Matt Prior: Why Covid Won’t Stop the Growth of Autocar’s Test Team Car News

Will you excuse me if I talk shop for a while? The past year has taught us, like many businesses, that we can work differently in the future, spending less time in one office together and more time being efficient elsewhere. But as we get ready to fill a vacant position on a test drive where we have stipulated that we would prefer applicants to have experience but that was not essential, a catch with this new path appeared: how to hire people for work experience?

Autocar has a rich history of young (and some older) writers who come for a week or two to see how the magazine is put together and make itself so useful that they are offered jobs and don’t leave for years. Some of the biggest people in this business started out this way.

The best would come and, rather than asking if there are any good cars they can drive (to the irritation of existing employees who barely stand a chance), they walk around asking reporters what they don’t. really, really don’t want to do that day. and if they could offload this task.

We would also try to get each of them on a test and / or photoshoot during their time with us, where you could learn a lot about a character’s suitability for what is a good job but that of long hours and a lot of crushing your fingers polishing the wheels with a microfiber cloth.

So how can someone now come in for a week and see all aspects of Autocar come together? How do you hire an apprentice when, instead of looking over someone’s shoulder and participating in impromptu meetings and arguments, it most often happens from a distance? We have to find a way – and we will. Partly because the staff all miss seeing each other, and partly because there are a bunch of people out there who would like to put me out of work one day. It is only fair that they have the chance.

■ I was interested in the 1,100 hp hypercar from Viritech with a hydrogen fuel cell. Not because I’m desperate for another £ 1.5million plus local taxes unobtanium hypercar with four-digit power output and 0-62mph time starting with two; I am a little more modest with the needs of my driver. No, I was interested because it is an additional solution.

I am extremely frustrated with people who must be “right” about how cars will be powered in the future. A lot of them have skin in the game, after all. Battery electric vehicles will be well suited for most on-road uses – and many vans and trucks, too. But the same single solution is not the best for everyone. And if a green hydrogen infrastructure is to be implemented for the shipping and aerospace industries (there are some independent bodies that think this is likely to be the case) and perhaps for home heating as well, then it would be foolish not to exploit the opportunities of the automobile.