WESTM NSTER HAUL
Page 7
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IT'S ALWAYS NICE when a decent person achieves his or her objective. So it made the heart warm a little to learn that Lord Trefgarne, who replied on behalf of the Government to the Lords' debate on electric vehicles, had been very anxious to be given that task.
It was by no means certain, for as a maid of all work — officially a Lord in Waiting — Lord Trefgarne was just one of a number who are called into action when there is no Department Minister in the Upper House.
And why did His Lordship have this modest ambition? Not so that he could announce vast Government help (though his news was by no means depressing), but so that he could tell of the electric vehicle he and his brother had once built in the garage at home.
It was by no means a tale of triumph — Lord Trefgarne recalled that they had the greatest difficulty with the brakes, and the only way they could stop was by putting the vehicle into reverse.
Well, vehicles — and Governments — don't go suddenly into reverse without something drastic happening, and in the case of the two brothers it meant that their pride and joy shot back in the other direction, while all kinds of difficulties arose from considerable heat in some of the wires.
No one could match Lord Trefgarne's experience, though Lord Strathcarron, who could boast personally only of managing an electrically driven golf trolley (which broke down) did tell of one Jenatsy, who, back in 1899, won the world land speed record, at 65.79mph, in an electrically powered torpedo-shaped car.
Alas even there all was not unalloyed joy, as was perhaps presaged by the name of the car, La jamais Contente. Jenatsy had tried for the record a few months earlier, but the timekeepers forgot to start their watches. The red-bearded driver, who had to walk back, was not pleased!
With such blood-chilling tales around it was pleasant to sit back and hear of the Indian travels of a petrol-electric hybrid driven by Lord lronside's father, or to bustle through the bazaars in memory with Lord Ferrier, aboard one of the service vans bought by an electric supply company.
Even more relaxing was the meander along British canals taken by that water enthusiast Lord St Davids, who put up a good case for electric drive.
And was there not the odd sigh when Lord Shackleton recalled the days when you could hire an electric canoe at Maidenhead "which was not nearly as stable as a punt for whatever purposes one had in mind"?