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Electric car sales have more
than halved this year. Just 156
electric cars were sold from
January to October 2008,
compared to 374 for the same
period in 2007 according to
cleangreencars.co.uk.
News of the 58% drop comes as
one of London’s two electric car
distributors, Nice Car Company,
was plunged into administration.
Set up in 2006, the company had
been selling an all-electric
version of the French-made Aixam
Mega along with a range of
electric motorbikes and
electric commercial vehicles.
It had also planned to bring a
range of new models, including a
two-seater and MPV, to market by
the end of the year. However,
sales dropped to fewer than one
car a week.
There are around 1,100
all-electric cars currently on
UK roads. The vast majority are
owned by Londoners and are
quadricycles rather than fully
type-approved cars.
Congestion-charge concessions
for all-electric vehicles helped
create the market, however
customers have since turned
away.
So what hit sales?
CO2-based
congestion charge proposals
Ken Livingstone’s proposals to
exempt sub-120 g/km CO2
petrol and diesel cars from the
congestion charge damaged the
market. The proposals were
subsequently scrapped by new
mayor Boris Johnson, but many
had turned away from
all-electric motoring in the
interim.
Electric quadricycles
and safety
Quadricycles are not required to
undergo the rigorous crash tests
of standard cars like a Corsa or
Fiesta. Their safety record has
therefore been questioned with
programmes like BBC Top Gear
highlighting poor performance in
an impact.
City of London’s U-turn
on parking concessions
Electric cars were exempt from
parking charges in the City of
London, until a U-turn announced
in June this year. The
concession was thought to be
worth up to £4,000 a year for
those regularly parking in the
City.
Models by mainstream car
makers
Many early-adopters have become
wary of dipping their toes in
the market with independent
companies like GoinGreen and
NICE, particularly since
mainstream car makers (Smart,
BMW Mini,
Mitsubishi) announced
their plans to bring electric
cars to market.
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