Jockey Club Set For Innovation Charge
The Jockey Club has unveiled plans for electric vehicle charge points to be installed at all of its 14 racecourses and the historic Jockey Club Rooms by the end of 2012, in a world-first for the horseracing industry. The group has also revealed the technology it is using to bring its latest Annual Review to virtual life in partnership with Aurasma, the augmented reality platform.
The largest commercial group in British horseracing has agreed a partnership with Chargemaster Plc, which saw the first electric vehicle charge point go operational at Kempton Park Racecourse on Tuesday, with subsequent installations at Sandown Park and Epsom Downs to complete The Jockey Club’s three London racecourses.
This will be closely followed by Newmarket, Exeter and Wincanton.
The innovative move is part of The Jockey Club’s sustainability strategy, highlighting initiatives to make it easier for racing fans, conference and events clients, suppliers and staff to reduce their carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency.
The points will allow users to fully charge an electric vehicle for 95p, allowing travel of up to 115 miles dependant on the vehicle.
The scheme, endorsed by transport minister Norman Baker, hopes to build a network of 4,000 charge points across Britain by the end of 2012 to sustain the expected growth in electric vehicles.
The news of the first racecourse electric vehicle charge point comes after a significant commitment from Waitrose to install electric vehicle charge points in many of their car parks.
In the next 18 months, it is predicted that 29 new models of plug-in cars and light vans will be launched in the UK market by manufacturers including BMW, Volvo, Nissan, Renault, Ford and Vauxhall.
Paul Fisher, group managing director, Jockey Club Racecourses, said: ‘This is a world-first for horseracing and I’m delighted that The Jockey Club’s racecourses are leading the way. The installations not only demonstrate our commitment to reduce our carbon footprint, but also provide our customers with a service that is only going to be more valuable in the future. We hope this innovation is another example of British racing doing everything possible to enhance our customers’ experience.’
David Martell, chief executive of Chargemaster Plc, commented: ‘We are delighted to form this partnership with The Jockey Club. As part of the national POLAR network, Chargemaster is installing charging points across the country, but we are pleased that The Jockey Club will be the first network of sporting venues to provide this service to their customers. We hope many racing fans, conference and events customers and staff, will find this service useful in the years ahead when more and more consumers will be using plug in cars.’
Meanwhile, The Jockey Club has also revealed the new technology it is using to bring its latest Annual Review to virtual life in partnership with Aurasma.
Aurasma uses advanced image recognition technology to identify and understand images, objects and places in the real world, and then blends them with videos and 3D animations to create rich interactive content known as ‘Auras’.
These can be viewed by anyone with an iPhone 4 or 4S, iPad 2 or 3 and various powerful Android smartphones and tablets, who downloads the free ‘Aurasma Lite’ app.
The Jockey Club’s revolutionary use of augmented reality has seen the creation of its own Aura, which takes the form of an interactive two-minute infographic video, showcasing the scale and growing popularity of British racing. It also helps to communicate what The Jockey Club is today and its role investing all profits back into the sport.
It is triggered by launching the Aurasma Lite app and then holding the appropriate smartphone or tablet over The Jockey Club’s Annual Review front cover or the picture above.
