The Prince’s Start festival is about the warm up for the weekend as we look forward to the Eco Car Spectacular-just one element of the two week celebration of sustainable lifestyles.
While the Prince of Wales concludes his sustainable tour of the UK today, returning to London in his biofuel-powered Royal train, eco car curators Kevin McCloud and Roger Saul are set to race the train on the final leg of its journey from Birmingham to London. Roger and Kevin will each drive a Tesla Roadster model over 119 miles distance. The aim is to see who can achieve the lowest carbon footprint to the finishing line. Sounds straight forward enough, but the two cars will be subject to Friday afternoon traffic between the two cities; will they waste precious energy in a slow crawl to London?
The race is the lead up to the much anticipated Start Eco Car Spectacular set to take place this Sunday (September 12, 2010) on The Mall as part of The Prince of Wales Start initiative which aims to make green issues and sustainability fun and inspirational.
The Eco Car Spectacular will see two parades during the afternoon at 2pm and 3.30pm of the most exciting and innovative environmentally friendly cars, motorbikes, scooters and bicycles currently or soon to be on the market. Stars of the show will include the all-electric Tesla roadster, the Citroen Survolt racing car, Honda FCX Clarity, Lightning GT, the electric Think City, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, electric smart and Mini E cars as well as historical electric powered cars and Shell Eco marathon car.
The cars will be piloted by an eclectic mix of celebrity personalities and car fanatics including Formula One driver Sir Stirling Moss, Dame Ellen Macarthur, Kevin McCloud, Gabi Roslin to Duncan Bannatyne and James Caan of Dragon’s Den fame, Sanjeev Bhaskar, ‘Boycie’, Sir Stuart Rose, Gabi Roslin and many others. Among the presenters will be Robert Llewellyn, Lisa Rogers, Quentin Wilson and Lucy Siegle.
Roger Saul said: ”This will be a fascinating day out for anyone with even the smallest interest in an eco-friendly way of travelling – a chance to question the transport we use and view the possible alternatives; I am thrilled to be involved.”
The Eco-Car spectacular will also witness the Round the World TAG Heuer Tesla complete its journey as it reaches the Mall with a famous celebrity at the wheel. Any profit made from the event will be donated to The Prince’s Charities Foundation and Bottletop.
Meanwhile the Prince will return to his London residence at Clarendon House for the Start ‘A Garden Party To Make A Difference’ which will give the public rare access to the gardens of Clarence House, Lancaster House and Marlborough House. There they will witness an exhibition of sustainable living solutions as well enjoy entertainment provided by a host of stars, including comedians Marcus Brigstocke and Hugh Dennis, while music is provided by Jools Holland.
For more information on the Eco Car Spectacular, visit: www.startecocars.com.
