The Bluebird Electric car set eight UK Electric Land Speed records ten years ago, including the outright UK Land Speed record for an electric vehicle. In 2011, the development team are using the existing Bluebird Electric car to test battery technologies and drive systems in an attempt to develop an electric car that will reach 500 mph. That goal is a long way off, but this year the team are attempting to break some of the existing records as part of the development plan.
This weekend, they will be at Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire, the scene of several world record attempts many years ago. Sir Malcolm Campbell set the world speed record here in the original Blue Bird in 1924 (a measured mile at 146 mph) and broke his own record in 1927 with a speed of 175 mph. (More on Pendine here, when I visited in March.)
The car will be driven by Don Wales, the grandson of Sir Malcolm. He will be attempting to break his own UK record of 137 mph that he set in 2000, and hopes to top 150 mph this time. The world record is 307 mph, set by the American Buckeye Bullet 2.5 team last year.
BBC report here. Bluebird Electric website here.
I will be there on Sunday, and I'll try to take some good photos.
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