News & Articles

ECO-conscious Londoners who crave the comforts of independent travel are being encouraged to invest in an electric car.

Over the past few months, more and more of these little automobiles have been seen on the roads. The two most popular brands are the G-Whiz and the Nice Mega City, which I took for a spin around Primrose Hill.

Standing for No Internal Combustion Engine, I envisaged the Nice car would be radically different from your average small car and feared a barrage of impatient motorists tooting their horns at me for crawling along in the slow lane. But I was in for a pleasant surprise.

I never had the chance to come close to its top speed of 40mph as I cruised through the streets of Primrose Hill.

This little machine is perfect for nipping to the shops or to the office and it has all the mod cons - CD player, electric windows, remote locking.

There is hardly any engine noise and despite looking tiny from the outside the ride was comfortable with plenty of leg room.

But leaving all these details aside, the main draw of an electric car has got to be the environmental benefits and cost savings.

You don't have to pay for the congestion charge or road tax. In many places there is free or discounted parking. There are no emissions. And the battery charges from your conventional plug sockets cost about 2p per mile. With many domestic electricity suppliers starting to offer carbon off-setting and drawing on more renewable energy sources, it's a lot cleaner - and cheaper - than burning petrol in the atmosphere.

"Driving an electric car will save people lots of money in London. And it is a far greener form of transport," said Nice co-founder Julian Wilford from West Hampstead.

"Lots of people from Camden and north London have been buying our cars - local businesses, people who want a second car to drive around areas such as Hampstead, and people who work in the City or in Westminster.

"They have realised that they can have their own personal vehicle to go into town, which costs a fraction of the price you would spend on a car."

Westminster residents account for 16 per cent of Nice car sales with Camden second in the list at 13 per cent, Barnet is third with nine per cent, then Haringey with eight per cent.

After the initial investment in the car, journeys across London cost a fraction of the price of public transport. A return tube fare from Hampstead into Westminster is now about £4 but taking the electric car will cost less than 20p for the same journey.

The Mega City car has a battery range of 35 to 40 miles. Statistics suggest that the average daily journey for a Londoner is just 4.2 miles, so there's little worry about running out of juice. Of course, you can't go bombing up the M1 or take a ride down to Brighton but these little runarounds are ideal for journeys inside the north circular and M25.

It takes five hours to fully charge the battery, which can easily be done overnight at home or even while you sit at work.

Inside the bonnet there is no water and no oil - just electrical components which can easily be replaced by service people who will come out to you.

"The arguments for having an electric car are really very strong," said Mr Wilford who used to work for Rolls Royce.

"Normal cars cause so many problems, the main ones being cost, congestion and pollution.

"But an electric car gives people all the functionality of a car, without any of those downsides."

ed.thomas@hamhigh.co.uk.





o The Nice Mega City retails from £9,995. A Mega Multi Truck for business use costs around £8,600 and an electric Vectrix motorbike from the company is £6,995.

o The company makes the vehicles from recyclable thermo-plastic around a solid aluminium frame.

o Any CO2 used in manufacturing the vehicles is offset by the company to ensure complete carbon neutrality.

o The electric vehicles are exempt from the congestion charge, from road tax and enjoy free or discounted parking in many parts of London (though not Camden).

o For more information, visit www.nicecarcompany.co.uk