The Future Car Challenge 2012 provided spectators with a fantastic line-up of Electric Vehicles, celebrity drivers and exclusives to the future of the EV industry. Â As the preferred supplier of charging solutions for many leading EV manufacturers, British Gas is dedicated to making the world a more sustainable place now and in the future. BG are leading the way in providing expertise and charging solutions in the Electric Vehicle market through partnering with Nissan, Renault, Hitachi Capital, Toyota and Vauxhall.
British Gas’ dedicated charging solutions are safer, convenient and more compatible than plugging electric vehicles directly into the mains supply socket at home. Not only do BG offer charging solutions that can cut charging times by around a third, but British Gas also offers its customers specially designed tariffs to help them charge for less.
In celebration of this, British Gas’ role at the FCC was to charge up six different electric cars, each being driven by a different celebrity or influencer ‘racing’ to the finish!
The celebrities that took part in the challenge this year were Ben Collins (aka ‘The Stig’), Ross Davenport, Robert Llewellyn, Mark Goodier and Donald Wales. Also present  were online influencers taking part and riding in the cars with our ambassadors from the start line in Brighton, all the way to the finish line in London!
Since the FCC was such a success but not everyone got the chance to attend or watch it, GadgetsBoy and British Gas have decided to run a competition! We have 5 solar powered GO GO cars to giveaway.
All you have to do is leave a comment below as to what you think of Electric Vehicles. Â Competition ends 30th November and is UK only. Â It would make a good gadget for Christmas present.
89 Comments
I’m really excited about electric cars becoming more popular and readily available, and thrilled that the prices are coming down. I’d love to be able to drive and not worry so much about the pollution I’m creating, especially now we’re relying more on renewable energy rather than fossil fuel to provide us with electricity. Even better, I have solar panels on my roof, so I’d be able to charge a car for free, when I can finally afford one!
I don’t think electric Vehicles are the way forward, the batteries are too environmentally damaging to make, once you consider that and the environmental impact of creating the electricity they’re no better than petrol cars. Also they’re no good for long journeys, and the batteries need replacing every 5 years. If you ask me Hydrogen is the way to go.
Waiting for the day when electric cars are:
a reasonable price to buy,
battery technology allows for a good range between charges,
batteries last a long time before being replaced,
batteries are smaller and lighter,
a recycling scheme is in place for used batteries,
solar, wind, and kinetic energy devices are built in to harvest as much energy as possible.
I think electric vehicles are the way forward!
I can’t afford one just yet but look forward to a time when they are cheaper and there are more options!
I really like the Renault range of vehicles, particularly the Fluence ZE.
excited about electric cars its a great way forward love to be able to drive one of  these when the prices come down just fab
Electric cars have to be cleaner and better for the environment than dirty diesels and pongy petrols.
I think they are the future – but need more less expensive power stations for them
There better for the enviroment for sure just wish it was less expensive so i could switch
Electric vehicles are the new dot com boom…they are going to be big…and most definitely better than diesel/petrol vehicles!
I think its a great idea
Electric cars are better for the enviroment as they are a lot greener and cleaner 🙂
I think it’s a great idea
I think they are good in theory dont know ho theyll work on a large scale though would have to wait and see before investing in one
fab idea will work out a lot cheaper
Would save a lot of money in petrol!
I think they are great, but in terms of electric cars they still have a long way to go to make them the popular choice.. We are definaetly headed in the right direction though in terms of reusable energy!
I really like the idea of using electric vehicles – the only thing that concerns me is how convenient this would be in practise as I would imagine that they would need charging very often and would therefore not be practical for long journeys.
LOOKS REALY GOOD
They look fab, great for helping with science projects
they are the future but i wonder if the budget electric motors will have key meters for those “less well off!” like everything else though the prices will start scarily high then come down once they know what theyre doing, as a non-driver though i aint worried either way lol! 🙂
Anything that helps the planet is a good thing
They are good for the enviroment
They’re great but don’t go very far!! They need significantly improving then I think they could be a HUGE hit
Electric cars are a great idea but are not cheap enough for the general public to afford yet, & a charge often will not be sufficient for the required journey. Anything to help the planet has got to be a good thing.
They are in throty a good idea, but from a road safety aspect why do they have to be silent? wouldn’t it be a lot safer for everyone if they made some noise??
should say ‘theory’Â not throty!
Electric cars are too expensive to be an option for the normal consumer
I THINK ELECTRIC CARS ARE THE FUTURE IN 20 YEARS WE WILL ALL HAVE ONE I THINK
A good idea but where are the charging points?
I think it depends how the electric car is powered. If its fuel comes from burning coal, the car is not so great for our environment. However, if the electricity generated to power the car comes from wind, solar, geothermal, or hydroelectric, it is much better!
I like the idea but the length of running time isn’t long
I think they’re goo, very environmentally friendly
The idea is great, shame about the run time though!
Electric cars ARE the future,as technology improves the range will increase.I can see Solar panels for roofs on houses of the future and the car being charged by them.
THIS is such a good idea!!, I am all for it, already have the sollar panels on my roof!x laura
Great idea – as long as the electricity used to power them is green!
Great idea but worry about running out of charge and how the electricity to run them will be made.
i think they are a good idea but not enough info out about them
The problem at the moment is there are no electric recharging points in Towns.
Great idea but I live in the country in scotland and would worry if I ran low on power.
Â
Fab competition too 🙂
Good idea initially, but more charging points are needed.
To few electric power points for charging at this time make them un viable. hopefully the future will bring better usage
Very cool, would love to see my husband and son playing with this 🙂
would love my nephews to get this!
I love the idea of the electric cars, though feel the technology needs to be improved before becoming a real choice to public transport.
Great idea but not very practical in my eyes. These mini ones are uber cool though.
electric cars are the future
These are super cool
They look fantastic
My son would love this for christmas 🙂 xx
I love the idea of electric cars and the fact that they are clean to run, however we need to find a way of making electricity without using the old fashioned method of burning fossil fuels, which is just as bad as using petrol or diesel.
The vehicles need to be able to make longer journeys before the batteries have to be ‘re-charged’.
There needs to be more charging points maybe at supermarkets that have forecourts – which could be found using an App on mobile phones.
The purchase price of an electric car need to be a lot cheaper before we see more on the roads!!
I think Electric cars are a good idea and a way forward but we should still be looking for viable alternatives and not get hung up on them like we have on petrol and diesel cars.
I think they’re a great idea
I think they are a great idea as they are not only fun for children to play with, but they also help to develop skills in science and technology, as well as hand eye coordination and fine motor skills!
they;re great!! lets stick it to the oil companies 🙂
they are fun, however brake easily
Great idea, but will be a while before they are widespread – only know of one place ( a carpark ) where you can re-charge an electric car !!
Great idea, but as a country lane walker i’m a bit worried about not being able to hear them coming round a corner!
Unless battery technology really improves electric cars are a lame duck. Much better to look into hydrogen technology. Make hydrogen available on for example company car parks and let cars generating electricity back to the grid while parked.
i think electric cars have come a long way since they first came out and its only a lack of money invested into development that is holding it back as a real option to compete against fuel driven cars! Love the solar cars – our son would love one, he has a solar windmill but its not exciting as it doesnt go anywhere! haha
i think they have come a long way but still need to develop to be more widely used
I love the idea of the electric carsbut atthe moment they are not practicle as the range between charges are to small
I think they are ok for running about the city centre but are not good enough for longer journeys.
I think that more electric points are needed before they can be practical for busy working people
i dont think there practical for long journeys plus there are not enough electric points or enough information around about them
Great idea, but more charging points needed. I wouldn’t consider a long journey in one yet.
They are great around the city
I think they are great around the city
Very handy for local running around like shopping and taking the kids to school
Very good round town but the range isn’t ideal at the moment
They are good in cities, large towns for those who only do short journeys. However, I live in the Valleys in South Wales and an electric car would be totally impractical for a number of reasons. Least of all the fact that there is no where to charge up
Better for towns and cities than the country.
I think they’re great if you live in an area with plenty of charging points
Its a great idea, just need more charging points
Great innovation but more charging points are needed if this scheme is ever to take off.
I had the pleasure of driving a Mitsubishi MiEv as I am a previous owner of a Mistubishi i. Â It is a little bundle of joy…easy to drive and so quiet…just love them. They need to get cheaper before they can really take off…but when they do they will be a revolation…..
Great idea but needs better infrastructure to support nationwide usage
Great in theory, but not very practical with high cost price, limited range and scarcity of charging points.
good idea but im waiting for hydrogen or cold fusion technology
they’re fab, very environmentally friendly 🙂
I think they are fantastic and what a way to save some serious pennies! Batterys cost a fortune!
Electric vehicles seem great, but they are only as green as the electricity used to charge them.
I think that the idea is good and I would be up for buying one but I can’t see them being main stream for a while yet
I think they’re great. Not the most attractive but we need to move on with vehicles.
Thiis makes me want to play!
Clean,and Green
Massive thank you to all that left comment..they have been really good and insightful as to what everyone thinks of the technology.  Hopefully the makers are taking note and going back to drawing boards with the feedback.  Again, thank you, I’ll be putting everyone through a random generator and pick 5 Winners on Monday.  Have a great weekend all, If you have two minutes, please feel free to follow me on Twitter @gadgetsboy
Cheaper and greener to use x
Well done to:Â bee.elaine@hotmail.co.uk; velvetglove@btinternet.com; elaine1patterson@googlemail.com; ksmith1970@live.co.uk; hayleyjane@gmail.com you won, I have emailed you.