Several new electric cars will be under spotlights at the British motor show in London this week.
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The cars are particularly attractive to London drivers as they are exempt from both UK annual road tax and the business-week central city congestion charge (GBP8 a day). The city’s local councils are also beginning to install kerbside recharge points.
Think said it would reveal the world’s only crash-tested and highway-certified electric car at the show.
The City model has a top speed of 65mph (about 105km/h) and an in-town range of 126 miles (about 200km) on a full charge. It is said to cost £GBP100 (about US$200) in electricity to cover 10,000 miles and is 95% recyclable.
“The Think City is a true, modern urban car, not a quadricycle,” the automaker said, in a thinly-veiled dig at some rivals already on UK roads.
But the City won’t be available here until next summer.
To charge the batteries from 20% capacity to 80 percent takes just four hours.
According to Think, the car was designed to meet the strict safety requirements of both Europe and the USA, “as a genuinely-safe road car”.
“It is the world’s only crash-tested and highway-certified EV. The car is equipped with ABS brakes, airbags and three-point safety belts with pretensioners and it surpasses all European and US requirements.
“Unlike the lower-range, electric quadricycles that have had limited success in the UK, the City is a real car which provides a realistic option for those motorists who want to drive a true zero emissions car,” said UK managing director Richard Blundell.
“This is a proposition that we believe will interest many drivers who are re-thinking their approach to motoring,” he added.
The car’s body is made of recyclable ABS plastic, designed specifically for city driving. Designed to avoid visible scratches and dents, the unpainted, self-coloured plastic bodywork also reduces both energy consumption and toxins, while making the panels easier to recycle. The battery is returned to the supplier at the end of its useable life.
The auto insurance industry has consequently reduced rates by as much as 30-50%, the importer said.
Standard equipment includes power steering, central locking, 4kW electric heater plus electric windows and mirrors. Options include air conditioning, pre-heat timer, electrically heated windscreen, full length sunroof, radio CD with MP3, USB, Bluetooth, a navigation & multimedia system, alloy wheels, roof rack and 2 + 2 child seats including three-point seat belts.
Production started this year in Norway, and the first batch of right-hand drive cars will be delivered in the UK in mid-2009.
Think, for a time owned by Ford, has about 17 years experience in developing and producing electric vehicles and there are about 1,200 of its cars on Norwegian roads, many with over 100,000 miles on the clock.
The latest City is the sixth generation. Currently, they are being produced at a rate of three to five a day, rising to 20 a day in the next six months.
The capacity of Think’s first assembly plant in Aurskog, outside Oslo, is presently being increased to 10,000 cars per year. Think plans to increase its production capacity with new assembly plants in the USA, Continental Europe and Asia in the next two years.
In April this year, Think established a North American unit in partnership with RockPort Capital Partners and Kleiner Perkins, Caufield and Byers. Sales for other than initial trial and demonstration projects will begin in 2009.
At the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year, Think announced a strategic partnership with energy giant General Electric, also an investor. It has also established partnerships in the US with lithium-based battery suppliers A123 Systems and EnerDel.
Importer Nice Car Company also plans to show three new electric cars in London this week.
The brand was launched two years ago at the London show.
Stand highlights will include the global debut of the Ze-0 styled in Europe and developed and built in China.
This will be the world’s first affordable, five-door electric family car, according to Nice. It also gas a range of up to 65 miles in typical city driving and will cost from GBP13,995 when it goes on sale next autumn. Similar money would buy the likes of a nicely equipped C-segment VW Golf, Ford Focus or GM Vauxhall Astra five-door ‘family’ hatchback in the UK.
Nice is also showing the two-seater, Giugiaro styled, Hong Kong-built MyCar priced from GBP8,995 and also on sale in autumn with a range of around 40 miles. Top speed is 40mph (70km/h) with re-charge time between six and eight hours.
Standard equipment includes electric windows and mirrors, radio/MP3 player, 14″ alloy wheels, remote central locking, hi/lo and boost button and LCD multifunction display. It also has storage space under the bonnet, in the boot and in the glove compartment.
Options include a glass roof or removable fiberglass panel, larger wheels, leather interior, cooled and heated seats and a boot rack.
Also optional are work ‘n’ play and drive ‘n’ play. The first incorporates a forward-folding passenger seat with laptop dock, the latter includes bluetooth, sat-nav and upgraded audio.
The MyCar is made of fibreglass reinforced plastic on a steel tubular spaceframe with tubular roll-bar. It has disc brakes and independent front and rear suspension.
Nice has also revamped the Mega City launched in London in 2006. Two and four seat variants are on sale from GBP11,500.
It is also displaying the the first all-electric Fiat 500 to evaluate interest in this limited-edition Micro-Vett conversion of Fiat’s retro-look small car.
The south hall’s ‘electric vehicle village’ will be home to two more Nice vehicles, the Super Light Concept (a research project developed with Cranfield university) and an electric Fiat Doblo van.
“Our plans are ambitious,” said Nice co-founder Julian Wilford. “We have built firm foundations since our launch in 2006 and we are now looking forward to expansion across the UK and internationally.”
