Brighton to London "Future Car Challenge"

[ChrisB]

Wow, is that it?

The advert runs for longer.

I could have done a better video on my moby. They only had to ask and pass a thick brown envelope over!

Ah I see what you mean now I'm home, not exactly what you'd call fantastic

Looking at all the awards that were given out it got me thinking...... you pretty much had a 1 in 3 chance of getting an award considering the number dished out

So the question I'd love to know is, do you think it was worth the 500 quid fee they charged the private entrants

ChrisB

EDIT : BBC South Today 6.30-7pm had a reasonable article about the whole event, although once again they had to feature a chap in brighton who used a milk float everyday for work it might be on iplayer later, although I've recorded it so if it doesnt appear stick up here.

[Kevin Sharpe]

So the question I'd love to know is, do you think it was worth the 500 quid fee they charged the private entrants

Absolutely!

From the moment I got out of my car in Regents Street until I left 4 or 5 hours later I was inundated by people interested in the car. At one point my misses counted 20 people waiting to ask questions. I also had numerous camera crews visit and must feature in thousands of photo's.

I think this event marks the transition of the EV to the mainstream. The major manufacturers spent serious money and I think it's amazing that we had 60 vehicles in or near mass production.

Personally, I think the BVS needs to find a way of participating in major event's like this...

[Kevin Sharpe]

What Car? at the Future Car Challenge http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KPT8JcOoWA

[retepsnikrep]

Not sure what the BVS funding is like but perhaps they/we should sponsor one member to attend each year. Personally I would not mind an increased membership fee to cover this. It is important to raise the profile of EV's and the BVS. Perhaps an option on the renewal form. BVS London to Brighton fund donation tick box or something £10, that money being ring fenced to support entrants.

If say three BVS members want to participate that year, then one is pulled from hat at commitee or selected by a vote to be supported by BVS funding with appropriate fee, advertisng blurb and moral support. A member/vehicle selected in any particular year will not be eligible for further support for 5 years say to spread it out.

Congratulations to those who took part and well done.

How did they measure combined energy usage etc for hybrids.
In fact how did they work out who won, can we have some technical details pics of how it was done.
How accurate was it any complaints?

The distance is pretty short to get very accurate results IMHO. Llands end to john o groats would sort people out rather more.

[rustybkts]

ChrisB is correct in an earlier reply that the awards were a little hollow. I am guessing that with both my awards being for "Private Entry", the judges tended to go for privately built rather than privately owned.

I would have liked the MGF to have taken one though as he has made a nicer car from an engineering point of view.

The Elise was thrown together near the end but only obvious if you look carefully, the Elise is prettier on the eye and probably swayed them.

It was a really fun day and I am guessing that Kevin's son enjoyed the rally type directions as much as my 15 year old daughter. It taught her a lot about navigating.

The £500 (more like £1000) was money well spent IMHO and furthered the low energy EV cause far more than any flash advertising campaign. Its a shame the damn BBC were on strike those two days as more people would have seen it.

Still, city's are where EV's will take off first and Regent's Street was packed all afternoon with people asking "where can we buy these cars from?".

When my logged data is available, I will share it with all.

[Kevin Sharpe]

Some BLFCC Photo's http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=8956&id=100001827002071&l=df4669524a

[Kevin Sharpe]

BBC Business News http://fb.me/N9ODmfRD

[ChrisB]

Interesting comments guys, although I still couldnt bring myself to fork out that sort of money I'm afraid on such a jolly, that amount would buy me a set of LiFePO's for my scooter

Theres a bit on Southtoday here http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/vvzz4/?t=13m15s

ChrisB

[Kevin Sharpe]

BBC News Sussex http://fb.me/LXZLhqEx

[Kevin Sharpe]

Good Energy Blog http://good-energy.typepad.com/greenenergyrepublic/2010/11/a-new-type-of-va-va-voom.html

Note the BVS Logo's on the car...