Feeling Congested

Where in Australia is this?

Everyone seems to driving Volvos...

...on the wrong side of the road.

Then I spotted the sign on the far side of the road, "ULLEVI MOTET"

Ah, the picture has been reversed and that should read "IVELLU TETOM".

But hang on, that doesn't make sense either and the E and L's would need to be backwards.

So I looked up Ullevi Motet on Google and found we were in Gothenburg, Sweden.

That would explain the Volvos.

I probably wouldn't have given this article in Australian car site CarAdvice.com.au a second glance if it hadn't been for that photo.  It is about New South Wales using V2I (vehicle to Infrastructure) technology to turn traffic lights green for large commercial vehicles (lorries) travelling about Sydney.  It's all about reducing congestion and pollution in the city.

Sounds very much like my story last year about the same technology being used for patient transport ambulances.  So it comes with the same problems and associated risks.

The commenters on the story keep talking about the M4 motorway which again made me question the Australian-ness of the story given that the M4 is the motorway here in the UK that links South Wales to London.

But apparently there is another M4 motorway in New South Wales.

I think that road should be called "New M4".

But it isn't.

Perhaps Sydney should be looking at the other end of our M4.  The London Congestion Charge seems to be a more effective method of controlling traffic.  The BBC asked if it was working back in 2013, ten years after it was introduced. The concensus is good although it does seem to depend on who you talk to.

Meanwhile, over in Paris, they are going for the shutting off roads to traffic at certain times option.  Successive mayors have been implementing these prohibitions for a while now - I criticised one back in 2012.  The BBC cover the latest score there today.  Here's a picture of it looking more Australian:

Shell-Shock

I find it very difficult to criticise anything Gordon Murray has done.

After all, he designed the McLaren F1.

 

He also designed the very clever T25, which doesn't look awful in black:

Although really doesn't suit turquoise:

 

Don't know why, but it reminds me of one of these:

And if you want to know more about those, read this article.

But both Autoguide & Fox have the story I am posting about today.  The Fox one is littered with the usual anti-Democrat bile in the comments section that they love there so much so I'll link to the Autoguide version.  The story is how Shell, Gordon Murray and Geo Technology (No, never heard of them either) have teamed up to produce a concept car - an actual working, extremely fuel-efficient, extremely lifetime energy efficient concept car.

I suspect that Shell put up most of the money because it is painted in their colours and I'm not convinced that BP or Texaco or any other fuel company couldn't have come up with equally slippery lubricants.

Now I know that last week, I slated the looks of the Mahindra e2o.

And a while back I commented on how covered in wheels are ugly.

But this is taking things to extremes:

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This is another one of those "Oh God No" moments.  Like the thankfully short-lived Aston Cygnet and the unfortunately not so short-lived Renault Twizy before it, the Mahindra e2o is about to start polluting British roads.

Although, like the Twizy, it will only be polluting our roads with its looks - for it is electric.

This picture shows the posh version - with leather seats and alloy wheels.

The story is covered by Autocar today.  They say it will only be available online and they will sell for £12,995 (or £15,995 if you want the posh version).  They also say it will seat four but doesn't specify the size or species of those four.  That isn't a distorted photo - it really is that thin and tall.

Looking at that number plate, the 2 is subscripted so it is meant to read like H₂O - if they had just called it that, then they could have said it was hydro-electric.

But they didn't.

Looking for positives, I suppose it could work as a metropolitan delivery vehicle.  The only other positive I can see is that it replaces the G-Wiz.  That horrible little thing mixed serious ugliness with serious lack of safety.

The question is, how safe is the e2o?  Apparently, the Wiz didn't have Euro NCAP rating because it counted as a quadracycle - this e2o is apparently an M1 Certified vehicle.  The e2o apparently doesn't have an Euro NCAP rating because they only test "high volume cars". 

Hmmm - that's not really an answer then is it?  All that the M1 certification means is that it is "designed and constructed for the carriage of passengers and comprising no more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat".

Don't think I'd be happy travelling in one.

The article quotes Mahindra's electric boss, Arvind Mathew, a lot.  Does that mean you have to plug him in?  Anyway, he said the car, which is built in Bangalore, could be produced in the UK if demand exceeds expectations. "If the volume goes through the roof, I'd be happy to assemble the car in the UK," he confirmed.

By which time, Euro NCAP would have got interested.

And we would know if they rated it any higher than I do - one star for not being a G-Wiz.

(White) Household Name?

Spitting Image used to joke that Ronald Reagan had a very poor memory.

They implied that he renamed his staff according to their jobs to make it easier for him.

This had a lot to do with the fact that his Press Secretary who gave announcements to the press...

...was called Larry Speakes.

Obviously just a silly joke.

Today's car story is from Fox News and concerns this man who is selling this Oldsmobile Cutlass that used to belong to Hillary Clinton.

He worked as a gardener in the White House for nearly 30 years.  His name is Mike Lawn. He bought the car for his daughter at a White House auction.  But she wasn't that keen on it because she thought it was an "old lady's car."

I suppose the clue is in the name - Oldsmobile.

Although here is Kristen Stewart in one - in a movie named "Cutlass":

 

And I haven't a clue who this lady is with a Cutlass but she doesn't look very old either:

 

Trailer Trash?

About this time last week, The Top Gear Team published this trailer on YouTube:

Today, I found this one from Hammond, May & Clarkson:

The first one got absolutely slammed by the commenters.  And, much as it pains me to say it - I can see where they are coming from.  It looks like Evans & Co. are trying too hard to be like Clarkson & Co.  The second clip shows why Clarkson & Co. just don't need to try at all - it's just over a minute of light comedy plugging the new Amazon Prime show.  The only cars in it are a set of parked Reliant Robins - older incarnations of the Rialtos modified by Evans & Co for new Top Gear.  I think these are their new "Company Cars" - reinforcing the doddery old men image that James May in particular is happy to promote - did you see that white beard he had in James May: The Reassembler?

Trouble is, he is only four years older than me.