Jochem's blog

Early February we experienced one of the rare occasions in the Netherlands that there was some more or less serious snowfall. This was an unique opportunity to test the behaviour of Superbus in the snow. So we took the vehicle out for a spin and shoot some beautiful footage which you can see here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ-Ga3g5L1w

Next to that we took the opportunity to test the functionality of the ABS. We had been testing that system in fall but for that we had to create artificial slipperyness on the test track. That took enourmous quantities of soap on slippery steel plates. Now we had the opportunity to test the system in a naturally slippery situation. As you can see the system performs as intended.

Recently Superbus has been featured on German and French television. The items can be reviewed here:

Spiegel TV Germany (in German)

http://www.spiegel.tv/#/filme/zukunft-der-mobilitaet/ (starting from 3 min 50 sec)

France 2 (in French)

http://youtu.be/UzgSFGqAUwI

or in English:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWnSAALHJU4

Today Superbus visited the city of Groningen. Groningen is the city that Wubbo Ockels, the inventor of the Superbus concept, considers his home town. The website 112Groningen.nl made an impression of the day including many pictures and a video:

http://www.112groningen.nl/Groningen/nieuws/16288/superbus-wubbo-ockels-op-grote-markt-update-video.html

RTV Noord made the following video coverage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1oTs9mqmGo&feature=related

Oogtv.nl made the following impresson:

http://www.oogtv.nl/2011/11/superbus-wubbo-ockels-bezoekt-stad/

Today Superbus was featured in CNN International's program "On the Move"

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/11/22/ctw-shubert-on-the-move-uk-superbus.cnn?iref=allsearch

November 15th Sir Richard Branson visited the Netherlands. For that occasion he was driven from the airfield of Rotterdam to the city Centre by Superbus. The video in the link gives an impression of the journey. The Rotterdam police was very helpful in making this a success. The video was made by Multi Media Services of TU Delft.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlOcHYIRKSk

Superbus was shown on Daily Planet of Discovery Channel. You can find the show on http://watch.discoverychannel.ca/#clip555332 The Superbus feature starts at 7 min 20 sec.

This Saturday Superbus visted the national open day of the police and the fire brigade. Suparbus was escorted by the police form its garage to the poice station and on the way back. A video impresson can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWn96Zo7fbY

Sunday August 7th marked the day of the yearly racing event on the TT circuit of Assen in the Netherlands. This is an event that attracts over 60,000 persons. The day is filled with all kinds of automotive activities. There are many races scheduled, one can visit the paddock and some very special vehicles are displayed. Superbus was asked to perform the opening run at 10 AM. Later that day Superbus drove several laps. This gave the opportunity to take some passengers onboard to have them experience the smooth riding experience of Superbus. Down below you can find a photo impression of the day. A video impression (in Dutch) made by the local news agency can be found at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJgCONKr848

Superbus passing the finish during the opening round can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js_e4JOHeGk

Monday July 11th TU Delft had the honour of hosting the European Commissioner of Research, Innovation and Science, Mrs. Geoghegan-Quinn. She was accompanied by the Dutch deputy minister of education, Mr. Zijlstra. They visited several sites on the TU Delft campus. Transport over the campus was done by Superbus. Thereby they became the first official passengers of Superbus.

Superbus was driven by its Chief Vehicle Designer, Antonia Terzi. Furthermore Wubbo Ockels, the inventor of Superbus and Dirk-Jan van den Berg, the chairman of the board of TU Delft and several other members of the visiting delegation joined as well. The first part of the drive took place on the part of campus where some think there must be running a tram in the future. We have a better suggestion..... 

The pictures below give an impresson of the ride. Some interesting footage of the visit can be seen in these two videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyG6P_P2958 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxuzy8XH4tw.

At the end of our trip to the UAE Superbus was brought to Sharjah Airport to be loaded on the dedicated aircraft pallet. The pictures below show you how this was done.

At the end of the journey we can say that we are looking back on a very successful three week stay in the Emirates. We would like to thank many people and organisations for making this a succesful visit:

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and many other representatives of the UAE government for visiting us at the UITP Exhibition.

The UITP and the RTA for inviting us to come to the UITP exhibition in Dubai.

KLM Cargo for sponsoring the flight back and forth to the Middle East.

All the people at Masdar City for hosting us for two days and giving us the possibility to charge our vehicle in a fully sustainable way for the first time.

The Dubai Autodrome for hosting us for two days as well and giving us the possibility to perform very valuable testing in hot weather conditions.