October 30th, 2008
Electric cars on the streets
I took these pictues in the driveway of a home in Dulwich, South London, Britain. The car is called the Gee-Whiz i. It’s being marketed by GoingGreen.
The prices on these little two-seater, all electric cars runs from 9465 to just over 11,100–British pounds. That would translate to a price range of 14,300U$ to 16,725U$. These cars have been available in some version since 2004 in the United Kingdom. Used ones are selling for around 4-7,000 pounds. Battery life is said to be about eighteen months.
The car is designed for the urban commuter, is all electric and takes eight hours to fully recharge and is then good for about 48 miles, says the manufacturer. London’s a city with a high congestion charge for any vehicle in the city center and exorbitant parking fees. This car parks for free in some urban spots. The maker claims fuel costs are now 1 pence UK per mile driven.
The cars were designed in California, are built in Bangalore, India, and the largest privately owned fleet of them is in London. They do NOT advertise to avoid the cost, but the sellers claim to be selling or two per day in London…so at that rate by the year 2185, they’ll have made a significant dent in the traffic pollution in this densest of European cities. Of course, we may have run out of gasoline by then and be back to donkey-power to great delight of grain producers.
A newsman since 1969, Harry Fuller has worked for CBS, ABC, CNBC Europe, CNET and was founding news director at TechTV. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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