The Revolve Eco-Rally will be an Annual Event

The success of the first Revolve Eco-Rally has spurred us on to make it an annual event. As Quentin Willson put it: "everyone made it from Brighton to London, no-one broke down" adding "in fact there was not so much as a hiccup." Well Quentin, to be fair there were definitely some hiccups - not because of the propulsion technology - more to do with the usual road-trip dramas: human versus satellite navigation, London traffic, gate-crashers and Chinese whispers. The involvement of knowledgable celebrities, key decision-makers and most of the worlds' top motor-manufacturers ensured that the event was well covered by the press, including Hong Kong's most popular Chinese magazine.

Of course, there were the inevitable half-truths... one blog reported that HRH Prince of Wales drove the full course from Brighton to London. Others imagined it was a kind of whacky-racers event, with home-made contraptions roaring through quiet villages, tricked-out on chip-fat or covered in solar panels. More than one lobby group questioned the ethics and legality of "racing all those cars" down public roads on World Environment Day.

Luckily, most of the mainstream press and industry experts did get it right. Fuel Cell Today acknowledged that it was one of the largest events featuring working hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles: seven hydrogen/fuel cell vehicles participated in the rally and another three were on display in Trafalgar Square. If anyone knows of a bigger gathering of H2/FC vehicles in action, then please let us know.

Our very own 'Green Baron' - Lord Baron Bassam of Brighton - took part in the rally and regularly brings up the issue of reducing CO2 (transport emissions) in Parliament.


Download the full list of Eco-Rally Vehicles and Celebrity Drivers
View our Photo Gallery on Flickr
View Videos from the 2007 event