Friends have just come back from Jodhpur, known as the Blue City. Another Blue City is Chefchaouen in Morocco.
As you know, things often come in threes and the third Blue City is closer to home.
My bird boxes remain vacant and there haven’t been any birds visiting the feeders since a cold snap in February. Either they got wiped out in the cold (unlikely) or the cats have scared them off or a neighbour has installed better feeders. However, the new electric charging points are occupied – by Blue City cars. Here they are, on permanent charge until a Blue City member comes along for a spin.
What a good way to avoid the fixed costs of owning a car and oh so green? Well, up to a point, Lord Copper. Richard Eustace Bellew, my great-grandfather, was an amateur inventor. He lived at Mount Firoda, Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny where he built a laboratory. His ambition was to invent a battery that would power an electric car from Ireland to St Peter’s in Rome (he was a Catholic). He did not succeed but nor have Blue City. Their maximum range is 150 miles and their cars may not be taken outside the M25. I suspect there are GPS trackers on board and if I venture down the M4 to visit Ingy and Alan in Carmarthenshire (stopping every 150 miles to recharge) I will be hunted down.
Blue City belongs to French conglomerate, Bolloré. They have had success with their business model in Paris but it is not suited to London. It is designed for short hire, costing 17p a minute (min 20 mins) plus £5 a month membership fee, so not unlike a Santander (formerly Barclays/Boris) bike. But why not user Uber for a short trip? However, if they fail they will leave London a useful legacy. Now they promise only to colonise half the charging points in any location. I think Londoners will choose private ownership of electric/hybrid cars and will welcome having access to all these chargers. Tally ho!