As homage to the London-to-Brighton classic car relay, the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada has organized a Brighton-to-London run of its own, this time in Ontario, and featuring green vehicles instead of classics.
Event organizers hope to highlight for consumers the breadth of options available to those who are fed up at the pumps — 21 green vehicles include hybrids, EVs and other advanced technologies.
The three-day route highlights green student initiatives with stops at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa, which runs the only accredited automotive engineering program in Canada. Their world-class Automotive Centre of Excellence features a unique climatic wind tunnel which can produce a storm at any temperature from -40 to +60 degrees Celsius.
Centennial College, another stop on the route, offer Technical Standards and Safety Authority-accredited courses in alt fuels such as natural gas and propane, as well as specialized training in hybrid systems maintenance. Another stop is Toronto’s Evergreen Brick Works, which in 2010 National Geographic named one of the world’s top 10 geotourism destinations. McMaster University in Hamilton is the future home of the $26-million McMaster Automotive Resource Centre featuring the world’s most advanced dynamometers.
Finally, London’s Fanshawe College, where students can study to be automotive technicians, will show off its eco-friendly facility, which has a vegetated green roof system over shop areas, storm water reclamation for toilets, solar hot water preheating, and solar-powered GPS tracking skylights for natural day lighting in the auto shop.
Event partners are CAA and Natural Resources Canada.
