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bellinghman ([personal profile] bellinghman) wrote2011-04-01 12:34 pm
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Sneaky, BBC, sneaky

At a scant 8 minutes past midnight this morning, this article was posted on the BBC News website. It purports to describe a possible electric Roller.

This would appear to be an April Fool.

Except for this 3 week old article in European Car News.
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[identity profile] nojay.livejournal.com 2011-04-01 12:05 pm (UTC)(link)
I reckon the Geneva Car Show report was just pre-planning for this April Fool joke. The physics and engineering of it don't make much sense -- a 2.7 tonne car can get a 125-mile range with a battery pack small enough to fit into the engine compartment space? It might be feasible if they also filled the boot with batteries but that's not what they claimed. I'm also wondering how they mananged to cram an electric motor plus drive system (diffs etc.) into the back end, supposedly where the petrol tanks are located on a petrol-engined Phantom. To get decent performance (claimed 0 to 60 in 8 seconds) that would require a large motor of at least 300kW continuous rating with a liquid cooling system to stop it melting in the confined space.

I'm still very suspicious...

[identity profile] bellinghman.livejournal.com 2011-04-01 12:10 pm (UTC)(link)
It is very suspicious, I agree. But though producing material ahead of time that is only revealed on the day is fine, actually releasing stuff to the public back in March would be definite cheating. So I'm going for an impractical concept that's exploring technologies.

[identity profile] tisiphone.livejournal.com 2011-04-01 12:47 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't know, the language as you go on in the BBC report is distinctly un-newslike. Speculating that Rolls buyers might buy the electric version simply because it's more expensive would not ordinarily make it past the editor's desk, I don't think.

[identity profile] bellinghman.livejournal.com 2011-04-01 01:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah. But an article mentioning the vehicle has been there in Wikipedia since mid February - and linked to from the main Rolls Royce page, too.

So I'm going for a deliberate attempt to make something look like an April Fool that isn't. Ditto for the National Trust Silly Places Walks article.

[identity profile] tisiphone.livejournal.com 2011-04-01 01:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, possibly.

(Alternative hypothesis: Rolls-Royce has, at the age of 105, developed an elaborate sense of humor and has been punking us since February...)

[identity profile] swisstone.livejournal.com 2011-04-01 12:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I'm going with this story instead.

[identity profile] bellinghman.livejournal.com 2011-04-01 12:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh miaow!

(And last updated after midday, so also a cheat.)

[identity profile] swisstone.livejournal.com 2011-04-01 12:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Actually, in a cunning double-bluff, I think the BBC's April Fool is this.

[identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/ 2011-04-01 03:57 pm (UTC)(link)
The Guardian had a piece about Stan Lee doing an Arnie the Governator comic book, which I assumed was an April Fool. At least, I hope it is.

[identity profile] bellinghman.livejournal.com 2011-04-01 04:06 pm (UTC)(link)
One would hope so, wouldn't one?



(The rumour was all over the entertainment media yesterday and the day before, which is either an overly early release of a Fool, or it's horribly true.)

[identity profile] beckyl.livejournal.com 2011-04-01 05:24 pm (UTC)(link)
There was an honest to goodness Steampunk Sarah Palin comic. cite here
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/01/20/steampunk-palin-comic/

That was not in any way an april fool.

[identity profile] bellinghman.livejournal.com 2011-04-01 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Argh! I need brain bleach, NOW!
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