Ewan: I'm an actor
Lady: What movie were you in?
Ewan: Did anyone see....... Star Wars?!
*crickets*

LOL

They're very light on technical details, possibly playing upissues for dramatic effect... or it's not interesting to the average viewer...or playing nice with their sponsors. I'm sure we'll find out more eventually, but this is what I could dig up for now.

From an interview:

There was also a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van accompanying the trucks, which was customised to help with recharging. We put a big solar panel on it, and so when the Rivians stopped they would just open the solar panel and charge batteries, Charley said.

Click to expand...

Mercedes van:
EP2, 7min in: shows actuators tilting the array. 6 largish panels... 2kWp?
EP2, 30min in:ashort sequence showing the vanin action. Seems the system could not be used to charge the motorcycles... mentions something about fuses.




EP3, beginning:
They had issues charging at the lodge in the middle of nowhere, socalled in the truck with the generator. Judging by how quickly they arrived, and the charging equipment already attached, they must have had the truck on standby. Looks like an Olympian 65kVA generator? Certainly need something that big if they needed to charge the Rivians within a reasonable amount of time.




EP3, 26min in: different truck/generator. So perhaps they contracted standby trucks+generatorat certain locations without dependable charging stations?

Nice. I only saw the demo video you posted in the OP.

It would be smart to pre-allocate generator trucks along the route in case of issues. No sense in taking one with them as it's extra fuel costs, which they are trying to offset.

Nice with the van setup. They may have gotten ideas from the other people who did cross country in a VW buss with fold out panels.