Elektromotive in London

Think-founder Jan Otto Ringdal


It would be very good news if one of the choices of an electric city car in London was a Think City.

Danny’s Contentment1 adjudges that, “with the congestion charge and high parking costs, London is fast becoming a leading electric vehicle city.” (With Danny, it sometimes difficult to discern between advocacy and advertising.)

With rising oil prices, it is good to see electric vehicles once more for sale. Especially in London, an all-electric “city car” almost pays for itself in the first year, if one takes into consideration 1) the saving on fuel, 2) congestion charge, i.e., it is exempt from the London congestion charge 3) cost of parking in London, i.e., because it is a ZEV (Zero Emissions Vehicle), parking is free in many areas, and 4) a zero road tax.

While his post promotes drive-up charging stations from Elektromotive, his post tweaked my curiosity. He states that a total of six models were due to be on the roads in the UK soon. He omitted specifying the models.

I recently posted to the Yahoo group, Electric Vehicles for Sale, that the UK could count the Reva (marketed as the G-Wiz) as one, currently available, choice of electric city cars. Nonetheless, I was stumped to come up with six choices for Londoners.

1. G-Wiz
2. Maranello4
3. Blue Car
4. Smart for two EV
5. Mitsubishi i car
6. ?


It is a good bet that the Smart fortwo EV2 would be the most expensive of the lot.

I doubt that even Tokyo could boast more choices, especially with the advent of the most recent, road tax exemption.

After intermission…

Microcar-ZENN available in Europe


It would appear that the Microcar-ZENN EVs being shown in the UK will include the long wheel base model, a true four-seater with wide door entry.

Sebastian Blanco3, reporting for AutoBlog Green, elucidates that the UK will get first crack at the Microcar ZENN (Zero Emissions No Noise) in Europe. The ZENN is a Canadian electric vehicle that uses a French glider*.

* Note: A glider is slang among EV enthusiasts for a car ready for installation of a propulsion system. It differs from a donor car in two respects: 1) the ICE components were never installed, so no need for removal; and, 2) it is a newly made, unused product whereas donor cars usually are previously owned.

Canada’s Feel Good Cars announced that their Microcar-ZENN EV (which is manufactured in France) will be introduced to the UK this year, and then to other European countries. Considering that, according to Feel Good Cars, the “average urban speed in the UK is now somewhere around 20mph (or considerably lower in London), the average trip for an urban driver is rarely more than 10 – 15 miles”, the ZENN EV could make a lot of sense for some people. The ZENN EV will be available in both two- and four-seater versions and will cost under £8,000. The car will feature regenerative braking and optional lithium ion battery power.

Continue reading here: Finally! Ultra Cap / Lithium-Ion Battery Combination Testing

Was this article helpful?

0 0