Met Justin Smith from Youth Media in a juice bar on Edgware Road. He’s been tremendously successful with his student communications business. We discussed a number of ways in which green messages might be included as part of his package. There’s so much that schools, universities and students could be doing to reduce their environmental impact, so it would be great to reach that audience.
On my way back from this meeting I spotted a vibrant coloured mini car – it turned out to be a G-Whiz waiting for test run. Simon Reed, a green design student, had been employed by Going Green , the company that imports G Whiz, to give demonstrations. When I asked if I could take a Simon’s photo, alongside the car, he kindly offered to give me a ride! I don’t often jump into cars with strange men but he looked quite safe, so I climbed inside.
We circled Marble Arch, whilst he told me that the car currently has a range of between 40-50 miles before it needs re-charging. To get the battery to full power, however, you need to leave it charging overnight. Although you can get it up to 80% charge in a couple of hours, this isn’t advisable because you’ll reduce the overall capacity of the battery, if you do this regularly. Later this year G Whiz will be switching to lithium batteries, which are more versatile and will last longer.
Given that I’m rather prone to running out of fuel, I asked what you do if you find yourself caught short. I was told that anyone buying a G Whiz gets one years free membership to the Environmental Transport Association – ETA and they’ll come and pick up your car and take it home.
