Ok, sorry I've been a bit remiss with posting the last couple of days. I'm in France - the Nogaro circuit - having just witnessed one of the unusual events in the alternative energy world, the Shell Eco-marathon. A competition, on a race track, between tiny 4 wheeled vehicles to see who can get the greatest mileage out of 1 litre of fuel.

The surprise to some of you will be that you can actually go a long way. The record is a staggering 3,400 km. The trick, obiviously, is to reduce weight to an absolute minimum.



















And to say that these vehicles, noddy cars really, are flimsy, is an understatement. What you are looking at here is a very thin plastic body shell.

Still, if the main emphasis of motor manufacturing moves from crash survival to
crash avoidance, then getting rid of a lot of weighty safety features creates masses of energy efficiency. And don't think that a lot of progress is being made towards this. I was suprised how few people at the event, had heard of the Loremo, going  into production in 2010, a car that promises 120 mpg.