Last month saw the finish of the Zero Race, an 80-day race spanning 28,000km and 16 countries. Entrants drove from the starting point in Geneva to Shanghai, from Vancouver to Cancun, and from Casablanca back to Geneva. What is different about the Zero Race is that all the entrants produced zero emissions.
The Australian entrant was Team Trev from the University of South Australia, an innovative 3-wheeled electric car. There is a comprehensive web site called TREVipedia with all the info required to build a Trev. I was particularly fortunate in seeing Trev over a year ago when it was still in the prototype stage (photo above).
Team Trev has demonstrated that it is not just possible to design and build a low-cost vehicle powered by renewable energy, but that it is also possible to run it using a whole lot LESS energy. The energy cost of Trev's entire journey was less than A$400 worth of energy, incidentally electricity generated from a wind farm in South Australia.
In contrast, the best commercially available hybrid vehicles would consume over A$1,500 worth of fuel (28,000km @ 4 liters/100km = 1120 liters x A$1.40/liter = A$1,568).
Below is a photo of Trev successfully crossing the finish line in Geneva, at the United Nations Palais de Nations.
Trev's success is timely in that it reminds us of the potential of electric vehicles to transform the global transportation industry. Electric vehicles like Trev are more efficient and cheaper to operate. Imagine an entire transportation system dominated by electric vehicles. Clean; efficient; quiet.
Today in Australia there is a furious debate over the introduction of a carbon price. Instead of fixating on the short-term costs associated with a carbon price, we should be asking ourselves what we stand to lose if we don't invest in tomorrow's clean technologies. Countries that are early adopters of clean energy and electric vehicles will create substantial economic wealth.
Trev has shown that innovation in this area is alive and well in Australia. Let's embrace it!