Engineers in many countries worked in three main areas; the petrol internal combustion engine, steam and electric.

In the end the petrol engine became the preferred method of power and the rest, as they say, is history.

However with modern concerns about the environmental impact of motorised transport, the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run (LBVCR) has three regular entries from participants with electric powered cars, with the oldest vehicle at 109-years-old.

The three electric vehicles, which can be seen on the 2009 event on Sunday 1st November, are fully working examples of a method of power that is starting to become popular again in the 21st century with the advent of hybrid and all-electric technology.

Incredibly, three electric vehicles also took part in the original 1896 Emancipation Run and allegedly two of those entrants covertly travelled to Brighton via train because there wasn’t the infrastructure in place to recharge the batteries, a problem that’s challenging the industry today, some 113 years later!.

Mr. Reginald Blennerhassett-Plunkett from Dublin drives the oldest electric powered vehicle on the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, a 1900 Cleveland Stanhope capable of a top speed of 15mph.

The car is a firm favourite with the public and won the ‘Public's Choice' award at the 2005 LBVCR International Concours in Regent Street.

The second electric vehicle is owned by Mr. John Hanson from Michigan in the United States drives a 1902 Columbia Tonneau. This will be John's 37th LBVCR event in this car, which has only failed to reach the finish on one occasion.

The youngest electric car on the 2009 Run is a 1903 Waverley Surrey that was previously owned by the Edison Institute Museum and is now the pride and joy of Mr. Gervase Forster from Little Chalfont in Buckinghamshire.

Aptly nicknamed ‘Sparky', the Waverley is capable of 30mph and can travel 50 miles before needing a recharge. This means that the support crew need to ‘refuel' using jump batteries at Crawley before the car can complete the 60-mile journey to Brighton.

Hybrid technology is nothing new either. In 1900 Belgian car maker Pieper produced a 3½hp hybrid car which had an electric motor providing additional power for the small petrol engine when the car was going uphill.

Unfortunately no examples of these early hybrids survive.

Background to the 2009 LBVCR
The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, which is a celebration of the Emancipation Run held on November 14 1896, is held over three days.

The LBVCR Auction with Bonhams at their New Bond Street salerooms will be held on Friday 30th October, the LBVCR International Concours in Regent Street on Saturday 31st October and the actual Run on Sunday 1 November, with the first car leaving Hyde Park at official sunrise (06:54hrs).

An estimated 500,000 spectators attended the LBVCR Run and Concours last year, making it the UK’s largest free-to-view motoring event.

The event is run for cars manufactured up to 31 December 1904. The 2008 LBVCR attracted a maximum entry of 550 vehicles from all over the world.

The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is organised and promoted by Motion Works on behalf of The Royal Automobile Club, an agreement that started from early 2004.

Andy Pag (34 London), the eco-adventurer who drove a chocolate powered lorry to Timbuktu using waste cocoa butter and organised the Grease to Greece Rally where teams had to scavenge chip-fat to power their vehicles across Europe, is now setting off to drive around the world on an eco-expedition that can best be described as … Rubbish!

Pag has recycled a scrap yard school bus and turned it into a state of the art eco-home using a mix of reclaimed trash and cutting edge green technology. Not only is the 20 year old “Biotruck” made from rubbish, but it’s been modified so it can run on rubbish too, specifically used cooking oil thrown away by restaurants and caterers.

"By 2050 the experts say we'll each have to be emitting less than 2 tonnes of CO2 per year to avoid the worst effects of manmade climate change." says Pag, "In the UK we currently emit around 10-13tonnes. I’m curious to see what people in other countries are doing about their footprint, and to see if it's possible to travel around the world emitting less than 2 tonnes myself, by using energy-from-waste and other technology."

The first fill up comes from Uptown Oils in London who produce fuel from locally collected used cooing oil. When full, the Biotruck has a range of around 5000miles (8000km), but Pag intends to keep the tank topped up during the 12 month journey from chip shops and burger bars along the route through Europe, the Middle East, South East Asia and the Americas, with the help of an on board Zuwa collection pump, Greenfuel tanks and an Oilybits filtering system.

The expedition's CO2 is being monitored by consultants Terra-Ambiente, and onboard the Biotruck, every effort has been made to avoid fossil fuels. Cooking is on a woodgas stove, washing is with water heated bythe sun, lighting is by ultra low energy LED bulbs from the Good Energy Shop, sleeping is on an Abaca organic mattress, and the call of nature is answered on a Separett waterless composting toilet.

To get the most of every drop of fuel, Pag has fitted EcoVolt solar panels on the roof which power a Magdrive hydrogen generator, supplementing fuel with Hydrogen gas so that on sunny days the Biotruck will cover more miles per gallon. Total Vehicle Technology have serviced the engine and installed a Clean Diesel Technology Particulate Filter which reduces the exhaust emissions to that of a vehicle 1/10th its age.

"I’ve no idea how easy it will be to find used cooking oil in places like Iran, India or Brazil but it’s going to be fun finding out. Driving around the world is a massive challenge, and trying to do it using sustainable fuels, with a tight carbon budget makes this the toughest expedition I’ve ever attempted," confessed Pag a former engineer and journalist who has been organising overland expeditions for 14 years.