I went to Electromagnetic Field for the first time this year.

Brilliant event, but for a 57 year-old, who’s used to car camping, lugging everything from the car park up a steep hill to my campsite was a shock to the system, even with a festival trolley.

I determined to look for a solution for next time, reasoning that surely someone had made a powered festival trolley.

Indeed they have. There are numerous models to choose from globally, but very few available in the UK. The only one that seemed affordable and available was the Litheli W2 Pro.

There are many reviews of this, and the general view is it’s pretty good. This video is the most comprehensive one I found.

However I didn’t find a review that tested its real-world range. The manufacturer claims each of the two batteries will last for 20 minutes of usage. Now that doesn’t sound a lot, and many manufacturers are quite “optimistic” about their specs!

(Another manufacturer was claiming 20km from a 180Wh battery, compared to Litheli’s 2 x 74Wh batteries. That seems highly unlikely.)

So once I bought the Litheli W2 Pro I decided to do a decent real-world test of its range:

• I loaded it up with 46kg of camping gear (compared to the 60kg stated load capacity).
• I found a hill that was 7º steep (which felt about the same as the EMF hill), compared to a stated maximum of 10º.
• I ascended the hill multiple times under power, at the maximum speed. I used a different battery for the descent, so the tested battery was only used for hill ascents.
• I continued until the trolley refused to move.

If you prefer a visual story, here’s my video review:

Too long, didn’t watch?

The trolley went at a slow-to-moderate walking pace up the hill until 22 minutes, then it slowed down slightly. At 24-25 minutes it was definitely a bit sluggish. At 29 minutes I had to stop for a pedestrian, and then it wouldn’t restart.

Distance wise, that was 1.43km, all uphill.

It had a total weight of 61 kg (15kg trolley plus 46kg load) vs a stated maximum of 75kg (15kg trolley plus 60kg load), so 81% of maximum.

It went up an incline of 7º vs a maximum of 10º, so 70% of worse case.

It went at the maximum speed.

And it still achieved 45% more time than stated.

Which makes me think that the manufacturer maybe tested at a worse case scenario of fully loaded, up a maximum incline, at maximum speed, to get the 20 min run time. Respect.

Now back to EMF. Will the trolley’s two included batteries be sufficient? (I can buy more if needed.)

Using the groovy EMF interactive map I was able to draw on the path from where I parked my van to where I camped:

That’s 454 metres each way.

So if I only use the power one-way (dragging an empty trolley should be easily within my capability), then each battery should do at least 3 trips. Maybe more, as only about a third of the route is uphill.

I did 6 trips this year, so the two batteries should be sufficient if I camp in a similar position next time. And with two batteries, there’s always the possibility to recharge one while doing 3 trips with the other. Each round trip would be at least 20 minutes, so an hour ought to be enough time to charge the other.

Nice one 😀