WAVE 2014 DAY 0 Lift Off

This buggy, the Tapir, we are driving in this years WAVE is the result of a wild discussion on the way back from last years WAVE and as a prototype this years WAVE will be her debut. 

Her children will be enlisted in GAF projects carrying seedlings, water and people and will also be sold to the general public as an all purpose vehicle for on and off the road as well as for simply tootling around the countryside. That being said we had to get up quite early in order to make it to the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim where breakfast would be served. We missed the breakfast but decided to go into the museum restaurant and enjoyed bagels with smoked salmon, I know, I said I am a vegetarian but once in awhile I like to have a bit of salmon, and kick ass coffee which woke all the neurons up gearing us up for the day. We went back outside, Gordon heading for the Tapir and I for a look around. I spotted an electric motorcycle that looked like it had popped out of the movie, Tron! Having been a biker driving a BMW R65 in the past all I could do was gawk and drool. This was one mean looking bike with an enormously fat rear tire and looking every bit the speed freak, silently navigating the roads. Yes, I wanted one but I also wanted to have the Johammer bike which I can only describe as looking like a giant shrimp ready to take on the world, very cool design and really quite awesome to behold. Ralf-Martin Tauer manned his drone and literally flew circles around the entire area giving everyone a beautiful birds eye view of the whole scene. Finally it was time to leave and head for the enormous parking lot where we would form a heart and inside, the words: electric car world record Stuttgart 2014. We were at the top of the second E in electric. The whole thing was stupendous and we broke the latest Guinness World Record that was made in Norway (399 e cars) with a total of 507 e cars!!!!

We then headed back to Bietigheim-Bissingen for a quick lunch n charge after which we all made a heading for Heilbronn. The WAVE had now begun and the Tapir was digging in and loving it!

WAVE 2014 DAY -1

Eventually Friday came and after getting things organized Peter and Helga announced breakfast was being served on the top floor, which happens to be his parents apartment. The table was decked out and truly looked wonderful. Various jams, boiled eggs, four different types of bread including big pretzels, just like in Central Park in New York. Of course Germany is the source of those famous pretzels! Delish! There were also a couple different kinds of cheeses and pork that Gordon got into quite happily.

Peters mother planted and cares for her beautiful garden downstairs as well as all her gorgeous orchids and other plants on their balcony and windowsill upstairs. She not only has a green thumb, every digit on both hands is green and so she's a natural. Both parents are absolutely delightful!

Auntie Val's boxes of jams were loaded into Peter and Helga's Zoe as well as a few other things that could not possibly fit on or in the buggy which we will call the Tapir from here on in. Our own baggage was stowed on top of the Tapir and battened down with a tarp that snaps shut keeping all contents dry. Gordon and I donned our helmets and climbed into the Tapir. The goggles were also put on and we were ready to hit the road along with Peter and Helga. My head bobbed around like the head on a kewpie doll due to the weight of the helmet. Since my neck was protesting the decision was made not to wear mine but Gordon kept his on and donned the goggles like a swashbuckling cartoon hero! Thankfully he didn't try leaping off tall buildings or go faster than a speeding bullet and besides he didn't have a cape to enable the afore mentioned activities. He is, however, the Plug Hunter and now also the Tapir Man!

And off we drove, the Tapir Man and sidekick, like a speeding Tapir into the wilds of Germany heading towards Bietigheim-Bissingen for the gathering of the Wave participants would take place. There the various teams would be introduced and Louis would give his briefing about the following day! There were, in fact, 78 teams, four support teams and Louis, our fearless leader, with his incredible crew and the switch bus. To all the teams were introduced on stage for if that would have happened it would have taken all night and possibly a good portion of the following day. Louis gave the briefing and then it was time to enjoy some food provided by our hosts. This particular writer and vegetarian was in heaven, with eyes popping at all the delicious goodies prepared by our hosts. The very best part was seeing all the people who had taken part in last years WAVE taking part in this years WAVE. It was like a huge family reunion!!! All was good with the world and my stomach celebrated. Pretty soon the teams headed off for their lodgings for the night. We headed for Jugendgastehaus Leonberg which we eventually found somewhere out in the toolies that seemed far from the madding crowd, quite isolated and very quiet.

WAVE 2014 DAY -2

We, Gordon Foat of Green MotorSport and I, Leora Rosner of the Growing Air Foundation and Brian and Jean Orr of EV Matters are Team Green MotorSport with WAVE rally number 3 and 37. Pretty cool, the number 3 for it is one of the Fibonacci numbers, which appear throughout nature. Since we are forging the double edged sword against climate change to help our planet, the natural world, then that number is magic, that number defines us!

I woke up this morning after a three-hour sleep max, while Gordon hadn't gotten any shuteye what so ever. He was working on the last details of the buggy that at times was driving him buggy, discovered that the two bolts holding the main sprocket were so loose they could be easily unscrewed but he prevailed and won that race. The buggy, whom we will refer to as the Tapir from here on in was loaded, had her seat belts fastened, battened and taped, nuts, bolts and screws were nordlocked, bond locked and landlocked for now. The Tapir would soon be sailing across the channel safe and sound and snug as a bug in a rug even though there wasn't a rug within miles and by the way for those who don't know what a Tapir is... The Tapir is a large herbivorous mammal, similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile snout. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia.   :-)

We ( team 3) left Woking at 06:15 and headed off to Dover in order to make it by 07:55. We arrived at 08:15 and were told that we would need to take the next ferry, which meant leaving Dover an hour later.

Once on the ferry we headed for the eatery and had breakfast while keeping our eyes pried open.

This ferry ride was, compared to last years ferry ride, rather uneventful! No time travelled pirates of the Caribbean rendered deaf driving motorcycles, not a single odd event unless you count the group of big men staring at me and wondering if my camera was a camera or a gun in disguise. You see, I have a nifty over the shoulder strap with a smaller strap that locks under my armpit just like the holster of a detective’s gun! The leery eyed guys eventually decided I was too small to bother with and besides they figured being shot to death with a digital camera might not look good on their résumés!

Eventually the announcement came over the p.a. announcing our arrival in Calais. We headed down to the D1 deck and discovered our trusty steeds were surrounded by behemoths otherwise known as tourist busses with floppy rabbit ears doubling as rear-view mirrors and tail pipes belching fumes, which for behemoths such as these happens to be anatomically correct. They were grumbling in their eagerness to get off the ferry. Refraining from the usual gasp and cough we climbed into the truck and waited our turn to disembark which, thankfully, didn't take long at all and we were off and running.

Our route took us through France on the payage, toll roads that were perfect ribbons of black or gray asphalt. I was imagining them to be covered in the newly developed solar panels specifically designed for roads, runways, playgrounds, basically all roads and hard surfaced areas in towns and cities. Alas this is not yet the case! However since it is the payage it meant our ride would be smooth and the tapir would not suffer from the shake, rattle and roll of the pot-holed Belgian highway system next door. We eventually arrived in Schorndorf at midnight happy to be meeting Peter and Helga Schwan who would also be joining the WAVE for the first time. They are wonderfully warm people and we are so glass to have this opportunity to get to know them. Gordon and I stayed in their guest apartment and we felt right at home.

One thing is for certain, were it not for the following sponsors we would not have been able to take part in the 2014 WAVE! We thank you all whole heartedly!!!  And, to show how much we love you we made a nice heart with all our WAVE team friends to say a big thank you! :-)

World Record Parade press photo, Can you spot our teams? We (team 3) are in the 2nd E of the Word "Electric" and the Buggy is top right of that letter E!  Also worth a watch is our WAVE you tube video, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0lMyVfUQFs   and not to mention Team 3 ( Gordon and Leora appeared on Swiss Prime Time today!!)

If you like to find out where we are in and how fast our cars go you can go to the Live tracking page for Team 3 and 37. This dynamic map can be found at the following link http://web.agmtelematics.net/ShareTrip/index.aspx?token=lfvpapvqr1k   Sponsored by AGM Telematics.

Preparing for the WAVE 2014

Gordon Foat of Green MotorSport is preparing for the WAVE 2014, the fourth drive across Europe for battery electric vehicles powered by renewable energy, from 31st May to 7th June. Green MotorSport successfully participated in all the WAVE events, driving across some of the most demanding territory in Europe. This year Team Green MotorSport will have two entries. Our support vehicle will be a conventional battery electric car, driven by our colleagues from EV Matters, Brian and Jean Orr.

As a ‘warm-up to WAVE 2014’, EV Matters has elected to share the WAVE principles with a UK audience by taking their WAVE-liveried battery electric vehicle on a whistle-stop tour, starting in London – up the east coast to Scotland - side excursions into and around the Scottish Highlands – before heading to the Western Isles – demonstrating the feasibility of Scotland, as an ecological sustainable destination for pure-battery EVs!

EV Matters will raise funds for ‘Help the Heroes’ aiming to contribute a pound for each mile covered. At the end of the Scottish phase, EV Matters has been invited to present their car on 25th April at the Green Fleet Motorshow in Edinburgh and to receive the endorsement of the Scottish Minister for Tourism and Veterans for both the EV Trial and the charitable fund-raising. By the time that EV Matters gets back to base, on 27th April 2014, they will have clocked 2,000 plus miles in just 2 weeks!

The other vehicle in WAVE’s Team Green MotorSport will be our lightweight utility vehicle powered by a revolutionary generation of liquid cooled electric motor, coupled with a super efficient liquid cooled vector control system. The technology is the outcome of Green MotorSport’s Cost Effective Motor Project, which aims to provide electric vehicles that people can afford to buy. WAVE 2014 will give us the opportunity to test and showcase this new technology in a challenging environment. Gordon Foat will drive this unique hand-built prototype, which we have developed with ZCars in the UK. The co-driver will once again be Leora Rosner of the Growing Air Foundation (GAF) which will use electric vehicles in their work planting forests around the world.

WAVE 2014 is attracting more publicity as the installation of the renewable electricity infrastructure spreads across Europe, encouraging more people to drive electric vehicles. Last year the WAVE teams, including Green MotorSport achieved the World Record for an electric vehicle parade, as announced in the Guinness Book of Records. We shall keep you informed of Brian and Jean’s trip around Scotland, as well as progress with the performance of our new electric vehicle.

GUINNESS book of records for Green MotorSport !

Last year the WAVE teams including Green MotorSport achieved the world record for an electric vehicle parade, with over 300 battery powered vehicles. The Guinness Book of Records has confirmed that our world record for the largest electric vehicle parade at the Zurich festival 2013 has been officially accepted. The new world record now stands at 305 vehicles, which made it back to the start/finish line.

GREEN MOTORSPORT on the Radio!

Heavy batteries, batteries that don’t last long, long charging periods – just some of the grumbles surrounding electric cars. But that’s changing. Just like mobile phone technology, electric car technology is improving and adapting to meet consumer needs. Including those who love motor racing. Gordon Foat of Green MotorSport Limited says not only do electric vehicles provide green and clean transport, electric cars are much more efficient at producing traction energy form a fuel than any other system. 

Radio Interview http://t.co/kW4asQUOXA

— Gordon Foat (@greenmotorsport) March 19, 2014

Thorium : Safe alternative to our present nuclear reactors

The UK is reverting to using traditional nuclear power, but there are potential safety problems with conventional technology.  With all solid fuel high pressure nuclear technologies there is the danger of reactor meltdown under certain circumstances, and  there could be proliferation of nuclear weapons if plutonium becomes  more widely available. It will also be necessary to store hazardous waste for 10,000 years.    

There is however, a safe alternative to our present nuclear reactors.  If Thorium is used as the fuel, it is not fissile and therefore cannot sustain a nuclear reaction on its own.  Thorium is fertile which means that if it is bombarded by neutrons from a separate fissile material it is an excellent nuclear fuel able to use 99% of the available energy.  The Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) developed by Flibe Energy  operates at atmospheric pressure and is not subject to meltdowns. This molten salt technology was first proven in operation at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA in the 1960s. 

Hazardous waste 

The UK already has substantial quantities of dangerous waste, which would be increased if we build more traditional nuclear reactors. 250 tons of uranium are required to produce 1 gigawatt (GW) of electricity from a conventional nuclear power station and 35 tons of hazardous waste must be stored for 10,000 years. For comparison, the LFTR technology requires only one ton of Thorium to produce 1GW of electricity. Most by-products stabilize within  a decade and have commercial value; the minor remainder has a half-life of less than 30 years, stabilizing within hundreds rather than tens of thousands of years.      

A Thorium LFTR can help to reduce the problem with the large quantities of existing waste from conventional nuclear power stations, as this can be used as fuel by the Thorium reactor. There is however, a valuable by-product from nuclear power which would have to be sustained.  The LFTR would produce medical isotopes, thus safe-guarding the world’s supply of material for nuclear medicine. Why was this benign Thorium fuel not chosen in the first place?  

Cost competitive 

It will not cost more to build Thorium reactors as they are mass producible and much simpler than conventional nuclear reactors. Modular LFTR production offers reduced capital costs and shorter build times and installation near the point of use eliminates long transmission lines.  It is only the suppliers of current technology who may lose out when they have to face competition.  Engineers developing all types of low carbon technology find that there is a lot of resistance to change from established fuel suppliers and even government departments  tend to stick with established organisations, which may hold back competition.   

Recently ( Monday 4th November 2013) Gordon Foat of FutureEnergies met with Kirk Dorius and Kirk Sorensen at the House of Lords in London. Baroness Worthington chaired the meeting. Several members of the Weinberg Foundation were present as well as the UK Government and Energy specialists from the Department of Energy & Climate Change.  Flibe energy technology was explained. Thorium is a naturally occurring mildly radioactive element named after the Norse God of thunder, Thor.  

 

For more information on Flibe Energy technology and thorium see.  http://flibe-energy.com/ 

For more info on the Weinberg Foundation see  http://www.the-weinberg-foundation.org/