Tiny Citroëns Tackle Trans Africa Adventure

In 1924, company founder André Citroën set off from Paris to cross the entire African continent from top to bottom. It was the first time anyone had attempted to do this by car. That trip was called La Croisière Noire – the black crossing. Now Eric Vigouroux is set to celebrate the centenary of this epic drive with Citroen’s smallest electric vehicles.

Fittingly, (and more politically correct) it’s called La Croisière Verte – the Green Crossing. Ex-Dakar Rally pilot Vigouroux and his team have a similar mission to Citroën to prove the reliability of new technology. Their steeds for this adventure are the diminutive, electrically powered Citroen Ami. Four of these EVs will make the trip from Paris to Cape Town.

Their route hugs the west coast and will include stops in Senegal, Nigeria, Congo, Angola and Namibia visiting over a dozen countries in the process. The Amis have been upgraded to travel up to 250km on a full charge; a bit more than the 70km they offer as standard.

The quartet will carry all equipment, spare parts, tools, water and food aboard. They will also carry their own charging infrastructure ie 40 solar panels per car, which the team will use to recharge their cars, in essence making for zero emissions driving. We saw a Dutch couple do something similar last year. In fact, one of the driving team was an original member of the Dutch duo.

Although the team set off from the Paris Motor Show, the official start is on 28 October, the same date that Monsieur Citroën departed on his original journey. Except the Green Crossing will start in Morocco, where Amis are manufactured.

The team plans to travel up to 200km per day averaging about 45km/h. After approximately 14, 000km and ten weeks (somewhat quicker than Citroen’s eight -month excursion), they plan to arrive in the Cape of Good Hope.

You can follow their adventures on their website lacroisièreverte or on their Facebook page.

Words Sudhir “Banzai” Matai Twitter/X | Instagram

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