Armed police, avalanches and 40cm of snow - inside our 3,750-mile Arctic drive powered by sustainable fuel

Jim McGill with the Mazda CX-30 | David Smith, Mazda

There’s something very sobering when you glide down your driver’s window on a slip-road off a Stockholm motorway and find you’re at eye-level with a Swedish traffic policeman’s pistol, thankfully safely secured in the holster on the right-hand side of his belt. Certainly not your everyday occurrence. So how did we get here?

Normally when car manufacturers organise events we journalists simply roll up, have breakfast, walk out of the hotel door to see gleaming cars meticulously lined-up and prepared, before being handed the keys and driving off. We never think about the logistics and prep.

So when Mazda UK said it was planning an Arctic drive which would see a very small group of journalists pilot its CX-30 — complete with the new 2.5-litre 140ps e-Skyactiv G engines — 500km (310-miles) from Tromso to Honningsvag at the northernmost tip of Norway, before driving back next day to Alta to fly home, I was up for it. But then two things happened.

First, I learned the drive would use solely Coryton SUSTAIN 100% biofuel. Secondly, the small ‘fleet’ of CX-30s would first need to be driven to Tromso for the press event, setting off from the Mazda dealer in Malmo at the southern tip of Sweden. Malmo to Tromso? 2200kms, or 1400-miles.

Ever up for the challenge, and with the prospect of becoming the first journalist to drive from the Baltic Sea to the Arctic Ocean, via Norway, Finland and Sweden powered only by sustainable fuel, I made the call to Mazda.

And so it came to pass that I was pleasantly minding my own business, around 2pm on a Saturday afternoon, on the E4 motorway to the north-west of Stockholm behind the wheel of my German-registered CX-30, when suddenly alongside me appeared a low-slung, threatening, dark navy blue Volvo estate. Suddenly it lit up like a blue and white Christmas tree, and wailed like an … unmarked Swedish police car.

Directing me down the next slip road and parking directly behind me, essentially blocking all oncoming traffic, I was, as a law-abiding driver, to be honest, mystified. As I opened by window and the Swedish policeman, with his female accomplice, stood upright, smiled and put on his cap, I said: “Good afternoon.”

Jim takes his own snap of the fleet of Mazda CX-30s | David Smith, Mazda

“You’re not German,” he said in perfect English. “English?”

“No, I’m Scottish,” I replied.

“Have you been drinking?” he asked. “We’ve had calls that a red Mazda has been driving unusually.”

“Knowing how severe your fines are, I certainly haven’t been speeding,” I replied, knowing the Swedish fines generally start around €500. “And I’ve had an orange juice and two coffees so far today; so no, I haven’t been drinking.”

“The calls weren’t about you driving too fast, quite the contrary,” he smiled. “Staying at the speed limit is too slow. I guess you’ll be happy to take a breathalyser?”

And so unfolded one of the most bizarre few minutes of my 40-odd years of being a motoring journalist, during which “being too slow” has never previously been an accusation. Once it became clear I was no painfully slow, slothful, drunken threat, they asked where I was going.

“Malmo to Sundsvall today, then to Lulea, then across to Tromso before heading up to Honningsvag, all on sustainable fuel. I’m a motoring journalist,” I informed them.

“Sustainable? Interesting. And that’s almost 3000kms,” he said, shaking his head. “We’d better let you get on your way then. We’ll take you back to the motorway.” And so I had a police escort back on to the E4. Honestly, you couldn’t have made it up.

Over the next 36 hours, the 985km (612-miles) to Sundsvall, and 530km (330-miles) to Lulea were safely ticked-off, thankfully with no further police involvement. Day three and the studded tyres fitted to the CX-30 finally showed their benefit as we crossed into the Arctic Circle. The dry grey Tarmac quickly became snow and ice-covered ribbons of white spearing arrow-straight through conifer forests stretching to the horizon as I tackled the 670km (420-miles) to Tromso. Twelve hours after starting off, I pulled up outside our city centre hotel with the red of the CX-30 essentially camouflaged by the icy snow clinging to the car.

Conditions had seriously deteriorated over the second six hours of the day’s journey. But despite the icy roads and the increasingly heavy snowfall as we closed in on Tromso, the CX-30 remained impeccable in its handling, the 2.5-litre engine mated to the six-speed auto’ box silky smooth in its delivery. Who needs a big 4WD behemoth when a front-wheel drive family car can do the work just as well, even in extreme winter conditions?

Twenty-four hours later, nightmarish conditions were to prove that no matter how big your vehicle, how many wheels are powered, and how powerful your engine, when Mother Nature decides ‘thou shall not pass’, there’s no arguing.

Overnight ahead of our scheduled 500km drive from Tromso to Alta, then on to Honningsvag, more than 40cms, 15-inches, of snow fell. The heaviest fall of the northern Norwegian winter. The desperate conditions forced the cancellation of two ferries we’d planned to take early in our route. So the decision was made to re-route back through Finland then head north-west up to Alta, adding 250km to the journey to Honningsvag.

Enroute though, as we navigated overturned lorries, worse news was to follow. Avalanches and landslides north of Alta had forced the authorities to adopt convoy traffic systems, which are commonplace when severe conditions demand and ensure safety. Problem was, the first was due to head north starting at 3pm and cover a distance of 34-miles, before the ‘official’ vehicle turned back and led the southbound traffic back. By 5pm the convoy had yet to start its first trip north. Conditions were worsening. Experienced lorry drivers who navigate the route on a daily basis said simply: “You’ll not get to Honningsvag tonight. And if you do, I don’t know when you’ll get back.” As it happened, the southbound road was then blacked for another two days.

So the decision was made, correctly. to abandon Honningsvag and stay in Alta. Next problem. Find 27 rooms for me, the newly-arrived UK journalists, plus Mazda’s logistics team at the last minute, on the same evening the National Dogsled Championship was in town. Somehow the team delivered. But a bigger logistical challenge was to appear in the morning.

Conditions worsened the further north the team drove | David Smith, Mazda

With nine journalists and staff scheduled to fly back from Alta on the Friday morning, we woke up to the fact Heathrow had been closed for the day because of the electric substation fire. Another problem-solving challenge for the Mazda team. With no flights into Heathrow, ingenuity was required. So it was flights to Oslo, then on to Paris. Overnight. Then Eurostar into London on Saturday morning.

Me? Well having become the first to drive from the Baltic to the Arctic Ocean on sustainable fuel, why not complete the double? After all, the CX-30s still had to be driven back to Malmo. So it was Alta to Lulea; a marathon 14-hour, 1250km (775-mile) drive to Jonkoping; followed by a 300km dash to Malmo.

In all I drove 5900km (3750-miles) over eight days, half of those in demanding ice and snowy Arctic conditions. In doing so, and in the style of a famous Danish lager, I’ve ‘probably’ driven the longest distance in a sustainably-fuelled car.

Why is sustainable fuel significant? When used in replacement for fossil fuels it offers a way to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our atmosphere. The 100% second-generation biofuel manufactured by SUSTAIN which I used is made from sustainable components manufactured from agricultural waste such as straw, by-products and waste from crops which otherwise not be used for consumption.

These biofuels utilise the carbon which already exists in our atmosphere, captured by plants as they grow and then are re-released in the combustion process. This contrasts with fossil fuels which release additional CO2 that is currently locked underground. And remember, using sustainable fuels doesn’t require any modifications to the car. Plus — and this is significant — having comfortably managed an average of 45mpg, my 5900km (3750-mile) drive saved approximately 900kg of CO2 compared to normal fossil fuel.

While the, some would argue misplaced, clamour to ‘go electric’ continues, consider this. The implementation of sustainable fuel at just a 10% blend into current fossil fuel supplies, in addition to the 10% bioethanol already in place in standard E10 unleaded fuel, would allow us to exceed the UK’s current carbon reduction ambition by 2030. This fuel has the ability to transform the carbon emissions from road transport not only in new cars, but in the legacy fleet from classic cars to today’s modern cars. Surely that’s worth considering?