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British adventurers embark on epic 10,000 mile EV road trip to Shanghai

12th September 2023

Two identical twin adventurers have embarked on unique seven-month journey from London to Shanghai, that will see them reinvent the Silk Road for the 21st century by travelling 10,000 miles across continents in an electric MG. 

The Devon-born brothers, Ross and Hugo Turner, whose expeditions include rowing across the Atlantic Ocean and traversing Greenland’s Ice Cap, are undertaking the mammoth range anxiety-inducing road trip in MG’s newly unveiled all electric Cyberster, a sports car with a 0-60 of 2.8 seconds.

Launching next year to mark MG’s centenary, the world’s first commercially available two-seat convertible EV might not seem like the first pick for two brothers attempting a 10,000 mile journey. However, this is just the latest expectation-defying undertaking for the professional adventurers and their personal mission to help people to learn about our world through new technology and purposeful expeditions.

Ross Turner said: “The latest adventure is a very exciting global challenge. It’s to drive the new MG Cyberster. 0-60 in 2.8 seconds. It’s fully electric, and it’s a convertible. It is stunning, and we’re very, very excited to drive from the UK, through Europe, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, and then finishing in Shanghai in the middle of next year.”

Hugo Turner said: “We’re going to be having to charge this regularly as we go across the world, so that’s going to give us the perfect opportunity to experience more of the countries, the culture, the people, the foods from the places that we’re going to be travelling through. Cars like this open up adventure, and this is going to be the ultimate one.”

The twins’ drive for exploration was born at a time of disaster, when in 2007, Hugo narrowly missed paralysis after breaking his neck in a diving accident. The pair have since gone on to attempt challenges of ever-increasing scale. In addition to traversing the Atlantic and Greenland Ice Cap, they have also climbed Mt. Elbrus, and reached several of the world’s continental poles of inaccessibility.

Crossing the finish line in Shanghai in 2024 will mean more than the ultimate test drive of the world’s first EV roadster, it will also mark the centenary year for the brand that originally began trading in Oxford as Morris Garages; now known around the world as MG.

Fittingly for one of Britain’s iconic automotive brands, London’s Westminster Bridge was the start line for the cross-continental tour that will first see the adventurers tour the length and breadth of the UK. 

The first pit stop on the epic EV journey will be to join members of the MGOC in Cambridge. The all-electric MG Cyberster convertible will then lead a rally of its classic car relatives, including a prized ancestor, a 1920s roadster.   

The Cyberster’s UK run will see Hugo and Ross travel as far north as the Forth Bridge, before setting the satnav for the English Channel. Naturally, one of the final waypoints for this leg of the tour will be a visit of MG’s birthplace in Oxford, and then on to the MG Car Club in Abingdon.

The European leg of the journey that will see them take in iconic sites across France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Spain, and Italy.

The New Year will see the brothers reunited with the car in the Middle East to travel through Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Philippines en route to Shanghai.

Designed in the UK, the Cyberster is scheduled to be available to drivers in the UK and Europe in the summer of 2024 and MG will shortly announce further details of its first public appearance this year.

Dates and locations

12.9.23London, Cambridge
13.9.23Leeds
14.9.23 – 15.9.23Lake District
16.9.23 – 17.9.23Glasgow
17.9.23Loch Lomond
18.9.23 – 19.9.23Edinburgh, Firth of Forth
20.9.23Carlisle
21.9.23 – 22.9.23North West: Chorley, Stockport, Liverpool
23.9.23Cheshire Oaks, Snowdonia
24.9.23Birmingham, Redditch, Stratford Upon Avon
25.9.23Cotswolds
26.9.23Cardiff, South Wales
27.9.23Bristol, Bath
28.9.23Oxford
29.9.23Abingdon, Newbury, Stonehenge
30.9.23Portsmouth
1.10.23 – 2.10.23Bognor Regis