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00:00Hello, I'm Richard. I'm James. Brilliant. And we've had a frankly brilliant idea. Brilliant idea. It is a brilliant idea. Yes. This came about because, well, we're unemployed. Yes. Sort of. And then over a drink, we thought, well, we missed races. It's a while since we did an absurd race. Yes. Absurd is key. And the race we've come up with is. Electric car versus electric aeroplane. Because we've got one of each. Yeah. But the brilliant thing is we're racing from here. Where are we?
00:29Henstridge Aerodrome. Henstridge Aerodrome. But where we're going, our destination is filled with poignancy and emotion from us. It is. It's a place where I was once mistaken for Richard Hammond's driver. It's Dunsfold Aerodrome where we used to make a certain car show that rhymes with bop fear. And I calculate. Okay, it's no secret that I'm going to have to stop en route to recharge. Because that only has an endurance of about 50 minutes. And you can't push it, obviously, because that's dangerous.
00:57So I'm going to stop at Thruxton. Yeah. For a charge. And maybe a spot of lunch. Right. Which means that we should each take overall, I think, just over two hours.
01:07So we've worked out that it is genuinely up for grabs. Either of us could win this.
01:12And there is a forfeit. Yes. Which I've devised in a totally selfish and self-promotional way. Yes.
01:18Is that the winner gets a James Gin and Tonic. Right. As many James Gin and Tonics as he likes. And the loser has to have a soft drink and drive the car home. Should we get on with it? Yes. This is like the old days. Come on, then. I'll wait for you when I get there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. All right. See you later. See you there.
01:34Right. What I've got for the race is a Porsche Taycan Turbo GT. Headline, four doors, four seats, 0-60, 2.3 seconds, and up to 1,100 horsepower when I do a lords control.
01:51That's the main stuff. It's on. That's it. I'm ready to go.
01:56So, viewers, I'm on board the Pipistrelle. And it's slightly unfamiliar because there aren't a lot of the knobs and things that I'm used to with my conventional aeroplane. No mixture control. No carb heat. No magneto switches.
02:13James, are we ready to go?
02:14I believe I'm ready to go. I'm expecting you to beat me off the line, Hammond. I will be honest.
02:19What? Are you ready to go?
02:21Yes, I'm ready to go. You count us down.
02:23Hang on. You're in an aeroplane. Isn't there going to be a lot of checking and faffing?
02:28It's an electric aeroplane. It's on.
02:31You must be gutted. I thought that was your favourite bit.
02:34Yeah, you're right. It is one of my favourite bits. But never mind. This is the future. Are you going to count us down?
02:39OK, I'm ready. Are you ready?
02:41Have been for a while with my switched on electric aeroplane. Yes.
02:45OK, here goes. 3, 2, 1, go!
02:50Oh, my God!
02:52He's off.
02:54And he's ahead.
02:55Right, I'm going to go this way now.
02:57I left him for dead to start.
03:04Tuffling back is perfectly silky smooth. That's amazing.
03:08Our journey, at just over 100 miles, will take us across the edge of Somerset, east towards Andover.
03:17My Porsche can power straight on through to Dunsfold without a single twinge of range anxiety, as it boasts over 300 miles of range on a full charge, unlike James' state-of-the-art electric plane.
03:30How long do you think we're going to need to charge?
03:34About half an hour.
03:35About half an hour.
03:36OK, where's the battery capacity?
03:38Uh, it's here. So it shows that we've got 50 minutes left. 49 minutes.
03:44OK, and flight time to?
03:45About 22 minutes.
03:46OK, so we are cruising now at an indicated airspeed of 70, 72 knots. Our ground speed is about just over 100 miles an hour, statute miles an hour, so we're going much faster than Hammond.
03:59One of the last times I raced an aeroplane in a car, the aeroplane was a Eurofighter, and the car was a Bugatti Veyron, but it's worth bearing in mind, this, on launch, has more power than the Bugatti Veyron.
04:18That's mind-blowing.
04:20I should imagine James by now will be droning on at some length about the aeroplane.
04:27So just to be clear, in my conventional aeroplane going along, I'd probably do a quick check here on the fuel, the engine settings, the temperatures and pressures.
04:36No oil pressure, no oil temperature, no cylinder head temperature, no exhaust gas temperature.
04:42It is, in fact, a little bit like a full-size radio control model, isn't it?
04:45Yeah, except you're in it.
04:48Traffic, traffic, traffic.
04:51This looks like roadworks. No matter how powerful my electric Porsche, I'm stuck in roadworks.
04:5842 minutes of battery left. I don't know why I'm feeling nervous about it, it's obviously plenty, but we're in the air.
05:06Cheap.
05:08Make it easier to spot, James.
05:11Look at that. Electro-chromatic roof.
05:14So I can have it matte for a bit of peace and privacy, or totally clear for looking for old men in electric aeroplanes.
05:21Where is he?
05:22I reckon Hammers done at the most, 12 miles, maybe 15.
05:32I appear to be going through a bit of suburbia, which is rather clipping my wings when it comes to speed.
05:39OK, I may only be on the A350 to Warminster, which lacks the glamour of the skies, but at least I'm moving again.
05:52Building up speed whilst remaining within official posted limits, obviously.
05:58But I'm making progress there, and I haven't got a stop to recharge.
06:04ETA in just under 12 minutes.
06:11Well, viewers, it's a long time since we've done one of these races,
06:14because obviously we concentrated on specials towards the end of our time together.
06:18But here's a fun fact.
06:20The first ever race, which was from London to Monte Carlo, I think,
06:25me and Hammond on public transport, Clarkson in the Aston Martin,
06:29was the origin of my catchphrase, O-Cock.
06:32Which is what I said when I ran round the corner and saw the car already parked there.
06:37So there you go.
06:39It was all worth it.
06:43Right, big, fast road up ahead.
06:45I'm going to get onto the A303.
06:47Now, I know that's a big road.
06:48Hopefully, I can unleash some of the power from the mighty Porsche.
06:53No.
06:54There's a Kia in the way.
06:56So just so that you know, viewers, I'm prepared for charging,
07:01which we're going to do as quickly as possible.
07:03I've got a magic fob in my pocket, which I think activates the charger as soon as we stand near it.
07:10Is that right?
07:11That's right, yeah.
07:12You just plug it in and go and have, presumably, an airfield cup of tea and a baked sandwich,
07:16or chicken and mushroom pie.
07:18This is what aviation, light aviation, is about, viewers.
07:20It's about visiting other people's airfields and trying out their cafes.
07:25Okay, making progress in the car.
07:30No signs of a small electric aeroplane with a spaniel in it.
07:36We're down.
07:37Nice.
07:40Charge, charge, charge.
07:45There you go.
07:52Oh, hello.
07:53Hello.
07:54That's me.
07:57Hello.
07:58Yes, hello.
07:59Have you crashed?
08:00No, no.
08:01I'm at Thruxton.
08:02I'm charging.
08:03You're already at Thruxton?
08:04I am, yes.
08:05Right.
08:06Ground speed of over 90 knots with a healthy tailwind, and I'm up to 50% charged already.
08:13That's cheating.
08:14You're not supposed to be able to go faster than 75.
08:17Well, it was 75 airspeed.
08:19Yes, but ground speed with a tailwind.
08:21You were winning.
08:22Right.
08:23Yeah, well, I'm pretty confident.
08:24In fact, if I were you, I wouldn't bother.
08:26I'd give up.
08:27Where are you?
08:28Oh, God.
08:29I'm not far too.
08:30I passed Stonehenge hours ago.
08:33Did you?
08:34Yep.
08:35And I've probably, I don't know, about 30 miles to run.
08:38So, all in all, it's not worth your while carrying on.
08:42Just give up now.
08:43Okay, in the direction you're going, which side of the road is Stonehenge on?
08:47It was miles back on the left, but that was hours ago.
08:51Okay.
08:52So, yeah.
08:53Just testing.
08:54How long until yours is charged?
08:55Well, it's going to take about 30, 35 minutes.
08:58Well, I'll be on my way just as soon as I've had a spot of lunch.
09:03Don't eat too much.
09:04It's a very light airplane and every kilogram of bargain makes a difference.
09:07I know.
09:09You carry on.
09:10Yes.
09:11Okay.
09:12I'll see you there.
09:13All right.
09:14Fool.
09:16Finally, the M3.
09:17It's opened up.
09:18There's not a lot of traffic.
09:20James is still on the ground, munching a sandwich and putting more electricity in his
09:25airplane.
09:26I am flying.
09:33He isn't.
09:34I could do this.
09:37I want to do this.
09:40Airfield chips.
09:43Hmm.
09:46Life is good in aviation.
09:49When we did these races back on the show in the past, that was the reality of it.
09:55You got stuck behind stuff.
09:57It costs you time.
09:58We'd always work it out, as we have done this one for Drive Tribe, that on paper, it
10:04could be a draw.
10:05There is an actual race here.
10:07But then what happens on the day happens on the day and we always ran them for real.
10:11There's no rush.
10:14The sort of speeds Hammond must be going.
10:16I know when I rang him up, when we arrived here, I mean, he was pretending he'd already
10:21been past Stonehenge and things, but I know he had them because he couldn't even remember
10:24where it was.
10:25So he'd probably done, I don't know, 12 miles.
10:29So I can enjoy this capacity.
10:30In fact, I might have another one.
10:31I've got 42 minutes to run, 26 miles.
10:39James is still on the ground, still recharging.
10:42If he's got 10 minutes of recharging and it's at least a 30 minute flight from Thruxton to
10:48Dunsfold, I am still in this race.
10:52The car has a great time.
10:53Right, let's go.
10:55Go, go, go, skipper.
10:58Steaming a Dunsfold.
11:01the really really clever stuff in this car is in the suspension because this car is also flying
11:22in a way and the reason it's doing that is the suspension now it doesn't just pull it doesn't
11:29just receive incoming bumps it pushes if I go over a bump the suspension lifts but if it's a dip this
11:36pushes its wheel down actively pushes its wheel into the hole to keep the car level I'm going to
11:42take a right hand bend here so it's going to push with its left hand side and it can actually lean
11:47me into the corner and I can feel it and not only that when I brake the car angles back so it slows
11:55down like a helicopter another connection with flying when I accelerate it leans forwards to
12:01counteract the effect of the weight being thrown back so all the time I'm driving this car it is
12:06constantly controlling its weight its altitude its attitude in a way I've never experienced and it
12:13feels brilliant
12:15just waving at a helicopter there for no real reason
12:26I'm trying to decide what I think about the electric future because I mean it works for cars there are a
12:35few problems with infrastructure and charging times range anxiety all those things that people got on
12:40I think it works for this airplane really nicely I mean if you can increase the endurance by 50%
12:46which I know you're going to be able to do this would be a great toy this would be a fabulous thing
12:51to have boats and ships I'm not so sure of big airplanes but I like the electric lifestyle
12:57it's smooth quiet and polite
12:59right the A31 to Guildford the very last time I drove this road on the way back from the very last
13:13Top Gear studio record I was a tear-soaked mess it was a big moment and I was driving the bronze Land Rover
13:24driver I still have now I love that car and it was low on diesel but I was so tear-soaked I couldn't
13:31stop to buy fuel because it would have looked a bit odd which meant I ran out when I got to the end of
13:41the m50 at home it's a long time ago right back to the race according to my sat nav I am less than half
13:56an hour away but James I think we'll be back in the air and I know he's half an hour away this is close
14:06battery update viewers we are on 67% which is plenty we should land with probably 50% remaining
14:19we're not using very much electricity at all but we're still knocking along at
14:22nearly 90 knots that's over 100 miles an hour in car money
14:26that's not them no that's not them actually I wish it was they'd be going the wrong way
14:38god this is the exact route I used to come right at the beginning of Top Gear
14:43waiting at this queue here for this crossing I was just wound up and tense because it was
14:50we were starting something new today I'm wound up and tense for a different reason because 24 years later
14:56I'm hoping to beat my co-host back to the track
15:04we'll be there in nine minutes here as we're heading into the rain
15:096.1 miles away very much a 30 mile an hour limit here
15:15well that's proper yeah but I think we're going to go through it
15:18oh can I see that yes
15:29I wonder if our green roof is still there
15:33where is he I still can't see it but it's a very small aeroplane
15:39right I've seen the 747 can I see that purple portion of Richard Hammond
15:49no sign of the hamster that he could be hiding
15:55if he is there before us he won't make it obvious
15:57hello let me in oh take your time chap
16:07can I come in
16:08you know where you going well yeah I used to work it
16:11are you sure yeah I did I worked I worked it for like for years
16:18can I yeah yeah you know where you going
16:20can I interest you in a drink sir I'd recommend the gin sadly you can't have it because I am
16:40right I'll have a coke cheers come on cheers that was an adventure and a good race it was this hurts
16:47though hmm the sweet taste of victory that's another gin name for it is actually yes
16:54go on then make it live what happened well I mean you lost
17:00I could blame me having an extra cup of tea good one the charging at Thruxton taking about
17:0810 minutes longer than I anticipated all the weather you know what they say
17:13time to spare go by air you're gonna ask me then what was it like well and you probably
17:19should ask that um I got stuck behind quite a lot of traffic but to be fair in that happens in cars
17:25you're stuck behind everything because it's unbelievably fast so it's one of those cars that
17:31everything is in your way as soon as you set off oh no everything's going to be in my way but it is
17:36tell you what it's two tons of it it doesn't have control its weight anyway that was a good race and
17:42it was a good race and it was quite nostalgic in a way it was very nostalgic coming into land
17:47because I saw Dunsfold from the air I saw the old Boeing 747 there which we sat in once or twice and
17:53used it as a remember that coming in well I could see the buildings and I could remember it from flying
17:58in here when we worked here I mean I'm not one for sentimentality as you know but you're not you're
18:04as sentimental as that table shall we go for a leisurely lap and see if we can well let's be
18:10honest remember how it goes all right then well you better drive because um well because I haven't
18:15had a drink yes good thought come on man okay I suppose I'll have to put the seat back won't I yes etc
18:30was this follow-through I got carried straight on there mate but it's still there there's the hammerhead