Reading EV World I knew the GM EV1 was extremely popular with Hollywood celebrities and others involved in the entertainment industry.Marvin Rush the Star Trek cinematographer is so passionate about the car he has made commercials funded out of his own pocket.
Ed Begley Jr, the Hollywood actor,trailblazing environmentalist, star of St Elsewhere who more importantly to all us Simpsons fans, recently appeared with Bill Clinton in 'Homer to The Max', has since become my role model/hero.

He rides around LA on his bike, uses public transport and has a shiny GM EV1 in his garage, charged by his solar-panelled roof! Now that's what I call one cool guy.I had to meet him!
One of the first things I did on arrival in California was call him up. What a lovely guy.He was busy filming in Canada but still took the time to speak to me and agreed to let me come and visit him at his solar powered home in L.A. when he got back. I was soooo excited!
Staying in Venice Beach without a car I wondered how on earth I would make the journey to North Hollywood in the car capital of the world.It was surprisingly easy. Public transport as far as I could make out works very, very well.I changed buses three times and all arrived punctually-I had to wait less than 30 seconds for each one!

Ed Begley Jr was as affable, welcoming and friendly as he had sounded on the phone.After offering me a cold drink to cool down from the intense L.A. heat,it was down to business.It was such a relief to talk to someone who felt as strongly and passionately about electric cars, so nice not to have to justify or explain my enthusiasm.

I followed him into his garden where the baking Hollywood sun shone onto his solar panelled roof.I wondered why his was the only solar panelled roof I could see. The 7kw generated by the photovoltaic panels are enough to recharge his EV1.
"Take a look at this," said Ed pointing to a large silver box on the patio - a solar powered barbecue of course.What a geat idea.Then it was on to an outbuilding at the end of the garden where he showed me his exercise bike. But it was no ordinary bike.
"Working out on this for half an hour generates enough energy to power an electric light bulb for a day!" Wow! I loved every minute I spent there. This is how I want my home to be, I thought.

And then it was time for Ed to go for his lunch appointment. I was off for a tour of Universal Studios. "I'll drop you off," said Ed. Fantastic-I get to go for a spin in Ed's electric car.A dream come true.I really wanted to have another go at the steering wheel. It was such fun to drive but I was content to sit in the passenger seat.The ride was over all too quickly and wishing him the best telling how much I admired what he was doing, driving what he preached etc. he was off into downtown LA. What a day!

What a trip. October 18th arrived all to quickly. I had no desire to return to the UK. I was very happy there,I had made some lovely friends and I loved being in a city that thrived on the possibilities of cutting edge technology. I was also keen to carry on promoting long range EV's and I wanted to learn to drive and pass my test in one. What chance was there of accomplishing that in the UK? Well I'd have to first find out if things had changed in the UK. Was any "re-VOLT-ing" action underway in the UK....?