With no experience importing goods (especially dangerous and expensive goods!), we relied on the experts. We thank Chris Sergeant and Ben Poprawski from Customs Agency Services and Chris Donnelly from Donnellys Insurance Brokers for their great service in organising many aspects of the task and providing us with quick advice.

The arrival of the batteries was cause to stop and celebrate the progress of the team in preparing for Zero Race which starts in Geneva on 15 August, 2010.

If you look closely at the photo, you can see that work is still continuing on the car. Coordinating the arrival of the batteries is only one of the tasks which must be done to ensure that Trev will be ready for Zero Race in time. The technical team is working very hard and putting in an enormous effort.

Outside the workshop, there are still many logistical jobs to complete, including organising insurance, car registration, freighting the car to Europe, driver uniforms, driver rosters, visas, travel, and so on. If you want to help, contact us through the website.

The car needs to be shipped to and from Shanghai (the start and end location). We need to register the car in Australia, then check the permit requirements to drive in each country. We need to organise insurance and customs documentation required in each country. We are required to carry certain safety equipment and spare parts—these will need to be acquired and assembled.

Drivers for the race will comprise members of Team Trev, Sponsors and Benefactors. There are approximately 160 legs. We will need to coordinate driver rosters as well as ensure that each driver has the appropriate training, visas, travel insurance, international driving permit, immunisations (and other health requirements), and uniforms to participate. Flights and accommodation for some drivers will need to be arranged.

We will be travelling through a diverse range of countries, climates and cultures. We need to check the likely weather conditions and local traffic laws. When the race route is finalised we need to gather maps and other navigational equipment, calculate gradients on hills and the length of individual legs. We need to assemble the paperwork required for passage through each country.

Along the way we will keep an up-to-date weblog and a map with our current position. We also need to arrange phone and internet access in each country.

Things will inevitably go wrong. We need to be flexible and have contingency plans for drivers that are unable to drive, changes to the race route, and any of the multitude of challenges that may crop up along the way. We will need a good support team back in Australia to help overcome any issues that arise.

And that’s just the race!

Before we start in Shanghai in June, we will arrange and be involved with many events. Our immediate calendar includes:

• 6 January 2010: Something in the city (details to be announced), leading up to…
• 7 January 2010: Public event featuring Louis Palmer (founder and Race Director of Zero Race) and Team Trev
• 24 January 2010: Kids Tour Down Under
• 15–16 February 2010: CleverGreen Conference and Showcase

More details will be added to the Upcoming Events page. Each of these events requires some level of planning and action.

As you can see, the list of logistical activities is growing each day. If you would like to join Team Trev and assist in some way, we’d love to hear from you.