La Croisière Verte – A New Citroën Expediton Focused on Sustainability
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the historic Citroën Croisière Noire, Eric Vigouroux, an entrepreneur and former rally-raid driver with a deep passion for adventure and exploration, is leading a new expedition: La Croisière Verte. This Citroën sponsored journey will retrace the route from Paris to Cape Town, but this time with a modern twist—using electric vehicles powered solely by renewable energy.
The expedition departed on October 16, 2024 from Paris and on October 28 will commence traveling to Cape Town, South Africa from their official start of La Croisière Verte in the city of Ouarzazate, nicknamed the door of the desert, in the region of Drâa-Tafilalet, south-central Morocco.
7950 solar cells will drive 4 electric AMI vehicles over 14,000 km across the African continent. There will carry 40 foldable and tiltable modules with a total weight of 79 kg and a battery charging time of 5 – 6 hours to deliver a range of about 300 km.
The goal is to showcase the potential of lightweight, zero-emission electric vehicles, push the boundaries of new technologies, and promote renewable energy across Africa with an adventure that bridges the past with the future of sustainable mobility. Every kilometer travelled will be powered by the sun.
After 20 successful years in motorsport, Eric made the decision to step away from racing due to growing concerns about the climate crisis, air pollution, and the environmental challenges facing the world. However, his love for the outdoors and Africa remained strong, driving him to seek new ways to combine adventure with sustainability.
In 2018, Eric took a significant step toward sustainable mobility by collaborating with students from the University of Applied Sciences in Bochum, Germany, to build the first solar-powered buggy. This innovation led to a record-breaking attempt to cross Australia’s Simpson Desert in 2019 using only solar energy. Motivated by the climate crisis and environmental challenges, Eric channeled his passion for adventure and love for Africa into a new mission.
For the expedition, Eric will be accompanied by friends as passionate as him, including Alexandre Winocq, his former copilot.
Eric’s pioneering spirit, combined with his deep environmental commitment, has earned him recognition and support from influential figures in exploration and sustainability. He continues to inspire by proving that adventure and environmental responsibility can go hand in hand.
The Citroën family and the Conservatoire Citroën is supporting this adventure of modern times. It is being billed as a powerful and innovative transformation of the concepts of company founder André Citroën and his expeditions towards today – and also supporting the conservation of the company heritage for future generations.
The ACI (Amicale Citroën Internationale) is also proud to have been accepted as one of the supporters, and also now being prominently visible on the expedition vehicles.
The hype about the expedition is somewhat tempered by the route that unlike the Citroën sponsored Croissiere Noir (October 28, 1924and theJune 26, 1925) that trekked through Central Africa, the route this time will be closer to the west coast.
The expedition’s pace will be on par to the Croissière Noir in that the four Ami are restricted in speed and their suspension is pretty much as hard as the original five Citroën-Kégresse K1 half-tracks that took the classic route of caravan trails.
More information about the expedition can be found at: https://lacroisiereverte.fr/