Highlights of the year: Tesla vs e-scooter at Brands Hatch

By Jim Holder

29 Dec 2022

The Move Electric team have been flat-out all year covering the hugely broad world of e-mobility, trying out some the best and most innovative machines – and meeting the people who make them.

This week our team are picking out their personal highlights of the year, those moments that stood out for whatever reason. Today it's the top memory from Haymarket Automotive editorial director Jim Holder.

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Tesla vs e-scooter in Move Electric's Brands Hatch lap record blitz

Please. Please don’t catch him up…

As I peaked between the cracks in my fingers I pondered my misguided attempt to force a staggered start for the seven electric vehicles setting lap records at Brands Hatch.

The combination of five-second gaps and the speed differentials meant the pace-setting Tesla Model 3 was about to complete its lap before the intrepid Matt Prior had even crossed the start/finish line aboard the slowest vehicle, the Perry eHopper P4 e-scooter.

It was bad enough that Prior was about to tackle the fearsomely downhill Paddock Hill Bend, but doubly terrifying knowing that the closing speed of the Model 3 was somewhere in the region of 90mph.

I needn’t have worried; the Model 3’s driver was alert to the potential issue, and Prior more than savvy enough to stay tucked to the inside of the track. Maybe my eyes deceived me, but there may even have been a moment the slowing Model 3 became a convenient towing arm to help him get back up the hill towards Druids.

The result was as bizarre a scene as I’ve witnessed, as cutting-edge car met two-wheeled slow-speed transport solution - with a converted, classic Rolls-Royce, Citroën van, electric moped, e-bike and e-scooter all joining the backdrop.

A scientific test it was not, but as a means of highlighting the diversity and fun of the e-mobility revolution it was unmatched. I can’t wait until we do it again.