The past couple of days has been a challenge as far as the blog is concerned. We have been sharing rooms with up to 8 others and so it has been difficult to keep up with the hectic schedule that is the WAVE 2014! Still, I will try to bring you up to speed.

Yesterday morning we were in Wolperthausen and after a very early start we made ouw way to Hittisau to show the cars to school children. I don’t know how many but possibly 100+ all swarmed out of a hall and descended on us waiting electric cars. It was quite something seeing and hearing these kids, about 12-16, all climbing in and asking questions. These are the future drivers and if this is anything to go by then they will all buy electric cars… I am sure.

On to Bregenz where we all lined up at an Electrc Mobility conference for the delegates to see.

On to Friedrichshafen to visit the Zeppelin factory. What a treat. We met the current CEO and also Mr Wolfgang von Zeppelin himself. We didn’t have time for a flight but if you get the chance then you can have a scenic flight around the area and over Lake Constance.

Then another treat… a ferry to Konstanz. It was a full-sized ferry but we had it to ourselves so it was full of only electric vehicles. It has been done before (Norway) but this is a very rare event.

In Konstanz we went to the harbour where they had publicised our coming and so we showed the cars to the general public.

Finally, on to Mainau Island where we were greeted by the Grafin Bettina Bernadotte and then dinner on the Island with another great talk from chris Paine.

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Today has been busy as per normal… Visit 2 schools before 10am then on to a 100MW hydro power station where we had a guided tour and lunch. On then to Baar and then to Eisiedeln for the overnight. We are getting quite tired so we are having an early night.

More tomorrow.

WOW! The days on the Wave are busy and hectic!

Up early and a drive to Munich for breakfast at the Munich University of Technology where they are doing some great reaserch in many automotive and electric vehicle areas. I went on a tour of the Carbon Composites section where we had a great tour of some of their labs where they are doing reasearch into reducing the cost and manufacturing time for carbon composites, particularly for the second generation of the BMW i3 and i8.

Then on the Schwangau where we charged and had a lovely lunch in the open with views of the start of the Alps and Schwangau castle.

This was followed by a picturesque drive to Sonnenalp for dinner and a wonderful welcome from the local people with a group of alphorn players. Very different and charming.

Then, as a bit of a highlight, Chris Payne, the director of “Who Killed the Electric Car” and “Revenge of the Electric Car” joined us and gave a very interesting talk. He flew in from LA today and so we will have more opportunity to meet him tomorrow. What a treat.

Tomorrow it is busy as usual. Up at 6.30, breakfast at the hotel and then a 30km drive to Hittisau, Austria… then to Bregenz to show our cars at an Electric Vehicle conference, then to Friedrichshafen for a tour of the Zeppelin factory… then a ride on the Konstanz ferry… then a special event on Mainau Island. This is norrmally closed to cars but we are being allowed on the island. We will be having dinner on the island before returning to Konstanz for overnight.

Not much driving tomorrow but a very busy day.

What a day!

After a good sleep at the hotel we were up early and made our way to the Daimler Museum where we were taking part in a world record of the most electric vehicles in a convoy. We were hoping for over 400 but it turned out to be over 500! It was a fantastic experience to be amonng so many electric cars, bikes, buses. All moving around with nothing more than a whisper. The whole event was awe-inspiring.

We got the record and unofficially it was 507 vehicles.

After we all lined up to make the shape of a heart with the words “Electric car World record Stuttgard 2014”. This was filmed from a drone from high up. We will try to get the video for you later.

Then a 58km drive to the beautiful town of Heilbronn where we were welcomed to the town square. Charging was available and we plugged in while we were given a guided tour of the town. This town was totally destroyed in the war and has been completely rebuilt since. They have done a great job of maintaining its character.

Next we drove on to Wolpertshausen where we are staying the night. We have been welcomed by the town mayor and the head of the farmers cooporative who was hosting us for dinner and breakfast.

We would like to thank the towns of Heilbronn and Worpetshausen for making us feel so welcome and for providing us with food for us as well as our cars.

Tomorrow is a little more relaxed with a nice start time of about 8.30 then on to visit some farms where they generate electricity from biomass. There is a range competition too but we won’t be pushing the limits too far!

A great day for the first full day of the WAVE.