10 July 2000: Savona - Acqui Terme - Alessandria - Asti - Torino
| On the morning of 10 July, the vehicles gathered on the Piazza Mameli in Savona to start the next leg of the trip. | 
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The departure in Savona was given by the vice mayor of the city, together with delegates of the transport company ACTS who hosted the overnight charging. Savona takes part in the Thermie project "Sagittaire", in which framework ACTS is deploying hybrid buses. |
| The Transeuropean now left the coastline to proceed inland. The first mountains had to be negotiated, up to 500 m elevation, in order to reach the city of Acqui Terme, where the vehicles were aligned on Piazza della Bollente, in front of the hot springs that made this town famous since Roman times, and the beneficial waters of which the participants could readily enjoy. |
The hot springs of Acqui Terme |
The courtyard of the Politecnico at Alessandria. The prototype vehicle developed by Professor Ferraris is in the foreground. |
On it went to Alessandria, where a lunch break was taken at the Politecnico. The electrical engineering team of this institution, enthousiastically led by Professor Paolo Ferraris, is strongly involved with electric vehicle development. |
| At the departure, a break was taken to visit the historical centre
of Alessandria, with a small ceremony on the "Piazzetta della Lega Lombarda",
where the city's assessor for the environment, Mr Bobbio, welcomed the
participants, underlining the environmental benefits of electric vehicles.
Professor Maggetto further stressed the value of infrastructure development
to allow widespread use of electric vehicles.
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Professor Maggetto, Professor Ferraris and Assessor Bobbio |
Mr Georges Dick of the AMAVE electric vehicle association of Monaco receives a commemorative plate of the City of Alessandria |
Participants and organisers of the Transeuropean were given a commemorative
plate on behalf of the city.
The visit of the Transeuropean to Alessandria dynamised the synergies of the Politecnico with local authorities to further organise the deployment of electric vehicle infrastructure. |
| The road continued for a short charging break in Asti, where a city
delegate offered the participants a souvenir pack containing a bottle of
local "Asti Moscato" wine. To be enjoyed after the driving, off course!
All were now ready for the last leg, leading to Torino, where the arrival was organised on the historical Piazza San Carlo. |
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