Video: Think City Racers and Tesla Roadster begin Eco Car Trials

In September, the Prince of Wales will be hosting "A Garden Party To Make A Difference" as part of his Start initiative. One of the highlights of the 12 day event will be the "Eco Car Spectacular" on The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace, and to warm up for that glitzy event and perhaps do a little profile-raising on behalf of the EV Cup organizers, Roger Saul and his pal Kevin McCloud took to the top of Kilver Court Viaduct with a Tesla Roadster Sport and a brace of race-prepared Think Citys for a little time trial showdown action.

While TV presenter McCloud managed to edge out his buddy by tenths of a second in both of the vehicles – he is also known for a surprisingly good result in an appearance on Top Gear – perhaps the more interesting part of this stunt was the insight into the modifications made to the Norwegian city cars. Still markedly slower than a Tesla, quite a bit of effort went into improving the performance of the somewhat mild-mannered Think.

As might be expected, weight reduction played a large role with 70 kilograms (154.3 lbs) worth of interior bits being removed. The glass was also replaced with shatterproof Perspex and a little spice was dialed into the motor controller with the suspension lowered a smidge to improve handling. It is not known whether the EV Cup Edition cars carried the Zebra sodium batteries or lithium prismatics from Enerdel. Check out the results for yourself in the nicely produced video after the break.

[Source: Think via The Car Connection]

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