Electric Car Prices a Shock to the System ; Ford's Focus

Grimsby Telegraph › December 17, 2010

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Summary

BE careful you don't get crushed in the January rush for electric cars - or run over by one you don't hear coming. The Government this week trumpeted the new "green" age of British motoring with the announcement that nine vehicles will qualify for the Pounds 5,000 grant towards purchase. So the price you pay will be around Pounds 24,000 for your Nissan Leaf or Mitsubishi i-MiEV. Yes, Pounds 24,000 for a small car that will do around 80 miles before the battery runs out. And if you want to use the heater or air conditioning your "volts-wagen" will conk out somewhere near Brigg. Maybe a bike rack should be included in standard models so you can pedal home. I've often thought that Government ministers are on a different planet to the rest of us, but if they think that Mr Middle England is going to shell out that kind of money for a vehicle which under-performs one he can get for half the cost then they are deluded. Electric should be the future - but I'm convinced that car manufacturers have misjudged the British market with their price structure.

The same models will be much cheaper in the USA. There will be some green evangelists who dabble in the electric car field but until the price comes down and the range increases the electric car industry will be as flat as a battery caught between charging points. Some desperate big city commuters may invest to escape both crowded trains and the congestion charge and there may be an export market for the Sunderland-built Nissan because of the poor exchange rate between the pound and the euro. But other than that I can see no "green" transport revolution, not here anyway. Grimsby and Cleethorpes, whose public transport systems were once powered by electricity in the form of trams and then trolley buses, will still be petrol or hybrid towns for decades to come.

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Electric Car Prices a Shock to the System ; Ford's Focus

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