Quebec wins Guiness World Record for Largest Parade of Electric Cars

Guest Post: Sylvain Juteau, President, Roulez Electrique

It's official! This new Guinness World Record can't be claimed by California or even Norway, but by the province of Quebec in Canada (Montréal)!

I was part of it. And the Roulez Electrique community was part of it with other EV owners throughout Quebec (about 5,000 plug-in vehicles were registered in the Province at that time in April). Thanks to my friend Stephane Pascalon, who got the idea, and also made it through all the Guinness World Record rules and their notorious amounts of paperwork! Thanks to all participants, the Branchez-Vous team, and all the EV associations and groups in Quebec. We worked together and we made it!

I want to encourage all other EV worldwide communities worldwide to try this out and see if they can beat us! But you better hurry up because... we're going to do it again next year! Check out our photos from the event and the official press release announcement below.

Source: Roulez Electrique; From top to bottom: 1. Tesla Model S vehicles en route, 2. Sylvain's Tesla Model S getting ready to "hit the road" for the parade - proudly sporting our popular Caliper Covers, 3. A huge crowd of EVs gathering, 4. Teslas and Leafs coming together, 5. The Tesla crowd staying until the sun goes down

Branchez-Vous 2015: Guinness World Record is now official!

Largest parade of electric cars in the world, achieved in Montreal April 18, 2015

Montreal, June 10, 2015 - It's official! The EV drivers gathered in Montreal last April 18 successfully established a Guinness World Record with 241 electric cars in the category "largest parade of electric cars." The formal notice of Guinness approval was received this week after confirmation of the data and evidence provided by the Branchez-Vous organization. "We are very proud of this World title that clearly demonstrates the popularity of electric vehicles in Quebec. We thank all the individuals and organizations involved in promoting and achieving the feat" says Stéphane Pascalon, the rally organizer for Branchez-Vous.

Indeed, in addition to those who participated in the parade with their electric vehicle, this achievement is shared with many partners. The organization highlights the special efforts of Nissan, Chevrolet, RoulezÉlectrique.com, Quebec Tesla Club, the Quebec EV Association (AVEQ), the RAVÉ, Communauto and the City of Montreal which contributed significantly to the success of this record. Thanks are also extended to partners of Branchez-Vous for their involvement in the event and its gathering of electric vehicles: the Electric Circuit, the Government of Québec, the City of Montreal, the automakers Nissan, Chevrolet and Ford (and their dealers: Nissan Gabriel Group, H. Grégoire Chomedey Nissan, Metro Nissan, Nissan Spinelli Pointe-Claire, Park Avenue Nissan, Bourgeois Chevrolet Décarie Gravel / Île-des-Sœurs, Brossard Mitsubishi and BMW Laval), the CAA-Quebec AddÉnergie , the Quebec Association Against Air Pollution (AQLPA), Car Rental EEKO Logic, RoulezÉlectrique.com, Intact Insurance, Schneider Electric.

With the Mayor of Montreal, Denis Coderre, opening the parade driving a Nissan LEAF, the record was set with a 122 Nissan LEAF, 52 Tesla, 19 Smart EV, 16 Mitsubishi i-MiEV, 10 Chevrolet Spark EV, 8 Kia Soul EV, 8 Ford Focus EV and one each of the following models: BMW i3, B200 Mercedes, Porsche, Honda Fit EV, Volkswagen E-Golf and Bolloré BlueCar. The previous record, set in 2014 in Denmark was 160 electric cars. This Guinness Record in Montreal therefore has 81 more cars and sets a new level at 241. As a reminder, there were a total of 461 plug-in vehicles at the Branchez-Vous 2015 rally, including 100% electric vehicles and rechargeable hybrid vehicles.

The confirmation of the Guinness record is timely since many EV drivers are converging in Drummondville on the weekend of June 13 & 14, 2015 for the RAVÉ which includes vehicle test drives on Saturday, June 13. The organizers of Branchez-Vous and the RAVÉ are currently discussing a partnership for their 2016 editions. Other related activities are also planned in Drummondville during the weekend: the inauguration of Haltégo, the first electric car recharging building in North America and the official opening of the Tesla Supercharger by senior officers of the Californian company traveling from Palo Alto for the occasion. 

Source: Branchez-Vous 2015; www.branchezvous.org; Louise Lévesque, directrice des communications AQLPA; 418-264-5575 / louise.levesque@aqlpa.com