ok... it's not politics altho some may see it as such.. but maybe it's news...
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has anyone heard of this...
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MessageZero Race - Traffic Disruption on the Avenue de la Paix on Monday, 16 August 2010, as of 1 p.m.


The Geneva Police have informed us that on Monday, 16 August 2010, the departure of a race around the world in 80 days in electric cars will be taking place at the Place des Nations entrance to the United Nations, between the flags. The convoy will be heading to Cancún, Mexico, where a conference on climate change will be taking place, and then returning to Geneva.

A considerable number of cyclists will be participating in this race. Some of them may await the departure between the flags, while the others will remain on the Place des Nations. The official ceremony, with speeches, will start at 1 p.m. The race itself will start at 1.30 p.m. with the departure of the vehicles and cyclists through the United Nations gate. The event is expected to attract many journalists.

Traffic on the Avenue de la Paix could well be disrupted.


http://www.zero-race.com/en/route/

I'm curious to see how the trucks are going to make it over the Pacific and Atlantic oceans...

oh don't be so foolish!!!

didn't you ever see James Bond?

I more interested to know how:

1) The ships will be zero emissions
2) The cars themselves have been manufactured with zero emissions
3) The cars themselves have been manufactured without depleting precious metal reserves and/or production of heavy metals
4) The cars themselves will be recharged with zero emissions.

It is a load of steaming bull emissions.

I'm sure they'd be happy to answer your questions monday ...
see you on the plaza at 1.00pm .

Pay attention how was I meant to get from Zurich to Geneva in 90minutes.

I could get a helicopter, but I'm kind of guessing that would defeat the object.

let me edit that.

1.oo pm MONDAY, the day the race kicks off and the press conference is held.


there we go.

My bad. Shame my old car will have gone back to the UK by then - it's the anti-christ to Prious drivers.

let me edit that


My bad. Shame my old car will have gone back to the UK by then - it's the anti-christ to Prius drivers.


spelling counts.


so what is the anti-Christ-mobile you speak of?

EDIT : just to set the record straight... I'm not advertising (ok ok, I guess I am ) or advocating this race... just...errr... reporting it as it happens to kick off in my back yard.

I had it right the first time - it is the clever combination of Pious and Pri**

It was a Volvo 760 GLE - complete with an engine that began development in 1969. On a good day it would do 13l/100km - without a catalytic converter. When I owned it in London I used to bully my way through traffic trying to find Prius drivers to sit in front of and pointlessly rev the engine!!

Well, if anybody saw the movie The Great Race, there's another answer:

C'mon. That's not fair. With a negative attitude like that we'll never get practical alternatives to fossil fuels. They're not pretending the event will have no environmental impact. The buzz words are "sustainable technology," "energy efficiency" and "renewable energy."

I'd rather have a realistic approach like this aimed at developing cleaner alternatives than simply getting on a soapbox and banging on about how bad cars are and calling for absolute bans or unrealistic carbon emission targets. In the real world, it's a far more pragmatic attitude in my opinion. And certainly better than sticking your head in the sand or not getting off your butt to plan for the inevitable.

To answer your questions - it's all on the website if you bother to look - what they're trying to do is prove it's possible to drive around the world in energy efficient, electric cars powered by renewable energy (wind power, solar power etc) in order to attract interest and possible investment in the concept. The cars themselves have to be "sustainable", which I assume means they have to be made in an energy efficient way out of recyclable eco-friendly materials. Seems to me they're doing their best to minimize the environmental impact of the event and manage it in as carbon neutral a way as as possible. What's so bad about that?

and...............................they're off !!


"they" being a rather wet looking collection of two cars and a motorbike... (South Korean team didn't seem to show up ) and a few people on bicycles.

Not the best day for solar powered vehicles to be heading out but best of luck to them.

"Tour of the northern hemisphere" would be a more accurate description than "Around the world"!

The record for shortest time taken to CYCLE around the world requires the rider to cross the equator and pass two spots that are almost opposite each other in terms of longitude AND latitude (plus there is a minimum number of kms that must be ridden and a few other requirements). The proposed route for this race seems to stay entirely in the northern hemisphere, so this should not be considered a PROPER around the world route.

Oh well, never mind, none of the news stations that they're hoping to get coverage on will pick up on this technicality, so I guess it doesn't really matter for their main purpose of garnering publicity. Best of luck to them!

can you say... ped'an'tic ?

I think they are back....

The round-the-world race of three battery-driven vehicles ended on Thursday successfully in Geneva after a trip of 28 ' 000 kilometers. The Swiss crew of Oerlikon Solar obtained most points, in front of the German and Australian teams.

The fourth vehicle, South Korean, had to abandon the race after one thousand kilometers. Three other battery-driven vehicles had only " small technical problems ", asserted the organizer of this race without CO2 emissions, Louis Palmer.

Three crews kissed each other upon their arrival in the Palais des Nations, where they were welcomed with applauses by representatives of the UNO. They had left the same place on August 16th and crossed Europe, Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Canada, the United States to join Mexico at the time of the conference of Cancun on the climate at the end of November.

Then they joined Geneva by Morocco, Spain and France. " The most difficult were for the teams to hold out physically at the rate of approximately 500 km a day ", asserted Louis Palmer.

The change is possible

" Electric motor cars and renewable energies are our future. The change is possible ", declared the environmentalist activist who had already become famous in 2007 and 2008 by making the first world tour in solar taxi without consuming a drop of fuel.

The Swiss crew of "Zerotracer" of Oerlikon Solar, Tobias Wülser and Frank Loacker, received the maximum of points given by local juries during the race according to 40 criteria, as the power of acceleration, the design, the safety, the reliability. The German team of "Vectrix", an electric scooter, arrived second, in front of the Australian vehicle "Trev".

" It is a historic moment in the history of the automobile. This race showed that it is possible to do without fossil fuels ", congratulated itself a representative of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Sylvie Motard.

" This race shows us the example. We have all to win the running against the climate change ", asserted for its part the Chief Executive Officer of the UNO Sergei Ordzhonikidze. " We can win only if we make all together changes in our everyday life ", he underlined.

Translated by Reverso Online Engine.

the article in French

yes I meant to post something but was... otherwise occupied ... the cars were on display under "the big chair" at noon/time today.

Between Los Angeles and Cancun, there is high probability they will be carjacked.

Bloody hell that was quick.



Then I saw the date of the original post

"At which point a Swiss policeman handed them fines for not displaying a motorway sticker"