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From The Sunday Times August 30, 2009
The best electric cars on the market:
Tesla Roadster, Mitsubishi i Miev, Mega City, G-Wiz L-iON, GEM e4 and Citroen C1 ev’ie are currently on sale in the UK.
Given the enthusiasm with which politicians from Boris Johnson to Lord Mandelson have been jumping on the electric car bandwagon in recent months, you could be forgiven for thinking the green car revolution was in full swing and all you needed to do was pop down to your local Ford dealer to pick up your plug-in Focus. Not so. There are electric vehicles available to buy in the UK, but not many, and most of them have been nowhere near a mainstream manufacturer. You probably won’t have heard of the Stevens ZeCar, for example, but right now you’ll have more luck buying an all-electric vehicle from this tiny Welsh outfit than you would from Ford, Vauxhall or Toyota.
In April the government announced plans to offer motorists grants of between £2,000 ($3,321 USA) and £5,000 ($8,304 USA) off the price of a new electric car. But the subsidies won’t be available until 2011. By then, a string of big-name manufacturers, from GM to Nissan, is expected to launch electric models, and preparations are already under way.
Mandelson, the secretary of state for business, innovation and skills, last month announced Nissan would be producing the battery pack for its Nissan EV (electric vehicle) — due to go on sale in the UK in 2012 — in Sunderland. Johnson, the mayor of London, has said he wants to make the UK “the electric vehicle capital of Europe” and is backing the installation of 25,000 charging points across the city by 2015, to serve a predicted 100,000 vehicles. But what if you would rather make the switch now, as would many eco-minded families?
In recent months The Sunday Times has been contacted by many readers who want to reduce their carbon footprint, especially for short runs to the shops, school or on the daily commute. The demand is for electric cars that will take on the role of second cars, while the family saloon or MPV is kept for longer distances. Electric vehicles are ideal in this respect: they are exempt from road tax and the London congestion charge, making them a particularly attractive option for Londoners whose daily driving is confined largely to short urban hops.
Finding out who actually makes and sells electric cars and getting hold of detailed information about them can be a struggle. Many of the cars you might have heard about in recent months, such as BMW’s Mini E, for example, are not yet production-ready. Many that appear in the pages of car magazines are no more than attention-grabbing concept vehicles.
Among the most important things to be mindful of when considering an electric car are range and speed. Of the cars on offer in the UK today — discounting the £86,950 Tesla Roadster — you will struggle to find one with a top speed higher than 60mph. Some, such as the GEM car, top out at just 25mph. Range anxiety is still a big concern, despite rapid improvements in battery technology, including the gradual introduction of lithium-ion batteries, which are more energy dense and quicker to recharge than lead-acid ones.
Safety is another problem. When the government introduces its grants for electric vehicles they will apply only to cars that meet performance and safety criteria comparable to petrol and diesel models. That rules out many electric vehicles on sale today, most of which are classed officially as quadricycles, which exempts them from rigorous crash-testing.
Things are set to change soon, however, and once again it is the smaller companies, beyond the mainstream, that are leading the charge. Reva, the Indian company behind the G-Wiz, Britain’s bestselling electric vehicle, is set to produce its first fully fledged four-seater electric car. Few details are available, but it should undergo official crash tests and is likely to be unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show in September before going into production towards the end of the year.
We’ll bring you more details on the new Reva as soon as they’re available but until then, here is our guide to electric vehicles on sale in the UK today. Read on for all you need to know about everything from the ZeCar (half a dozen produced to date) to the Mitsubishi i MiEV, the first electric offering from a mainstream manufacturer.......................
More of the article:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving...m=1252606925508
The best electric cars on the market:
Tesla Roadster, Mitsubishi i Miev, Mega City, G-Wiz L-iON, GEM e4 and Citroen C1 ev’ie are currently on sale in the UK.
Given the enthusiasm with which politicians from Boris Johnson to Lord Mandelson have been jumping on the electric car bandwagon in recent months, you could be forgiven for thinking the green car revolution was in full swing and all you needed to do was pop down to your local Ford dealer to pick up your plug-in Focus. Not so. There are electric vehicles available to buy in the UK, but not many, and most of them have been nowhere near a mainstream manufacturer. You probably won’t have heard of the Stevens ZeCar, for example, but right now you’ll have more luck buying an all-electric vehicle from this tiny Welsh outfit than you would from Ford, Vauxhall or Toyota.
In April the government announced plans to offer motorists grants of between £2,000 ($3,321 USA) and £5,000 ($8,304 USA) off the price of a new electric car. But the subsidies won’t be available until 2011. By then, a string of big-name manufacturers, from GM to Nissan, is expected to launch electric models, and preparations are already under way.
Mandelson, the secretary of state for business, innovation and skills, last month announced Nissan would be producing the battery pack for its Nissan EV (electric vehicle) — due to go on sale in the UK in 2012 — in Sunderland. Johnson, the mayor of London, has said he wants to make the UK “the electric vehicle capital of Europe” and is backing the installation of 25,000 charging points across the city by 2015, to serve a predicted 100,000 vehicles. But what if you would rather make the switch now, as would many eco-minded families?
In recent months The Sunday Times has been contacted by many readers who want to reduce their carbon footprint, especially for short runs to the shops, school or on the daily commute. The demand is for electric cars that will take on the role of second cars, while the family saloon or MPV is kept for longer distances. Electric vehicles are ideal in this respect: they are exempt from road tax and the London congestion charge, making them a particularly attractive option for Londoners whose daily driving is confined largely to short urban hops.
Finding out who actually makes and sells electric cars and getting hold of detailed information about them can be a struggle. Many of the cars you might have heard about in recent months, such as BMW’s Mini E, for example, are not yet production-ready. Many that appear in the pages of car magazines are no more than attention-grabbing concept vehicles.
Among the most important things to be mindful of when considering an electric car are range and speed. Of the cars on offer in the UK today — discounting the £86,950 Tesla Roadster — you will struggle to find one with a top speed higher than 60mph. Some, such as the GEM car, top out at just 25mph. Range anxiety is still a big concern, despite rapid improvements in battery technology, including the gradual introduction of lithium-ion batteries, which are more energy dense and quicker to recharge than lead-acid ones.
Safety is another problem. When the government introduces its grants for electric vehicles they will apply only to cars that meet performance and safety criteria comparable to petrol and diesel models. That rules out many electric vehicles on sale today, most of which are classed officially as quadricycles, which exempts them from rigorous crash-testing.
Things are set to change soon, however, and once again it is the smaller companies, beyond the mainstream, that are leading the charge. Reva, the Indian company behind the G-Wiz, Britain’s bestselling electric vehicle, is set to produce its first fully fledged four-seater electric car. Few details are available, but it should undergo official crash tests and is likely to be unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show in September before going into production towards the end of the year.
We’ll bring you more details on the new Reva as soon as they’re available but until then, here is our guide to electric vehicles on sale in the UK today. Read on for all you need to know about everything from the ZeCar (half a dozen produced to date) to the Mitsubishi i MiEV, the first electric offering from a mainstream manufacturer.......................
More of the article:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving...m=1252606925508
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