Speed Demon
I have seen the future of the automobile – and it’s sleek, sexy and fast as hell. It’s also environmentally-friendly.
On Monday, I took part in the annual Eco-Rally from Brighton to London. It’s a showcase for the new technologies that are greening automobiles of all shapes and sizes.
On a day of wind and patchy sunshine, fifteen of us drove a convoy of state-of-the-art sedans, sports cars and vans from the south coast of England to City Hall beside Tower Bridge in London. Our vehicles were powered by everything from solar energy to electricity to vegetable oil – with petrol and diesel often playing a part, too (think hybrids). Many of the cars were built using green materials and methods.
What does all this have to do with Slow?
Quite a lot, actually. We have allowed traffic to blight our towns and cities. A central plank of the Slow revolution is to take back the streets from the automobile.
That means a lot less driving and a lot more walking, cycling, scootering, rollerblading, street football and parties, road hockey, etc. Building a strong public transport network should be a top priority for every politician. As should cutting carbon emissions.
When it comes to cars, less is more.
But let’s be honest: there will always be a need (not to mention a desire) for private automobiles that can shuttle us from A to B. The key then is to make these vehicles as green as possible. And that is were the Eco-Rally comes in.
On Monday, I drove the Lotus Eco Elise. It’s a zippy, no-nonsense roadster with an engine that growls like an irked lion. The interior is lined with hemp and eco-wool.
My passenger was the clever and rather beautiful founder of a green consultancy. So picture the scene: hot car, hot blonde, heading-for-middle-age me at the wheel.
I felt like I’d stumbled into someone’s mid-life crisis. Possibly my own.
But the highlight of the day was taking the Tesla for a spin. There is only one word for this car: Wow! It is totally electric and almost completely silent, which means zero air and noise pollution. It also looks like something James Bond would drive, neatly obliterating the old saw that eco-friendly means boring and worthy.
And did I mention that the Tesla is mind-blowingly quick? We’re talking 0-60 MPH in 3.9 seconds. I have never felt acceleration like it. This is the kind of G-force you experience in a souped-up supercar, or a jet fighter.
The Tesla is a breakthrough. Okay, it costs a small fortune. But it shows that we can build zero-emission cars without sacrificing style, performance or sex appeal. And already a cheaper four-door model is coming to market.
But what about all that speed?
As an advocate of Slow, I certainly felt a pang of guilt climbing into the Tesla. But I have to admit that the unease didn’t last long. After the first surge of acceleration, I was whooping like a teenager on a rollercoaster. It was a bit terrifying, but also hugely exhilarating.
Can drivers be trusted with that kind of power at their fingertips? Can I be trusted? I have my doubts.
Which probably means I should stop fantasizing about getting a Tesla for Christmas …
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I favour everything you say, but I must admit to being guilty of being on speed when I commute by bike or roller blade. Only public transport slows me down because I have no control of the gas pedal…..
Comment by Eric Kaufmann
— June 10, 2009 @ 6:48 am
I know what you mean, Eric. When I’m on my blades, I like to feel the wind in my air.
Inferior public transport is all about “bad slow.” The London Tube system is closed down for a strike right now and you can imagine how much fun that is for everyone…
Comment by Carl Honoré
— June 10, 2009 @ 8:34 am
Carl,
It was a pleasure to have you as a driver in the Eco-Rally ‘09 and hope our paths cross again soon!
I look forward to your next book.
Alex
Comment by Alex
— June 17, 2009 @ 7:29 pm
Hi Carl - it was great to see you at the eco-rally and as a girl who promotes, ‘Slow Down and Green Up’, I agree with your sentiments - it was quite a quandry for me too…but I was in a solid old Volvo S40, a bit more of a family ride.
I think horseshoeing my butt into one of the sexier sporty selection would have been fine, but getting out, quite another matter…
You looked every bit the King of Slow in the Prince of Speed and it was great to see so many advances in cleaner transportation technologies, which of course is being hammered out at a racing pace to bring it to the mass market…all such food for thought.
But you simply cannot beat a little walking!
Penney Poyzer and I strolled along the moonlit beach at midnight, completely chilled, communicating and chewing the cud…something you sports car fellas struggled to do in your sassy rides en route to the big smoke!
Long live comfy shoes, banter and giggles,
Much love,
Trace x
Comment by Tracey Smith
— June 18, 2009 @ 3:55 am
enough of the love-in! If there is a ‘need’ as you put it for the car, then the Tesla is not it. Or even the right sort of it.
For a start, the one that does 0-60 in 3.9 seconds is a 2 seater that takes up loads of space on the raod by being a car. For just 2 people. It is not, for example, an ambulance - or even remotely like one. Ditto a hearse.
On Hearses -
Yes it proves we can make fast things just as dangerous as conventional cars are.
Hooray.
Ollie
http://olivermoore.blogspot.com
Comment by ollie
— June 21, 2009 @ 5:41 pm
I disagree, Ollie.
I think there will always be a need for some version of the car. Public transport is wonderful, and must be our top priority - but it will never entirely give us the freedom of movement that we crave.
The Tesla technology is remarkable, and shows the way forward for building engines with zero emissions. What’s not to like about that? As I said in the post, Tesla is bringing out cheaper sedan version that can carry four people.
But I’m not sure I understand your objection to the 2-seater. Does it really hog that much more space on the road per passenger? I’m not so sure - it’s a very small car.
And even if it did, is that the end of the world? I don’t see anything wrong with having a range of zero emissions cars on the road. Not everything has to be an ambulance. Or a hearse.
If you’re going to win the argument for environmentally friendly transport, then you have to make room for the fact that people don’t want boring, one-size-for-all, worthy cars. They want variety and they want fun.
That said, I couldn’t agree more about the danger that the Tesla presents. Too much speed in the wrong hands…
Comment by Carl Honoré
— June 26, 2009 @ 4:43 am
The issue with the 2 seater is not its size compared to a four seater, its that it is a two seater. Thus, it can never carry more than two, and is (almost) useless for car pooling.
And if you don’t have kids/partner and thus don’t need more than a two seater, you in fact don’t really need a car. You need a bike, or a motorbike, or to live near work.
A two seater sports car still has the large front engine, boot, chassis – most of the same stuff and indeed size as a four seater. Importantly, it takes up almost the same amount of space on the road as a four seater, which leads to ‘rush’ hour gridlock, ‘accidents’ i.e. collisions on the road, pollution and all the rest of it.
That’s the problem with 2 seaters.
Re the eco bit: zero emissions fine to a point depending upon where your electricity comes from. However, and here’s the crucial bit, making a car is a huge part of the problem, as regards water and resource use in general. I’d love to know how the Tesla fares here. I’m sure they will have a decent spin prepared, but cars use up about 150,000 litres of water alone in their construction typically.
Moreso, justifying the drive towards a new big shiny red 2 seater, upgraded every two years, or even every year – I worry about that. You can’t balme the car itself that ppl buy a new one every year, but you can critique the practice.
A mindset that revels in the bling and bravado of the tesla is part of the problem – its partly why we are where we are environmentally. And of course socially - ie deaths on the road. I’m glad you acknowledge this at least. But why is it even technically allowable that cars available to anyone other than the police can travel faster than 80 mph? Personal responsibility is one thing - technically possibilities of the car are another. Does the tesla 2 seater roadster add to the cult of speed and all its negative consequences in cars? at 14,000 rpm I’d say yes.
These days, in cities, it is not unusual for someone under 35 to not even know how to drive, and to cycle to work. Not even eco types, just urban dwellers using the city constructively.
I suppose I worry that you are given the oxygen of publicity to what can be termed partially environmentally friendly 2 seater cars. Certainly 2 seater cars are not socially constructive vehicles -we simply don’t have the space for them where they are most intended for use: in cities.
http://olivermoore.blogspot.com
Comment by ollie
— June 29, 2009 @ 3:25 pm
Hi again, Ollie, Much to ponder here. We agree on some points but not on others.
Let’s start with where we agree. It is true that a zero emissions engine is only truly “zero emissions” if the electricity that powers it is completely green. And we’re a long way from that. But you can’t blame that failing on Tesla-style technology. It’s up to all of us to make clean electricity a global priority.
It is also true that the actual building of a car takes a heavy toll on the environment. Indeed, it is often more “green” to keep running an older emissions-producing vehicle than it is to replace it with a spanking new “zero emissions” job. We need to break this toxic habit of upgrading our cars every couple of years – could not agree with you more on that.
My car (the only one I’ve ever owned) is nearly 12-years-old. It runs well, is reasonably good on emissions and I have no desire to upgrade. As I’ve said many times before, I find cars boring and my heart sinks when people (usually men) start talking about them. My worst nightmare would be to be stranded on a desert island with Jeremy Clarkson.
Now let’s look at where we disagree.
Firstly, I question one of your basic assumptions. You say that these days is is no longer unusual for someone under 35 not to know how to drive. That may be true in big European cities, which were built before the era of the automobile. It is not true in the New World. I grew up in Canada and I can tell you that anyone who doesn’t drive there (and in most of North America – Manhattan being the most obvious exception) is still a pariah.
And paradoxically the same thing happens outside cities across Europe: people move to the country and end up driving everywhere. They may not need to, I hear you say, they could cycle or walk or rollerblade or scooter. Yes, well, they could and maybe they should. But they don’t.
I also disagree with this idea that we don’t have enough space for two-seater cars. If we’re going to reinvent our cities, and save the environment, then we have to slash the number of cars on the road. And I’m not talking about small cuts; I’m talking about reducing traffic, depending on the city, by 50% or more. I think car ownership should come down too, with people using car clubs or other sharing schemes instead. The bottom line is that there should be way fewer cars on the road.
Such a reduction would create enough room for cars of all sizes, including two-seaters.
Forgive me if I’m miscontruing your argument, but you seem to be advocating a world where the only cars available are all the same size – sensible four-seaters designed to ferry people to and from work in the city. You also say that if you don’t have kids or a partner, you don’t need a two-seater car – you need a bike, a motorbike or to live near work. That seems a rather limited view to me.
What if you want to drive out of the city alone or with a friend to spend a day on the coast or in a forest or to visit a farm? What if it’s raining hard or snowing? In most of Canada, there are at least four or five months a year when the roads are way too snowy and icy and cold for cycling or motorbiking. Public transport can fill the gap some of the time – and should be filling it much, much more than it does – but it will never cover all of our transport needs.
Even to me, a man with zero interest in cars, a world where all cars are the same seems awfully dull – and that is important.
If you want to change the world, you have to change people’s behaviour. And to do that you have to start with what people want – and then work from there to shape and channel that desire towards something ethically sound.
It simply doesn’t work the other way round. You can’t start with what people “should want”, and then try to persuade or coerce them to embrace it. There has to be an element of desire. That is the central lesson from the failure of the Communist experiment in Russia and Eastern Europe. People will turn up their noses at a world where all cars are earnestly identical. When was the last time you saw a Lada?
This is one of the cental challenges facing the environmental movement. How to make people want to be green, rather than feel grudgingly that they have to be. A friend of mine runs a very successful and very ethically sound environmental consultancy firm and his motto is: “You have to be having more fun than the other side, and they need to know it.”
Like it or not, that means green cars that thrill people.
But obviously there is a balance to be struck. I agree that the culture of bling and bravado has steered us into a royal mess. And trumpeting the joys of the Tesla may feed into that.
I wrote about the excitement I felt in the Tesla in order to underscore that being green could be fun and sexy, too. But I also pointed out that putting that kind of power into the hands of ordinary people might not be such a good idea. I can certainly see an argument for limiting the top speed of cars to 80mph.
It’s a fine line to tread. I spend most of my time singing the praises of slowness, so I figured I’d earned the right to wax lyrical about the Tesla.
Maybe you have to offer people a bit of speed in order to get them to slow down?
Comment by Carl Honoré 95.177.28.66 not found — July 2, 2009 @ 3:51 am
dear carl
my 9-year old daughter had a panic attack and had to rush her to ER last night… she is very much under pressure from school, from the teacher which my daughter says is mean to her and discriminating against her…. she feels she is behind in her class and her self esteem is getting lower… besides, a click of boys are annoying and teasing her… I had to keep her at home for two days and will talk to the teacher and the principal to move her from her section… I need your help PLZ.
Comment by leila 94.187.91.222 not found — January 14, 2010 @ 11:31 pm
Dear Leila, very sorry to hear about your daughter. I will write to you privately via email.
Comment by Carl Honoré
— January 15, 2010 @ 7:14 am