Sometimes, recording an interview just doesn’t go to plan, gloriously.

24 Jul

I remember feeling quite ill after recording my interview with Dr Andy Palmer for the Nissan EV Owners Group. It wasn’t anything he said or did - I just felt the pressure of it being only my third interview with someone I hold in such high regard. Funnily enough, it was only when we discovered he’d gone to the same university as my wife that I finally calmed into it. He was great fun - a proper engineer and car nerd.

The Andy Palmer interview experience only partially prepared me. Fast forward to the summer of 2026. With CtrlAltRefuel co-host EV_Newt heading off on holiday to Scotland, we wanted to record a couple of episodes before he shipped out. We’d been discussing Patric as a potential guest - formerly known as PeoplesTarrif and now GreenstripShow. We booked him in and agreed a time and date. Nothing could have prepared us for what was coming.

I knew it was going to be an unusual one. Graeme Cobb, who was new to the CAR studio, and EV_Newt both looked a little apprehensive (they are friends with Patric and perhaps knew the ‘show’ Patric would put on) as we fired up Google Meet. Patric joined from outdoors - we’d half-expected that - with his venerable VW e-Up! parked behind him. He recognised me from when we’d met briefly at the start of the London to Brighton 2025 EV Rally, and I visibly relaxed. I hate it when people I adore don’t recognise me.

There was the usual faff with cameras, microphones, lighting and backdrop. But then it hit me - he was sitting on a camping chair in a Tesco car park on the Hampshire border, about to do an interview. He eventually positioned himself quite far from the camera, which had me worrying about the audio quality. As it turned out, his southern English accent with a merest hint of West Country carried well and pushed the VU meters admirably.

What followed over the next hour was an entirely British exposition of the power of the human spirit. Patric has this unshakeable belief that he will succeed. He’s not reckless. Every decision is measured, and as he told us, his plans are often tested but rarely fail. I think his ability to adapt is what sets him apart.

So why Patric for our rare guest interview slot? Well, read on. This is quite frankly remarkable:

Over the last couple of years he has driven his little, short range, now classic EV not only around the whole of Great Britain and Ireland, he also-for his 60th Birthday drove around…..Europe! In his VW e-uP! We’re taking here England to France and on through (but not only) Belgium, Holland, tour of Scandinavia and out, down to The Eastern European border (not without trials, tribulations and difficulties) and on down to Italy and back round a southern route to home.

Impressive right? Absolutely! Add in the fact that he doesn’t stay in hotels, B&B’s or even hostels no, he camps/sleeps in his car.

So now it’s July 2026 he’s gathering himself and his limited resources and will be setting off to drive to China. Yes, China!

But there’s more. This is the first step of his, even for him, ambitious intent to DRIVE AROUND THE WORLD. Yes, around the world in an EV - an unfathomable undertaking in any car. I sat there slack-jawed (propped up by the desk) as he explained his plans. Only he could say, “Yeah, I’m driving from the Reform Club on Pall Mall, just as Phileas Fogg did” and land it perfectly. He mentioned he’d been annoyed they wouldn’t let him in wearing shorts and a T-shirt. I thought perhaps he was joking. I learned he wasn’t.

His preparations are both meticulous and gloriously slapdash. The car is *full*, and I do mean full of everything he needs for the trip. So full, in fact, that the rear offside passenger window got smashed when he closed the door and something hard poked through the glass. “*Yeah, I cut my hand quite badly,*” he told us, utterly deadpan. My eyes were so wide my eyeballs were drying out.

We never asked him why he does it. You don’t ask explorers why. I suspect it’s for the same reason you don’t ask your Parkhurst cellmate what he’s in for. He talked a little about his charity work, typically underplaying it, then moved straight on to how he still has to earn money to eat. The two thoughts sat comfortably next to each other. So matter-of-fact. So Patric.