For the first time in history, electric vehicles will take part in the MPG Marathon to be held in the Cotswold Water Park and the rugged Brecon Beacons on 8th and 9th October 2014.
In addition to range extenders and plug-in hybrids, battery EVs has been included for the first time in the eco-driving performance.
These three new classes will chase along with the diesel and petrol cars and vans that regularly take part in the event.
Several electric vehicle entries have already been received.
To finish first, drivers will have to plan their recharging points carefully. They will have to make the best possible use of the recharging stations on the 360-mile route, and will be judged on how much power they consume over the course.
Electricity will be measured at 13p per kilowatt hour, while any carbon fuel that the petrol or diesel hybrid vehicles consume will also be taken into account.
This year, Marathon will set out to demonstrate a combination of fuel-efficient cars, advanced fuels, route planning technology and eco-driving skills that can be employed to manage the rising cost of fuel.
Similar to previous season, competitors will have to find their own route between a series of fixed points. They can use Zap-Map live to find charging stations along their planned route.
All cars will be fitted with Tracker tracking equipment to know exactly where each car has been and how far it has travelled.
The competition will be tougher as last year’s event was won by Nick Chapman and Rosemary Homer from Leicestershire County Council who achieved an average of 88.69 mpg over the total route of 339.3 miles.
There are eight main classes of passenger cars in this year, restricted to a maximum carbon ceiling of 190g/km. Out of this, four classes belong to hybrid powered drive systems, plug-in hybrid, range-extender hybrid and fully electric vehicles in passenger car category.