This is Survolt – Citroën’s latest concept car. This one not only looks a little bit special but is an all electric race car. Anyone would think that this electricity is the way of the future! Well, if it is, we’ll all miss throaty V8 engines, but we will be glad that cars look as damn good as this one. The Survolt will be part of the Top Gear Live show, at Earls Court.
Propelled by two electric motors with a combined power of 300bhp, Survolt is capable of exceptional performance with a top speed of 260kph (162mph) and a 0-100kph (0-62mph) time of under five seconds. The concept’s twin 140kg lithium-ion batteries each boast a 31kw capacity, which allows Survolt to cover 200km (124 miles).
What do you think the future of motoring looks like? Nissan would argue it's a lot like their new car, the Leaf.
It is the first mass-produced electric car to be purpose built and go on sale in the UK.
Some other electric cars are based on existing internal combustion engine designs, and in case you're wondering the G-Wiz - which is seen all over London - is not a car, it's a quadricycle...
But will it be practical for ordinary drivers when they start taking delivery in March?
We were given exclusive access to the car to find out.
First of all, the numbers: it is going to cost £23,990 - and that is after taking into account a £5000 government subsidy.
So it's not cheap.
It will do 90mph and travel 100 miles on a full charge - as long as you don't use the air conditioning or heating.
Nissan say that you should be able to fully charge the battery from flat for £2.
Not for touring
A standard charge will take around eight hours, although it is possible to get the majority of the capacity in half an hour if there's a higher current charging point available.
That means it is not going to be practical as a car to tour the country in.
Filling up at motorway service stations is not currently an option although its manufacturer argues that's not a problem.
"The majority of customers will be people who are using it for commuting," says Richard Candler from Nissan UK.
"So the majority of drives and commuting drives are within a hundred miles. It's excellent as either a city car or an inter-urban commuting vehicle."
The Leaf will be imported for customers initially but from 2012 its batteries will be made at a factory in Sunderland.
And from 2013 the car will be produced there too.
Electric cars of course are very quiet.
That is an advantage as well as a disadvantage.
Nissan found for example that wind noise - because it wasn't drowned out by the engine - became more intrusive.
Bumper loudspeaker
So it designed the headlamp clusters to deflect air around the wing mirrors - where a lot of the wind noise comes from.
And to address concerns about pedestrians being unable to hear the car coming at low speeds, it has got a loudspeaker behind the bumper which plays a sound like a turbine as a warning.
Other hi-tech elements include a solar panel to help charge the 12v battery - so it doesn't take too much power from the main battery - and an option to link the car to smartphones - so you can tell it to warm up the interior in advance.
Though if it is not plugged into a charging point, that is going to drain the battery and cut your range.
Manufacturers are competing to get electric cars to market - and they will all be playing the green card.
The Leaf will even give owners instructions on how to drive more economically - and if drivers want to, they can upload their own driving data to see how they compare with other drivers around the world in a global competition to see who can use the least electricity.
But the car is not a perfect solution.
Behaviour change
"We've always said that technology is part of the answer but to be truly green we've got to have renewable power to power our electric cars," says Tony Bosworth from Friends of the Earth.
"And we've always said that behaviour change is an important part of the solution. We've got to change how people travel if we want to tackle transport's contribution to climate change, and we've always said that the car industry can't just focus on electric cars."
At the moment the big problem - apart from the price - is the lack of infrastructure and charging points.
Honda has argued that long term the solution is electric cars powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.
It claims battery technology will simply never be able to satisfy all our motoring needs.
The disadvantage with hydrogen is that it has to be transported around the country to new filling stations, using fuel to do so, whereas electricity is already there and available.
The eventual solution may well be a combination of different technologies - with people choosing the one that suits their needs best.
A multi-millionaire businessman has built himself Britain's first electric supercar.
Dale Vince OBE has spent nearly £1million building the 'Nemesis' - an electricity-powered supercar which can accelerate from 0-100mph in a breathtaking 8.5 seconds.
The founder of Gloucestershire-based wind energy company Ecotricity wanted to build an electric car that could ‘blow the socks off Jeremy Clarkson'.
Mr Vince now uses the 330bhp car - the first road-going British built electric supercar - as his daily runaround.
Dale Vince
Dale Vince with his £1 million electric supercar that is based on a Lotus
To build the Nemesis, 48-year-old Mr Vince commissioned a team of engineers who had been involved in various iconic British vehicles including the McLaren F1 supercar and DeLorean.
The crack team then set about turning a second-hand Lotus Exige bought off eBay into a green machine capable of beating some of the fastest combustion engined supercars.
Ecotricity re-built the Exige and fitted 96 lithium-ion polymer cells, a completely new transmission and two motors developing 330bhp.
It has so far reached a top speed of 135mph but Ecotricity says it should be capable of 170mph.
The company will attempt to break the 139mph record for an electric British car currently held by Don Wales in the Bluebird Electric at a later date.
Nemesis can run for between 100-150 miles between charges and can be charged from empty in under two hours from its fast charger or eight to nine hours from a regular mains supply.
Ecotricity claims ‘no large car company could have developed anything like this so rapidly or for the sub-£1million budget it has cost’.
But taxpayers groups have criticised Mr Vince for using public money for ‘personal benefit’.
For despite the fact he is worth £3million, the entrepreneur received £400,000 from the Government's Technology Strategy Board to develop the vehicle.
Fiona McEvoy, campaign manager for The TaxPayers' Alliance, said: ‘Whether or not people agree that public money should be spent developing these sorts of green technologies, it's clear this man is deriving some personal benefit from this.
‘It calls into question what these grants are for and whether they're going to the right places.
‘It looks totally inappropriate for a millionaire to be cruising around in a sports car funded, at least in part, by the rest of us.’
Mr Vince has hit back at claims he is wasting taxpayers' money for his own pleasure, instead suggesting his ambitious project is good for British engineering.
He said: 'Our car is one of a whole range of eco vehicles being supported by the Government because they see the benefit for the UK in being at the forefront of the electric vehicle revolution, and the potential to create a new industry and tens of thousands of new green jobs here in the UK.
‘It's perhaps worth pointing out that our car had about £400,000 worth of support from a programme of £25 million in total, and for that we've delivered the UK's first designed and built electric supercar.’
Tesla, an American car company, has built an electric sports car, the Roadster, which also based on a Lotus platform.
The Californian car maker, which has received huge investment from the likes of Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, is already selling its models whereas there are no plans as yet to put the Nemesis into production.
Ecotricity says the technology developed for the Nemesis will be incorporated into its next projects - a 250mph-plus wind-powered electric supercar, and an electric tractor.
Following the Mayor of London’s recent announcement that all Euro 5 compliant cars emitting 100g/km CO2 or less will be able to enter the Congestion Charging zone free of charge from 4th January 2011; Citroën is pleased to offer three stylish, efficient and well-equipped models that will be eligible for the 100% discount – saving London drivers around £2,500 per year.
With CO2 emissions of just 99g/km, the distinctive DS3 DStyle 99g and the stylish New C3 Airdream+, both powered by Citroën’s efficient and refined 1.6HDi 90hp engine, will be exempt from the new £10 daily charge. From 4th January, owners will be able to register their Citroën models for the Greener Vehicle Discount, which allows a 100% discount from the Congestion Charge for vehicles with CO2 emissions of 100g/km or less and that meet the Euro 5 standard for air quality. A £10 annual registration payment per car applies.
C-Zero, Citroën’s new full-electric city car, will also be eligible for the Electric Vehicle & Plug-in Electric Hybrid Vehicle 100% discount when first deliveries commence in January.
Linda Jackson, Citroën UK’s Managing Director commented: “Citroën continues to make significant progress in reducing emissions across its whole range with innovative new technologies and a focus on environmentally-considerate manufacturing processes. We are delighted London drivers will benefit from Citroën’s low-CO2 conventionally powered and all-electric vehicles. Our models are proof that environmentally conscious transport doesn’t mean compromising on style, comfort or driver pleasure.”
More than 60 eco-friendly cars have taken part in a 60 mile rally with the aim of using the lowest amount of energy possible.
The electric, hybrid and low-emission cars, LCVs and motorcycles were part of the inaugural RAC Brighton to London Future Car Challenge.
They set off from Madeira Drive on the East Sussex city's seafront and headed for central London.
The event was aimed at showcasing low-emission cars of the future.
Nemesis car The Nemesis car heads for London with Dale Vince at the wheel
Drivers included rally legends Paddy Hopkirk and David Richards, who drove differently powered Minis, along with former Formula One driver Perry McCarthy and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason.
It took place a day before the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, taking the traditional route in reverse.
Among the vehicles in the rally were the electric Mini E, Toyota Auris and Prius Hybrids, the hydrogen-powered Honda FCX Clarity, the diesel-powered VW BlueMotion Golf and Tesla electric roadster.
Veteran car and family The event included a display of veteran cars that will be making the opposite journey to Brighton
The rally ended in London's Pall Mall before a presentation of the vehicles in Regent Street together with some of the vintage cars taking part in Sunday's run.
Trophies were awarded to the most environmentally-friendly and economical vehicles. Best overall entry as chosen by the judges was the VW BlueMotion Golf.
Next generation
Speaking before the rally, Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, warned that despite having the technology to cut carbon emissions the development of the cars was likely to be hampered by their expense.
He said: "There is a large price difference between the most fuel-efficient models currently available and the next generation of vehicles already arriving in the showrooms.
"The cars of tomorrow might have very low running costs, but that will be irrelevant if people haven't got the cash to buy them in the first place."
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