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No Static For Electric Dream
Earth Garden’s electric car has been a social butterfly since it made its debut in mid-February as a star exhibit at the Sustainable Living Festival in Melbourne’s Federation Square. From 16 to 19 February, tens of thousands of people peered under the bonnet, examined the boot and marvelled at the little car as it sat in the shadow of Finders Street Station at one of Australia’s busiest intersections. The irony of three days of intensive car fumes pouring over us, as we talked about the emission-free car seemed lost on many people, but it was encouraging to see how many were genuinely excited about the Blade Runner. Since that weekend, the car has also been featured on Channel Seven’s ‘Today Tonight’ program, with Blade Electric Vehicles owner, Ross Blade, taking the car for a spin on camera and explaining its benefits. I did a radio interview with Michael MacKenzie from Radio National’s ‘Bush Telegraph’ that turned out to be great fun. Michael waited for me outside the ABC Southbank studio and as I drove up he began recording an interview onto his portable tape recorder. All was going well as we inspected the motor, hopped in the car and then prepared to take off for a drive around Melbourne’s Botanic Gardens. But then – disaster — I couldn’t start the car! I nervously fumbled with switches, dials, and knobs as Michael and I chatted away, recording the whole episode. Heavy breathing, a dry mouth, and finally the penny dropped: I’d accidentally knocked the ‘Emergency cut-off switch’ and hadn’t pushed it back in all the way. Can you imagine a worse advertisement for an electric car? Luckily, all went well after that and the interview was good fun. Next, the Blade Runner was on display for three days at the HIA Home Ideas Show in Melbourne. Thousands more people inspected every par of the car, and Ross Blade then delivered the car back to Trentham for our Office Manager, Karen Sandow, to spend a few weeks driving the car to and from the office (around 50 km per day). Karen was surprised how “zippy” the car was. “It drives like a normal car and I’m surprised how powerful it is.” In early May the car was again on display for three days as the central exhibit on the Australian Technology Show Case stand at the Enviro 08 Exhibition. The car is also on display at the Going Green Expo (see the back cover) at Jeff’s Shed (The Melbourne Exhibition Centre at Docklands) from 5 to 8 June, next to the Earth Garden stall. Drop in if you get a chance! The car has now done more than 2000 km without a hitch, and it’s a total delight. Car Name Gee — our flippant little request for name suggestions for the new Earth Garden electric company car has really struck a chord with readers. We’ve been flooded with entries, and we’ve loved reading through all the comments, and having a chuckle at some of the ideas. Karen, our hard-working Office Manager nicknamed the car BEVerley: it was built by BEV in Castlemaine. Read through some of the submissions below, and see if you agree with my choice at the end . . . ‘Sunshine Express’ was suggested by Ian Valentine of Bundaberg. ‘Sunshine’ or ‘Marigold’, by Bob and Lorraine Salthouse of Qld. ‘Sunshine”’ again, by Jenny Chapman. ‘Eggbert’ (a clever acronym) by Kirrie and Jamie. ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ by Michael Cleary of Seaford Vic. ‘GetzSmart’ by Steve Stahl of Bellbrae, Victoria. ‘EcoEgg’, or ‘EggNog’, by Mel’s daughter. ‘The Bumblebee’ by Kylie Willingham of Torquay, Vic. ‘Sola-Yella’, by Chris Hunt and tribe of Quorrobolong, NSW. ‘Earth Spirit’ by Bob and Margaret Causton. ‘Sunflower Power’, ‘Solar EGG’, and ‘Solarbarrow’ by Lindi Bowen of Bald Hills, QLD. And the winner is . . . I’ve decided I like ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ best. And ‘Sunny’ for short. Congratulations to Michael Cleary of Seaford in Victoria. Michael has won a copy of Solar That Really Works! the fabulous guide to DIY solar by Collyn Rivers, and a copy of The Good Life Bread Book, Earth Garden’s superb new full-colour bread-and-living book. |
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