I did once have a dishy date who collected me in his head turning yellow Lotus Elite. Sitting in the low slung passenger seat was an exhilarating – and breathless – experience.
Unlike other motor companies suffering deeply from the recession right now, high performance Lotus still seems to have its head above water and is not seeking a bail-out. In fact, it is planning to recruit more engineers later this year.
However, East Anglia’s car maker’s chief exec Mike Kimberley is fuming at the government’s lack of joined up thinking following his failed efforts to secure research funding for new technologies to further develop the motor industry. He has been refused twice on the grounds that the company was both “too big” and “too small” for a share of the £2 billion promised for the British auto industry.
The Eastern Daily Press today highlights the issue and Lotus’ disappointment in Lord Mandelson’s empty words:
“Trade secretary Lord Mandelson announced in January that the government would guarantee loans to car manufacturers and their suppliers to spend on research into greener motoring.
“But when Lotus asked for funds, it was told it was “too small” to secure a government-backed loan from the European Investment Bank.
“Lotus was then told it was “too big” to receive funds from the British government’s own loan scheme for small and medium-sized businesses.”
Ironically, we are reminded that ministers showed faith in the car marker’s green expertise last summer by awarding it a share of two contracts to develop a zero emission London taxi cab by 2012 and work on a more environmentally friendly executive vehicle. It should have ticked many of the right boxes.
So it won’t be loo long before you are zipping around our capital city in a Lotus too …..
*While we are still paying through the nose for fuel and clogging the atmosphere with carbon emissions, our London Mayor Boris Johnson has been swept away by a new public electric car hire scheme which will be been introduced in Paris at the end of the year. It does sound quite brilliant and ingenious.
The project would allow casual car users to pick up a publicly-owned, battery-powered, zero-carbon vehicle in one part of the
city and easily drop it off in another. There will be 700 pick-up points established across Paris, with 200 underground.
Called Autolib and the brainchild of the Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, the scheme involves placing 4,000 electric cars across Paris and its suburbs which drivers will be able to use at any time for a charge. I really like this idea, it sounds so simple and user friendly, as long as there are enough electric cars to go around.
In fact, Boris’s enthusiasm for this is so great that he has set up a working group – the London Electric Vehicle Partnership – to encourage the car industry to speed the delivery of new technology, and increase support for drivers of electric cars in the capital.
What coordinated strategy do we have to develop our future motor industry? How can it be successful if funding is denied for research and development? What vehicles will our kids be driving in say 10, 20 or even 50 years time? Will we be learning from other countries all the time instead of being innovative ourselves?
Why is Peter Mandelson still so prominent in politics ? What on Earth have we done to deserve him ?
Think how many public bikes have been stolen in Paris – how are they coping with public cars?
[…] Ellee Seymour explains why size matters in the car […]
I agree with electro-kevin. Why is Mandleson around? He must be the grimiest politician there is.
More here on the Velib freebie scheme
I’m always so impressed with how europe handles transportation… from public, to ev’s… that’s huge, and should be commended…
Oh come on Ellie. A tory taking a Labour minister to task because he WON’T give a handout to a foreign-owned car maker? You are turning into Mrs Dale.
DAvid, “you are turning into Mrs Dale” – I find that really amusing and feel very flattered. I shall take it as a compliment. 🙂
Ah yes, the collective failed capacity to see the perfectly obvious is affecting both sides of the pond (sigh) she said from the Colonies.
I think the domestic car industry is not going so badly as the press would have us believe. We may not be able to export but internal sales are going well!
The electric car hire scheme sounds a good one. There are cars available to hire per hour or something in Norwich (City Cars I think it is called) but I don’t think they are electric. I would try to manage without a car I think if I had easy access to one that I could hire as needed at short notice and close to hand.
The public bike thing always seems to work very well. Here you can free bikes from the local bar – they are fab Swedish bikes and they advertise the bar (Little Creatures) but you can use them for a day. Great idea. Shame they don’t provide free beer too.
Autolib is a smashing concept. Oh, and good for Lotus for hanging in. As a one time brief resident of East Anglia I’ve always wished them well. Wish I could afford one.
I agree that Autolib definately sounds good on paper, and hopefully it will be successful when the plan is implemented. I applaud Lotus for supporting the concept,
thanks,
http://chinesedemocracyforum.com