Tesla Motors, the young, Silicon Valley based electric automobile manufacturing company has begun delivering it’s flagship product; the Tesla Roadster.

The Tesla Roadster is a sharp-looking sports car, similar in looks and dimension to the world-famous British Lotus Elise. This is no coincidence as Lotus reportedly had a hand in the design of the Tesla Roadster and indeed, the Roadster shares some components with the Elise. The Tesla Roadster’s chassis is made in Norway and final assembly takes place at Lotus’ Hethel plant in the United Kingdom. The Roadster’s drivetrain is entirely battery-electric utilising a 53kWh lithium-ion battery pack and a 3-phase, 4-pole AC induction motor.

That may not mean much to those who haven’t been following the development of battery electric vehicles (EVs/BEVs) but it translates into an all-out sports car that can get from 0-60mph in 3.7 seconds and arrive at an electronically limited 125mph only moments later. The electric motor, unlike it’s internal-combustion counterparts delivers peak torque of 200lbf from zero rpm all the way up to 6,000rpm and produces a net 248bhp.

The whole package weighs around 1,220kg, almost twice that of a Lotus Elise but still surprisingly lightweight for a battery powered car. The weight shouldn’t be issue for the Tesla Roadster’s constantly available peak-torque to overcome.

Another impressive feature is the Tesla Roadster’s range. If you don’t drive everywhere at wide-open-throttle, you should have a range of 220 miles. As the Tesla has it’s own inverter-integrated charger, you should be able to recharge from the mains on arrival at your destination.

The news today is that Tesla are now delivering the Roadster to customers in California at the rate of 4 per week so this is a real, bona-fide production car.

Finally, FT.com reported earlier this year that Tesla plan to sell cars in Europe from the third quarter of 2008 initially at a price point of EUR100,000

Tags: battery electric vehicle, bev, california, deliveries, electric car, europe, ev, lotus, tesla roadster

After having been told off by a reader for my ‘rubbish’ post on the RIAT cancellation, I thought I’d better post something at least moderately useful with regard to UK flying displays.

So, here we have a list of announced dates flying display dates for newly-restored Avro Vulcan XH558 which was unfortunately unable to display at Fairford due to the inclement weather.

Due to the donation-driven way that XH558 is operated, the Vulcan Operating Company have to work within a strict budget which will pay for about £160,000 worth of fuel this year. With XH558’s four Rolls-Royce Olympus turbojet engines being rather thirsty, this will limit the number of shows that can be attended each year. TVOC expect to be able to fly the Vulcan for about 50 hours per annum.

Announced so far:

• Farnborough Air Show : 14th - 20th of July 2008
• Portrush, Northern Ireland : 6th and 7th of September 2008
• Jersey Air Display: 11th of September 2008
• RAF Leuchars Air Show : 13th of September 2008

All of the above dates are subject to change due to the nature of private aircraft operation. The respective organisers of the shows are probably the best people to contact with regard to whether you will be able to see the Vulcan in flight and on what days. If you’re traveling solely to see the Vulcan, you should check first!

I also heard rumour that the Vulcan might be displayed at Lowestoft Air Festival but despite a newspaper article, I can’t find any further confirmation. Again, anyone hoping to see XH558 at Lowestoft on the 24th or 25th of this month would be best advised to contact the Lowestoft Air Day organisers to confirm which day the flypast would be on (if at all)

[Date Source]

Tags: air shows, avro vulcan, bruntingthorpe, calendar, dates, fairford, farnborough, jersey, leuchars, lowestoft, portrush, tvoc, xh558

The 2008 Fairford Royal International Air Tattoo has effectively bought the farm due to the weather.

For the first time in 38 years, the weather has been below safe minima for display performances so only ground exhibits were viewable by the attending public.

The RIAT would have seen the display of Avro Vulcan XH558, recently restored to flying condition. Vulcan fans will now have to look for other flying displays at which to see the Vulcan in action.

Tags: air show, cancelled, fairford, rain, riat, vulcan

According to the BBC he Ford Motor Company has said in a letter to it’s employees at their Southampton UK plant that future Ford Transit production was “under review” and may be cut in half and/or moved abroad.

Ford at Southampton employs about 1350 people and produces over 70,000 Ford Transit vans a year.

The Transit has long been the staple van in use for light haulage and multi-drop deliveries in the UK beating off most competition and having a reputation pretty-good reliability in the face of constant ‘misuse’.

Ford has been making the Transit at Southampton since 1971 and is largely supplied with body panel pressing from Frod at Dagenham so I’d guess there could be a possibility of jobs being at risk there too. Aparently, the current rumour suggests 50% of production could be moved to Turkey.

Tags: cuts, factory, ford transit, jobs, production, southampton, turkey

The UK government seems to have decided that an expansion of use of biofuels for road transport is possibly not the best idea ever.

In a sudden outbreak of common sense, they have acknowledged that diverting crops from food production to biofuel production may in fact drive up the price of food. They are debate whether to abandon the EUs target of 10% biofuel usage by 2020, a target which I believe the EU government themselves are thinking of scrapping.

Ruth Kelly for the government made some points about rainforest deforestation and suggested a softly-softy approach

“To tackle climate change we will need to develop new, cleaner fuels - but that doesn’t mean pushing forward indiscriminately on biofuels that may do more harm than good.”

Which was rather contrary to previous policy which seemed to be pushing biofuels as a general panacea and solution to the fuel crisis.

The reality is that as such epic quantities of land have to be diverted to biofuel production to have any meaningful effect, the price of food is inevitably driven up making poor people poorer (or just plain starving them).

My personal view toward a solution is to change the energy storage medium for all short-range vehicles to battery-electric combined with a clear nuclear-power generation strategy. Then the inevitably higher-priced hydrocarbon fuels can be dedicated to longer-range transportion where the energy density afforded will still be neccesary. This could perhaps include high-capacity PHEVs.

Unfortunately, vehicle manufacturers are still faffing about with hydrogen fuel cell designs for which there is no present-day infrastructure and arguably require far more energy in their operation cycle than battery electric systems anyway.

Tags: battery electric, biofuel, crops, eu, government, hfc, hydrogen, targets, uk

After the recent change in legislation, I thought I’d compile a quick primer on driving in France aimed mainly at the uninitiated British.

First of all, the French drive on the other side of the road. You will discover this when you get off the Ferry/tunnel and the French start blaring their horns and shouting abuse at you. Driving on the right will alleviate you of this problem. A good mantra to remember is ‘bum to the kerb’ ie: Keep your right cheek closest to the kerb all the time and you should be safe.

Junctions & Roundabouts When you pull up at a junction, think. That’s right, engage human-brain Mk1. You’ve got to do it all the other way so if you’re turning left, you need to look for traffic from the left first and head for the offside kerb. Turning right, you stay with the kerb all the way round. Get this wrong and at best you will look foolish, at worst you will cause an accident.

You have to do roundabouts the other way too! Just do it all the other way, in the UK, you would go clockwise, here in France you’re going to do it all anti-clockwise. Look left and give way to traffic on the island. But there’s more (you’re going to love this), they also have a system known as ‘priorite-a-driot’ which means ‘priority-right’. This means that in certain marked locations, those joining the junction or roundabout have priority over those emerging from the right or on the roundabout. Great eh? The Priorite a Droit sign (shown right) applies to traffic interaction at the next junction. In many towns, priorite a droit applies. This is a measure to calm traffic without using speed bumps as you have to always expect traffic to be emerging from the right and give way. It also keeps French body-shops in business.

Motorways (Autoroutes) These are quite often, but not always toll roads. Tolls can seem quite high but you do get to drive on a generally clear road with an exceptional standard of construction. Payment can usually be made at the toll booths (always aim for a manned booth) using Mastercard or Visa cards or cash. They say, Dollars, Euros or Swiss Francs can be used but I’d strongly recommend against trying anything but Euros. I’ve heard anecdotally that some rural, unmanned toll exit booths do not accept cash but I have never been able to verify this.

The Autoroute service has it’s own website [In English!] which allows you to plan your routes, calculate toll prices, see traffic conditions and generally learn about the Autoroute system.

When driving on the autoroutes, stay in the right lane. If you intend to overtake, indicate left, maintain your left indicator as you pass and then move back in. It is illegal to cruise in the overtaking lane in France. If a French motorcyclist then passes you waggling their foot, do not be alarmed; they are thanking you for pulling in. If, instead, they make an obscene gesture or shake their fist, they are upset with your driving. Try to drive more French.

All speed limit signs in France are denoted in KM/h

Autoroute Speed Limits

• Under normal conditions - 130 km/h (80 mph)
• In rain or wet road conditions - 110 km/h (70 mph)
• In heavy fog, snow or icy conditions - 50 km/h (30 mph)

Normal Road Speed Limits

• Dual Carriageway - 110km/h (70mph)
• Dual Carriageway, Wet conditions or rain - 100km/h (60mph)
• Open Road - 90km/h - (55mph)
• Open Road, Wet conditions or rain - 80km/h (50mph)
• Towns 50km/h (30mph)

Speeds in general

Stick to the speed limit, the French tear around like lunatics but you should let them, they are only trying to prove their prowess before you. Aside from that, the Gendarmes are rather inclined to pull speeding Brits at the roadside and alleviate them of some of their holiday currency. You can be fined on the spot, in cash. If you do not have the cash, you can be driven to a cash point or your car impounded. Always get a receipt

If a Frenchman flashes his headlights at you when passing the other way, don’t worry, your silly-looking roof-box isn’t coming away from the car, rather they are warning you of a police speed trap ahead. Giving warnings like this is, of course, illegal but the French must be overly partial to watching ‘Smokey and the Bandit’.

There are usually no speed limit signs for towns. You enter the 50km/h limit as you pass the town boundary sign (name of town on signpost) and remain in the town speed limit until you pass the same type of sign with a line through it.

Speed camera/trap detectors are illegal in France. Get caught with one by the Gendarmes and you will be fined, even if it’s switched off in your boot. The device will be confiscated. Even worse, if the device is integrated with your car, they will confiscate the entire vehicle! Basically, leave your radar/laser detector in the UK. GPS-only camera alert devices are legal as far as I know.

If you exceed the limit by 30km/h, you will be fined and banned from driving in France (this may be reflected on your UK licence under new agreements so watch out!) If you exceed the limit by 40km/h, you could be facing imprisonment. Once again, don’t speed.

Traffic lights They’re a lot like the ones we have in the UK, red at the top, amber in the middle and green at the bottom (Stop, Caution, Go). They also sometimes have a small displaced copy of the main lamp head placed part way down the pole facing the first car in the queue, a frankly brilliant idea which the British should have thought of and implemented by now! There is, of course, a gotcha: While the change-to-red pattern is the same as you’d expect, the change to green pattern doesn’t exist! It just goes Red>Green. This is a specially designed system to make British people look stupid. After the first couple of irate Frenchmen blow their horns at you for sitting on a green, you will learn.

Some traffic lights switch to flashing amber overnight. This basically means ‘take your life in your hands’ and cross with caution. As you pull out, there will likely be a Frenchman crossing the other way at warp-speed so watch out!

Vehicle Lights Never drive on sidelights only. Sidelights are considered more as parking lights and you should use dipped beam in low visibility, heavey rain or at night. You must adapt you headlights so the beam pattern does not blind oncoming drivers to your left. To do this on older cars, you need beam blockers which are usually adhesive panels that you stick to the front of the lens. These are designed for specific vehicles so you need to go to your local car accessories dealer and buy the right ones! If you have a slightly more modern car with projector headlamps, you can sometimes adjust the lamps temporarily to change the beam pattern. This should be discussed in your owner’s handbook. Some variants of new HID lamps are the worst offenders for blinding the oncoming traffic and they can also be a right mare to adjust. Possibly refer to a specialist before you go to set your HIDs as while you may get away with blinding a regular French motorist, you wont be so lucky if you blind the Gendarmes. The will issue you with an on-the-spot fine. Remember, unlike the UK, the French Police and Gendarmes still have a big presence out on the roads.

Child Seats No child under the age of 10 years is allowed to travel in the front seat of the vehicle. Children traveling in the rear must be properly restraining which in most cases means a proper child seat correctly attached to the vehicle. Children above 15kg in weight can use a regular seatbelt in the back when combined with a booster seat.

Equipment for Driving in France

Mandatory:

• GB Sticker affixed to rear left of car or GB EU plates front and rear
• Hazard Warning Triangle. Carry at least one to be placed way behind the car if you break down
• High Visibility Vest for every occupant of the vehicle to be worn in the event of breakdown, especially on the autoroutes

Recommended:

• Fire extinguisher
• First Aid Kit
• Complete spare set of bulbs for the car
• Spare wheel, jack and tools

Driving in Paris: Good luck! (You’ll need it)

Useful links:

Autoroute service

The AA Driving in France [PDF]

All the above constitutes nothing more than anecdotal advice and should not be relied to heavily upon. It is the responsibility of *you*, the driver to *know* what you are doing before you go

Tags: autoroutes, driving in france, driving on the right, equipment, french driving, safety, tolls