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We decided to stay a day more at the camp-site. Splendid weather again, the sun shines and the waves roll unto the wide beach. Not many tourists yet, only some campers that have sunk roots right here. I put my air-mattress under olive-tree where I enjoy the view with a bad cold. A good thing about camping on camp-sites is, apart from experiencing nature, that we always can count on electricity for Green Car. Provided for the mobile-homes and all their conveniences. I think we are almost the last to sleep in a tent. But for the next three days Hjalte has booked a room in Barcelona.

Nina

The day began with thunder and lightning and pouring rain. On the road we sloshed through water deep enough to send waves over the hood of Green Car, which sailed on steadily forward. It rained and hailed as we took our lunch inside the car. In the town L'Hospitalet de l'infant we found an open supermarket and stocked up on smoked mussels. The camp-site was right on the beach and almost empty. We picked a spot under green trees and pitched our tent. We kissed, heated the canned food and had our dinner under the stars in the dim glow of our flash-light. Whether others would have enjoyed the darkness and the wind we do not know, but we love camping and think ourselves very lucky.

Nina

When we woke up in the morning Green Car was fully charged. No worries. Before leaving Cheste we did a good shopping and Green Car got its long overdue bath. First Hjalte hosed down the car and then it got a trip in the car-wash. Green Car sparkled in the sun as we roller-coasted into the mountains. Along the road almond trees blossomed between grey-green olive-trees. On the fields millions of oranges had fallen from the trees. Our road-side lunch was windy but a pure delight. Now we hope to stay warm in the tent to-night.

Nina and Hjalte

On a cold and dark winter night a month ago I Green Car was loaded into a container in New York and strapped firmly in place. My memory is blank before I suddenly saw the doors open and felt mild spring air enter the metal box. Hjalte and Nina had found me on a lorry and now I really woke up. My batteries still got power and I started without problems. Hjalte connected the 12 V battery and off we went. The sun was shinning and spring had come to Valencia. In the evening Hjalte and Nina found a campsite and rolled out their old tent. They sat on the car-seats, turned on the radio with some Spanish music and celebrated our lucky reunion with a bottle of wine. "Like coming Home" and calling me "dear Green Car". I had got a new Spanish plug and enjoyed the fresh power tickling all my batteries. And now you can see me again on the map on the homepage. What more can you want. 

Green Car

Lets hope to-day was the last day in Valencia without Green Car. We went to the America's Cup Habor where the double-king size boats were the size of passenger ships. The plugs on the quay were also rather big. We tried the smart, new metro back to town and surfaced next to Roman ruins. The urban culture of Valencia is really old. The town is good for walking - so utterly different from the car-cities of USA! On the way home we bought wine and bread, tomatoes, avocados and olives - and had a party at our hotel-room. Next week Spain will reduce the max. speed on freeways to 110 km/h to make up for the Mid-east revolutions surge in oil-prices. No problem for us, we don't use oil, we drive slow and prefer the small roads. 

Nina and Hjalte

We have a weekend waiting for our electric car and explore Valencia. Valencia's famous architect Santiago Calatrava has created a complex of striking monuments containing museums, concert-halls, imax cinemas, sports stadium, a giant aquarium and an out-of-this-world bridge. Large azure basins mirrored the white concrete, glass and intricate steel. A dinosaur stood yelling in the middle of it all. We felt like walking in an enchanted garden. In the warm afternoon we found an outdoor cafe and had tiny mussels and mushrooms in garlic. Valencia is gearing up to the annual fiesta Fallas. On this last Sunday of February violent canons announce the coming fiesta. Every street compete for the best decorations. In our street a forest of lights draw notes and romantic shapes.

Nina and Hjalte

Here begins the third and last stage of our round the world tour. It will take us through Europe and end in Denmark. But first we had to go to Valencia in Spain, where Green Car landed after crossing the Atlantic on a ship from New York. Our local train took us to Aarhus, an express train to Copenhagen and airplanes to Madrid and Valencia at the Mediterranean. A journey from winter to spring in one day. We woke up to sunshine and 20 degrees, almost impossible to believe. Next door to tiny, clean and friendly Hostal Waksman, where we stay, we found a cafe with tables outside and wifi, the perfect place to take our meals. We bought a card for the busses and after two visits at the shipping office it was certain that Green Car was in Valencia and it should be through customs on Tuesday. So much easier than entering the US. During the day we walked through this beautiful European city. At sunset we got lost in a landscape of wild architecture. We promise to come back and explore.

Nina and Hjalte

2008 Solartaxi drove round the world with a light-weight vehicle carrying solar-cells on a trailer producing power for the motor of the three-wheeler.

2010 Odyssey of the Pioneers was a marketing stunt by the watch-company Tagheuer to send a Tesla electric sports car round the world with a PR-show for the watches. The excellent Tesla was shipped to 16 cities round the world - presumably by plane judging from the calendar of the event. And the pictures only showing the car at photo-ops with cooktail-party people.

2011 Zero Race for electric cars are still on the road with three electric vehicles. They plan to finish in Geneva this February. Participating are an electric scooter, an enclosed MC and a three-wheeler. Missing is a real production electric car.

If you know about electric cars that have gone round the world, please send an email to: nina@moto-mundo.com

Farewell to USA. Green Car clocked 7400 kilometers in the great country. Not a scratch so far and no hick-ups. New York gave us loads of snow (the snowiest January ever). We had fun jumping in front of Manhattan before we drove to the warehouse and loaded Green Car into a container bound for Valencia in Spain. If all goes well we start the last stage of our round-the-world electric tour on March 1st. THE BLOG WILL NOT PAUSE. 

Nina and Hjalte

New York embraced us with spring-like sunshine. On a Manhattan skyscraper a counter showed how many tons of greenhouse gasses were released into the atmosphere. 3,673,292,928,119 metric tons up to this day. Green Car saves approximately 100 gram CO2 for each km compared with the gas version Qashqai. On our tour we have so far driven 20000 km and saved the atmosphere 2 tons CO2. If all the cars in New York turned electric you could see the counter begin reversing.

Hjalte