Business Secretary Vince Cable fulfills a long-held ambition: to get behind the wheel of an Aston Martin
Business Car Manager: Editor’s Blog
WE like Vince here at Business Car Manager towers. You see, the Secretary of State is our local MP. And a very good job he does for the residents of Twickenham and Hampton – unlike the former LibDem local councillors with their nonsense parking schemes. But they, thankfully, are out of office now.
Anyway, I digress.
Vince. Stable, astute, measured. All these things – but a sports car man? No, don’t quite see it.
So I was slightly surprised – bemused even – to see Vince staring from the cockpit of an Aston Martin sports car. Is this the Vince we know and love?
It appears so.
“As I said on Desert Island Discs, driving an Aston Martin has always been a dream of mine,” Vince explained. “Fortunately for me Aston Martin took note and gave me the opportunity to test drive some of their cars and also witness the high level of skills and engineering that go into making premium and niche cars in the UK. This is something in which the UK excels and our cars are exported all over the world.”
So Vince does have a racy side, then…
It appears the tour of Aston Martin was part of a wider visit to the West Midlands where he met business groups. As well as fullfilled long-held ambitions about Aston Martins. Also on the list of visits for the Business Secretary was a trip to Jaguar Land Rover, which has been investing heavily in environmental technologies thanks to Technology Strategy Board funding.
The Business Secretary met members of the Advanced Research team working on the development of sustainable technologies including hybrids and electrification and was shown the Jaguar XJ-based Limo Green and the Range Rover Sport REHEV (Range Extended Hybrid Electric Vehicle).
The Range Rover REHEV demonstrates how an SUV can run as a pure electric car for up to 12 miles in town and the diesel engine and electric motor will combine to drive all four wheels at higher speeds and when off-road. The target for its average emissions is 94 g/km CO2 and a zero emissions range up to 19 miles.
The ultra-efficient hybrid Jaguar Limo Green concept is a Range Extended Electric Vehicle developed in conjunction with Lotus Engineering, MIRA and Caparo Technologies. Based on the new, lightweight, XJ saloon launched in 2010, Limo Green features an advanced electric drive motor, battery pack and a small auxiliary power generator. The target for Limo-Green is CO2 emissions of below 120g/km, and fuel economy of at least 57mpg. The overall range is 500 miles and in EV mode, 30 miles.
Having switched his attention to these technologies you would have thought more suited to Vince’s even temperament, the Business Secretary commented: “The UK excels in making premium and niche cars. Jaguar’s Limo Green ultra-low carbon technology project demonstrates what an executive car can do: more than 50mpg with CO2 emissions from only 50g/km.
“It shows Britain
