Mayor of London welcomes 2009 Revolve Brighton to London Eco-Rally on Green Car Day

LONDON - After the success of the inaugural Eco-Rally in 2007, Revolve, the organisers of this event, promise another spectacular day. The twenty vehicles travelling from Brighton to London include many of the finalists in the World Car Awards, and the accompanying exhibition at City Hall includes a wide range of zero-emission vehicles, from mopeds to taxis to vans.

“The world’s car industry is at a turning point. In Britain, we need to be at the leading edge of the development of low carbon vehicles and green manufacturing."
- Lord Mandelson

The Green Car Day will celebrate how the motor industry is rising to this challenge. Highlights include: the first four-seater electric cars available in Britain, the world's first serious electric sports car and the UK's first electric taxi.

This year’s Revolve Eco-Rally is not a race but rather a way for the auto industry and energy suppliers to show how practical the vehicles are to drive on a day to day basis and to inspire people to rethink their transport needs.

TV Presenter, Quentin Willson, will launch the rally at 08:00, at the famous Madeira Drive in Brighton on Monday 8th of June, departing from the sea front at 10:00 with a pit-stop at Sainsbury's flagship eco store in Greenwich, from 11:30. The rally will be joined at this point by more city cars for the final route to the journey’s end at City Hall, London, where the convoy will be officially welcomed into the city by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

The Mayor is a strong advocate of green issues and his aim is to cut carbon emissions in London by 60 per cent by 2025 and June the 8th marks London’s Green Car Day.

The Mayor of London said:

“The Revolve Eco-Rally is a great way to promote the use of less polluting, low carbon transport which I am also championing in the capital. So I am delighted that for the first time, the 2009 Eco-Rally will draw to a triumphant close right outside London’s City Hall”.

City Hall is central to the day’s events; it will host the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) Conference, welcome the Revolve Eco-Rally and, later in the day, the Mayor's chamber will be the venue for the What Car? Green Car Awards.

There will be familiar faces driving the cars including: actor and writer Robert Llewellyn, motor-racing legend John Surtees, Barron Bassam of Brighton, the House of Lords Chief Whip, Zac Goldsmith, environmentalist and Conservative parliamentary candidate, and the ‘Queen of Green’, TV presenter Penny Poyzer.

The cars will be fuelled in a number of green ways, including hydrogen, bio-methanol/ethanol and renewable electricity courtesy of Southern Electric, all showing the versatility of the different, environmentally-friendly fuels. 

The Schedule

08:00-10:00                 Madeira Drive, Brighton, West Sussex, BN2 1PS
11:30-13:30                 Sainsbury’s, 55 Bugsby’s Way, London, SE10 0QJ
14:00-19:30                 City Hall, London, SE1 2AA

Full details of the route and location can be viewed at http://www.eco-rally.org/2009_brighton-to-london_eco-rally_route

What Car?
What Car? Is the UK’s leading source of information and advice on new and used cars.   http://www.whatcar.com

Southern Electric
Part of Scottish & Southern Energy - the UK’s leading supplier of renewable energy, Southern Electric are sponsoring the electric vehicle charging points and entering a two-man driving team. www.southern-electric.co.uk

Release dated Thursday 4th June, 2009

- ENDS -

Vehicles on Display: 

Forty unique low carbon vehicles were on display at City Hall, half of which took part in the 2009 Brighton to London Eco-Rally. 90% were from the world's major car brands and many of the cars and/or components are designed and built in Britain. The remainder were British innovation firms.

The cars were driven by a diverse range of familiar faces including magicians, comedians, designers, politicians and authors.

Seen at

- Any -Start (Brighton)Pit StopFinish LineFinish Line Exhibition (all day)

Green Attributes

- Any -Active aerodynamicsLightweight-materialsRenewable materialsFlexi-fuelRegenerative brakingSafetySolarWind power

Type

- Any -Entertainment / EducationalScooters & MotorcyclesShort journey vehiclesSports cars / racing carsSuperminisFamily cars & MPVsTaxis & PedicabsLuxury vehiclesSUVs & 4x4sLight/medium goods vehiclesHeavy goods vehiclesTransport Services & Infrastructure AccessoriesControl / benchmark

Availability

- Any -Production modelsWorking prototypesFuture concepts

Fuel / Propulsion

- Any -ammonia fuel cellbiodieselbioethanolbiomethanecooking oilCNGcompressed airdieselelectric lead batteryelectric lithium batteryelectric silicon batteryelectric metal hydride batteryhuman power (pedal)hydrogen combustion enginehydrogen fuel cellLPGmethanolpetrolpure plant oil

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