Welcome to the first world tour of a vehicle powered only by solar energy!
Solar Taxi in Shanghai17.05.2008
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Reaching Shanghai means the Solar Taxi has completed just on 30,000 kilometres of its journey round the world. Here Louis Palmer gets “shanghiaed” into a spontaneous press conference on the highway and takes a ride in the world’s fastest electric-powered vehicle. But his team is becoming exhausted.
We’re not allowed to drive on the highways in the entire province of Shanghai because of security concerns. Intense media reporting here has made the Solar Taxi famous and it attracts lots of attention wherever it goes, leading to traffic jams and risky overtaking. Nearing Shanghai though, not every police officer seems to be aware of the ban and one car, blue lights and siren on, leads us back onto the highway, or rather, onto the emergency lane. Suddenly two camera teams jump out of the police car and three TV broadcast vans pull up behind us for a spontaneous press conference on the highway, while the police redirect traffic into a single lane. Their security concerns have apparently been forgotten.
Later we enjoy a view of Shanghai’s amazing skyline by night from the Yangtze River. Gazing at the crowd of glittering skyscrapers, I can easily believe that a new one is inaugurated every week.
The Shock of my China Trip So Far
Of course Frank and I want to try out the Shanghai Transrapid. We thunder along at an incredible 430 km/h past gardens and highways out to the airport. It jolts and rumbles along and all the passengers hold tight as if it might take off.
SHANGHAI: THE YANGTZE DELTA’S GLITTERING METROPOLIS
The Solar Taxi is parked in a busy spot; at the entry to Chinas biggest photovoltaics trade fair. Here it is the star of the show by day, but at night it stands alone in the dark and I can’t find the security guard the organizer promised me. Returning at midnight to find still no security guard standing there, I decide to move the Solar Taxi. I go to get in and get the shock of my China trip. A security guard is asleep inside the Solar Taxi! I’m exhausted, so I soon fall into bed myself.
The whole team is exhausted from this long trip. We have driven for almost six weeks without a break to get to the renewable energies trade fair. We’re very happy to have made it to Shanghai and completed two-thirds of our trip around the world, but we’re also all unwell, with headaches, sore throats and coughs. We need a rest, and soon!
We’re scheduled to drive on to Beijing tomorrow but we’ll wait and see how we are in the morning.