Electric Cars are available in the UK

Getting off the sauce

I was listening to a song called “self-evident” by female singer/songwriter Ani Difranco the other day. It was about the tragic events of September 11th 2001 and some issues related to that day. The song covered a wide range of issues, and focused particularly on levels of violence in the world today, and also the damage that we are doing to the environment. There was one particular line that stuck in my head … “we must vow… to get off… of this sauce”. The sauce she was talking about being the sauce that most of us pump into our cars on a weekly basis.

Pictures of Electric Vehicles

Dependence on oil, world violence, and the environment

The world is currently going through a great period of unrest and violence. Irrespective of your views on who is to blame for what is currently happening in the Middle East, the petrol protests in September 2000 were a chilling illustration of just how dependent this country is on oil. When a few truckers refused to deliver petrol to some stations in the UK, it looked as though the whole country might grind to a halt.

Fossil fuel combustion is the leading cause of air pollution, and pollution from cars is the leading cause of air pollution in most western cities. Petrol and diesel vehicles are major contributors to the greenhouse effect. Of course, more use of public transport would reduce the negative impact of cars, but for some of us, this is not always feasible (e.g. teachers with heavy books to carry). Given these facts, and the fact that sustainable sources of electricity are now available in the UK (NPower for example have a supply of electricity from offshore Windfarms – see

http://www.npower.com/yourhome/green/juiceandwindpower/) it is surprising that more questions are not being asked about the feasibility of electric vehicles (EVs) in this country. What sort of questions might we ask?

Do electric cars exist?

The answer to this is YES! And it’s a mystery to me why they have been kept so quiet. Let me give you some examples. The Toyota Rav e4 (see pictures) was a completely electric Jeep that that Toyota Piloted in Jersey. It had a top speed of about 70 mph and a range of 120 miles per charge. It cost a penny a mile to run on electricity. It was enthusiastically used by the police on the island. At this point you might think I am winding you up, but if you don’t believe me, have a look at the electric vehicles UK website www.evuk.co.uk (nothing to do with me by the way, I’m just trying to spread the word) or visit the Toyota website at;

http://www.toyota.com/html/shop/vehicles/ravev/rav4ev_0_home/index.html
Unfortunately, Toyota have stopped producing this vehicle, but there are others… read on!

AC Propulsion have designed an electric car called the T Zero (see pictures) which does 0 to 60 in 4.1 seconds, has a range of 100 miles when it’s going at 60 miles per hour and is fast enough to outperform a Ferrari, Porsche or a Corvette. If you want to learn more about this car or the company why not visit;

http://www.acpropulsion.com/
and ask when these cars might be available in the UK.

Now that I’ve whet your appetite, the next most obvious question is, OK, so electric cars exist, but how do I get hold of one if I want to buy one NOW?

Can I buy an EV in the UK?

You CAN buy an EV in the UK but our choices are severely limited. There are a lot of conspiracy theories around about why EVs have been kept so quiet. I am not sure how useful it is to spend a lot of time speculating about why – I think what we need to do is show that the demand exists. But more of that later. What EVs can we buy in the UK.? Well the first one I came across was the G-Wiz. The G-Wiz is available from a company
in Leeds (pictured), West Yorkshire. It is ideal for those who live in an inner city area and only need a car for short inner city journeys. It has a top speed of 40mph and a range of 40mph. I test drove one and they are great fun to drive, but the top speed and range were a bit too prohibitive for me. If you are interested you can learn more about them by visiting www.goingreen.co.uk or e-mailing

gmail@goingreen.co.uk. The government currently has a scheme where you can get a grant towards the cost of an electric vehicle. The last time I looked, you can get a £1,500 grant towards the cost of a G-Wiz. To find out more visit www.powershift.org.uk .

But what if you want a car with a longer range and a faster top speed? Well, Citroen
currently have an electric Berlingo Van (see picture) on offer in the UK. I rang Citroen to ask them about it and they arranged a test drive for me in Leeds. Don’t be put off if the first person you talk to doesn’t know about this vehicle. Be persistent and you should be able to get a test drive arranged. The Berlingo van has a top speed of 60 mph and a range of 60 miles. You can also get a £1,500 Powershift grant towards the cost of one of these. The price is prohibitive though, at around £15,000. But once you’ve bought it the ruining costs are very low, and once the demand for these vehicles starts going up the prices will start coming down. The first dealer I spoke to didn’t think Citroen had any of these vehicles on their fleet, and he also thought the battery was on lease, but when he investigated further he found that he could get one, and that you just buy it outright. One of the problems with this vehicle is that it unfortunately doesn’t come with any back seats, so you would have to have some fitted. But again, if the demand was there, then maybe Citroen would start doing something about it. If you are interested in learning more, visit

http://www.citroen.co.uk/berlingovan/uk/ or call Citroen on 08457 940 940.

If you are put off by the lack of back seats, then the Renault Kangoo Electric may be the one for you (see pictures). I contacted Renault recently about buying an EV in the UK and they surprisingly didn’t tell me about the Electric Renault Kangoo which you can buy in France. I am currently in the process of finding out if I could import one from France. A couple of Renault dealers in the UK have offered to send me a brochure, so watch this space. The Renault Kangoo is the most promising model I have seen yet. It has a top speed of about 70mph and a similar range. You can charge it up by simply plugging it in to
an electricity supply. The Kangoo also has a secret weapon – the Range Extender. This is a small engine that extends the range to about 125miles! Most of the journeys we make in our cars are well below this distance. If you are interested in learning more visit;

http://evworld.com/view.cfm?section=article&storyid=582
or visit the French website; www.renault.fr. We need to make Renault aware that the demand for this car in the UK exists NOW! If you’d like to see this car being offered for sale in the UK, why not ring Renault on 0800 072 33 72 or e-mail them at

customer.services@renault.co.uk. They may well not know that this vehicle even exists so it may be worthwhile sending them the above evworld link so that they will believe you! We also need to try and get the government to give us grants for this vehicle as well – visit www.powershift.org.uk and ask them if you could get a grant towards a Renault Kangoo Electric.

What can we do to speed things up?

What we desperately need to do here in the UK is make car manufacturers aware that people in Britain want to be able to purchase an electric car. Until the demand exists, they will be very reluctant to risk the initial outlay. But the demand can not exist when the majority of people in the UK do not even know that electric cars even exist!

Some car companies are now trying to push hybrids, such as the Toyota Prius or the Honda Civic IMA, but they are not as environmentally friendly as an all electric car, and you can’t charge them up by plugging them in. All-electric vehicles would be much more preferable and would help end our dependence on oil.

So here’s what I think we need to do;

1. Tell your friends! Bore them down the pub with tales of electric cars! E-mail them this story! E-mail this story (or feel free to try and improve it) to everyone you can think of!

2. Phone / e-mail / fax or write to all the major car manufacturers and ask them when they plan to make electric vehicles available in the UK. Give them some examples of ones that already exist in case they think you’re a bit mad! I have provided a list of contact details at

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/electriccarsUK/. It is not complete. Please e-mail me if you can help me complete the table (

brian_mcmillan@hotmail.com) or update it on the site. The list does not always have an e-mail address because for some companies you have to fill in an online request form.

3. Write to your local paper and ask them if they’d be interested in running a story on electric cars. If you’re a student write to your student paper. If you’re at school, ask your teacher to take a class on green issues and try to include the electric car

4. Try e-mailing your local MP and asking him what is being done to make electric vehicles more available, since they’ll help clean up your city’s/town’s/area’s air a bit! Find out who your local MP is at;

http://www.locata.co.uk/commons/

5. Join some of the e-mail discussion lists. I’ve just started a UK one at;

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/electriccarsUK/ and there is also a worldwide one at;

http://www.madkatz.com/ev/evlist.html

6. Contact your local radio station or TV station and ask them if they’d be interested in running a story on electric cars.

7. Start up discussions about EVs on websites, like www.guardian.co.uk/talk or whatever newspaper website you normally go to.

8. E-mail me (

brian_mcmillan@hotmail.com) with any more ideas!

9. Spread the word! :-)

Brian

Comments

Hide the following 23 comments

Not a good idea

23.04.2004 15:41

Ever wondered how the electricity that powers these cars is produced ? The majority of it by burning oil and gas.

The cleanest way to produce electricity is via nuclear power by the misguided have made that difficult

Carry

Teachers with heavy books....

23.04.2004 15:50

"Of course, more use of public transport would reduce the negative impact of cars, but for some of us, this is not always feasible (e.g. teachers with heavy books to carry)."

Hehehe! Always liked this one. As if panniers hadn't been invented. Come on you are teaching our future generations, make an effort and cycle a couple of times a week... cheaper than one these cars!

ekes

Green electricity and teachers :-)

23.04.2004 16:00

I think the two points raised are fair enough, but there are sustainable sources of electricity available as mentioned in the article.

Also, it is unrealistic that we can ever persuade everyone to give up their cars. Some people (including teachers) will never be persuaded to cycle ten miles to work, and others (with enough money) will always prefer to nip to the shops or round to a friends house in their car.

I don't think we will ever be able to get rid of cars completely. It's true that the electric car would not solve congestion problems, but it certainly would go part of the way in cleaning up our air.

robert fall
mail e-mail: robert_fall@hotmail.com

Cars are a SOCIAL problem

23.04.2004 16:44

While its nice to talk about the environmental problems of cars (cos its easy to make links) the real problem with cars is the social problems they create. For example, todays cities are shaped entirely to suit the car. The car is totally anti-social despite the image it tries to give out. Cars destroy freedom.

Find out more here -

http://www.enrager.net/hosted/cmlondon/information/car_culture/ (i recomend the article 'away with all cars')

Here's some ideas about Motorism...

What is motorism?
Motorism is the assumption that motorised modes of transport, particularly the private car, are inherently better than non-motorised modes such as cycling or walking. This has lead to cars been seen as a sacred cow, untouchable by politicians. Motorism is inherent in the way we live. For example, if you drive somewhere this will increase GNP, the measure of well-being, via fuel and servicing costs, but if you cycle for free that will not increase GNP unless you're lucky enough to be involved in an accident.

The expansion of the road network is automatically assumed to increase national well-being, so missing links such as at Newbury have to be filled without question, despite the fact that the costs there in economic terms alone outweigh the benefits. Motorism, like racism, sexism and homophobia, is heavily subscribed to by fascists (after all Mussolini invented the motorway): unlike other forms of discrimination, however, motorism is killing the planet.

Aren't you missing the point: cars are quicker and give you freedom.
Most journeys are under 3 miles; ideal for non-motorised forms of transport in theory. The problem is that it's often too dangerous not to go round protected in a metal box; whereas in 1971 89% of children went to school by themselves, now it's only 9%. The rest are now driven in by their parents, in a vicious circle getting worse. While the death toll on the roads is going down, this has nothing to do with the roads being safer, but because they are often too dangerous to walk or cycle; Government figures show that the number of miles walked and cycled is actually decreasing.

Cars do give one some freedom, but at a greater cost to everyone else's freedom. Cars have made cities hell, so now everyone wants to live outside and drive in everyday. Furthermore the more mobile one becomes, the further one will travel, resulting in less local facilities, which results in one having no choice to but to travel far to work or shop.

What's the connection between motorism and road rage?
Road rage is usually caused by the frustration of others restricting the freedom to drive where you want. This freedom is propagated by over £50 million of car advertising every month, showing how a new car will either get you a good shag or let you escape from urbanised hell. As there are few uncongested roads left, advertisers have resorted to showing cars in the emptiness of a hurricane or a lake. Advertising only the good points of cars distorts the market and consumer demand, and causes a lot of car theft and joy riding; this wouldn't happen if there was an "environment warning" after every car advert. The main problem of cars is that they're a luxury good; if most people get one, then the advantages will be few. An example of this is the fact that average traffic speeds in most major cities are now slower than the last century. A further problem is that there will always be a third of the population who can't drive due to age or ill-health so that they will be forced to rely on others for transportation.

The phrase "road rage" devalues the injury to the victim and makes it seem almost their fault for daring to be on the road; this point has even been noted by some police. Motoring offences are seen as unimportant, it's just bad luck that you got caught. The only exception to this is drink driving and that was only after an advertising campaign with a budget to rival that of a car manufacturer. Not only motoring offences need to be seen as anti-social, but the very act of driving into a city should be too. Driving should be seen as anti-social as smoking; passive fume breathing is worse than passive smoking. It's not a case of being anti-car, just as giving women rights isn't anti-men, but just a balancing of conflicting interests of different people.

How can I tackle motorism?
Change the way you live so as to educate by example. Try to shop locally, don't use a car where possible, and share one rather than own one. You can also tackle motorism by doing direct action against the car culture. Go down to anti-roads protests , get involved with local groups and go on Critical Mass rides . It's not just a question of saving the planet, but one of freedom for ourselves too.

xxxx

"cleanest way to produce electricity is via nuclear power "

23.04.2004 17:43

So it doesn't require loads of fossil fuels to extract, refine, transport, reprocess, transport nuclear fuel then! Oh Ok.

On the other hand, say decentralised solar and wind power backed by by tidal would be far more polluting than good, clean nuclear. What was that story about kids near Sellafield having radioactive Strontium 90 in their teeth?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/newsnight/1685628.stm

Tom

Electricity Generation

23.04.2004 18:27

Tom, I understand your objections to Nuclear Power but in pure polution terms it is the "cleanest" form of generation because its by-product, the waste, is not released into the atmosphere (at least not on purpose).

The burning of fossil fuels releases various polutants into the atmosphere, Wind and Wave power have no practical chance of supplying our current demands for electricity. A ind farm for example also produces more pollutants during its production than it saves throughout its life.

If we wish to continue to consume power at the present rate (and I don't think we should ) then the only "clean" way of doing it is via Nuclear Generation.

Adam

re: nuke power

23.04.2004 19:40

My main point was not the radioactive pollution which is relatively small but the fact that huge amounts of fossil fuels are required for the extraction and processing of fissile material. Nuclear fission emits no airborne pollution (generally speaking) but the generation of it's fuel does. One area that has barely being researched is seabed tidal generation and other tidal based power. I personally believe this is because wind, solar etc require backup as they are potentially transient power sources. Tidal power is predictable and constant and so a serious threat to the unsustainable fuels industry. For instance oil companies' investments in solar etc have been shown to be attempts to control renewables until oil runs dry (see Joel Bakan THE CORPORATION (2004) Free Press).

Evidently reducing energy use is of huge importance too.

Stop your consumer culture!

25.04.2004 08:40

Adam- you're talking fucking shit. The Nuclear Industry is completely useless at generating energy, in fact, more energy is used keeping the places open than they are producing. Most of the reactors are being closed down in the UK because they are so crap, and fucking dangerous. The Nuclear Industry was only ever about producing a social use from military technology- a technology that had cost so much to devolop- now all this outdated technology is being sold off to any 3rd world /majority nationstates that are dumb enough to have them.
Solar & wind power may not produce as much energy as consumers might like, but face it- the real issue is that our whole way of life here in the West IS NOT SUSTAINABLE.
We have a totally out of control consumer culture, thats turning the planet into a dustbin. The idea that technology can some how save us from the mess we've made ignores the fact that this system rests on the exploitation of people & the planet, and that more technological solutions only create bigger problems in the long term.
We have to completely re-assess our way of life & its consquences to get out of this mess. Its no co-incidence that the biggest company selling solar panels in the UK is BP- Well known for their use of death squads in colombia, nigeria + more.
Across Europe, environmental groups are fighting against huge wind farms that wreck the land&soundscape of the countryside, and against the infrastructure of a destructive system that is getting us no-where.
Green capitalism is not Green by any estimation- We must destroy capitalism, and destroy these exploitative technologies.

With that in mind i'm going to leave this info-cafe, and start living a more unmediated, off the grid existence.

Love & Rage

Freedom for Marco Camenisch!

Biodiesel is the way forward...

26.04.2004 10:18

You don't have to wait for the auto-industry to make new (expensive) cars. Buy a £300 old diesel and refine your own used chip-fat into biodiesel.

Clean (carbon neutral, no sulphur).

Cheap (my local kebab van gives me 20 litres of oil a week for free).

Stop giving money to the oil industry - make your own fuel :oP

For more details go to

http://prisonerblog.zapto.org and search for "biodiesel".

Peace and grease
Dannyboy

Dannyboy
Homepage: http://prisonerblog.zapto.org

re: Biodiesel

26.04.2004 13:55

It's carbon neutral but we'd need far too much area to grow enough for present consumption - we've gotta reduce consumption but lapsing into primitavism is a bad idea . . . technology can be useful, but its true that in a capitalist system technology will serve capitalism, not human beings, animals or the ecosystem as a whole.

Electric cars, Renewable Energy and nuclear power.

27.04.2004 08:24

1) Nuclear power has had a bad press cover and has been let down by the lack of support from the government (past and present). It is easy to jump on the bandwagon and shout the odds because of something written in black and white without some experience and ample knowledge on the subject.

2) Why not use Solar power to charge the electric cars. Large enough PV panel that can be connected to the car and more mileage can be gained.

3) Not all electricity comes from coal and oil about 10% comes from alternative energy such as wind. In the next few months hopefully small generators (houses with solar PV which are grid connected) will be able to sell to the big power companies to help them obtain their targets.

4) Biodiesel is another great idea, there are enough fast food places that have to get rid of thier used oil. Where does it go? Instead of polluting some piece of land or water why not refine the oil and use it to power diesels is this not sustainibility. True recycling.

There is no one system answer each has its own merits and it is up to the individuals to use those that are avialible. If you live on top of a mountain miles away from the flashing lights it is no good trying to run you car on biodiesel unless the chap on the next mountain runs a fast food empire.

Roy Parvin
mail e-mail: roy@seapar.uklinux.net

Here's a solution

28.04.2004 03:04

There are just to many people all wanting the same poluting life style, But you can't Nuke em. There are to many enviromental issues to comply with. Bio deisel is a non starter given the deforestation caused only to provide beef and protien rich Soy, Nuke power is already known to be usefull but only for the production of WMD. In hot weather they need to be turned off, global warming has already interupted supply, think of the future. Hydrogen seems possitive but only if the Electricity comes from geothermal sorces.
There can be no other answer than death I'm afraid. Death of Two thirds of the human population will reduce demand, re establish nature as a valued asset and reduce mans need for development on a global scale, its sad but true there are 7 billion of us and these enviromental concerns have developed as industralisation occured. Hopefully natue will take steps to achieve our destruction, SArs Aids or bird flu or perhaps all three... we can only hope.
Do we have a Global warming Theory which extends to the cooling effect of our sea upon the magma layer a mile beneath the oceanic crust? will the Magma spill into seismic activity as the sea heats up and blows the surface of our world into space? poc marking the moon for future life on earth to wonder how such damage occured.
Or as an alternative lets all go to Mars and create a habitable enviroment so that one day we can totaly fuck that up as well. Remember Humans pollute it is what we do, no answer, no excuses, no hope for change it is part of what and who we are... be proud nothing this bad can last for ever.

Jon Wood

electric car could cause havoc to auto and petroleum industries

28.04.2004 06:49

From the ev discussion list...

Ralph Nader & General Electric 1968 EV Prototype

These scans are from the May 27 & 28, 1968 Joint Hearings Before The Committee on Commerce and the Subcommittee on Air & Water Pollution of the Committee on Public Works, United States Senate, 19th Congress, second
session:

The Automobile Steam Engine and Other External Combustion Engine Alternatives to the Internal Combustion Engine.

This documents claims that General Electric, already back in 1968, had been working more or less secretly on a hybrid ElectroCar prototype with rapid charging fuel cell batteries and an estimated range of over 300 miles on one charge, and that Ralph Nader had been prive to this information.

GE did not officially pursue the program because, and I quote:

"What do you do with a revolutionary electric automobile that could cause havoc to the existing auto and petroleum industries... two of GE's best customers. The answer could not be arrived at too hastily, for evern our national economists and politicians... not to mention the highly vocal auto-oil industry spokesmen... frequently proclaim loudly that the cars and petroleum are, after all, the very "foundation" of the American economy."

This is by far the most amazing document ever found by Electrifying Times. It was discovered in the stacks of the Multnomah county library in Portland, Oregon as testified by the rubber stamp, and sent to us by the friend of one of our long time staff members.

I did a Google search before posting these GIF scans to make sure the text wasn't already available online somewhere in the archives of a governmental website. As far as I could tell, it is not. If anyone finds an official posting, or if you have a copy of the original article from Road Test magazine issue of February 1968, please contact us.

In the meantime, enjoy...

http://www.electrifyingtimes.com/GE_EV_hearings.html

james fisk

TZero has longer range, and is faster than I thought!

28.04.2004 18:29

I've just been informed by

http://www.evuk.co.uk that my article was out of date;

"...the new lithium-powered TZero has a range of almost 300 miles and moves from 0-60 mph in just under 3.7 secs - the TZero is the second (possibly third if you count the Bugatti Veyron) fastest production car of any kind on the planet after the McClaren F1 - but around 5 times more energy-efficient and costing a whole lot less to run (around 2p a mile...). AC Propulsion('ACP') produce the TZero and this is the same company that Tom Hanks is joining up with to produce long-range(up to 300 miles/charge), affordable, family-sized, lithium-battery-powered EV's in the very near future (see EVUK for full report and TV footage)."

Sorry about that!
Brian

brian mcmillan
mail e-mail: brian_mcmillan@hotmail.com

An Alternative to Nuclear

13.05.2004 12:42

Nuclear power is not the only alternative. Satellite Solar Power is
available but ignored: we already have satellites in space beaming
radio energy down on us. They are used for satellite TV transmission.

By taking something as simple as a TV satellite and replacing its
antenna with a more directional one, you could generate energy from
solar power in space and put it into the grid. The bulk of the
equipment is far Out There, way out of harm's way (and much higher
than the satellites that fall to Earth from time to time). Because
the satellites are in space, there is no night, and power is available
24/7. Have you seen Sky go offline when the sun sets?

As for beaming the power down, the existing terrestrial TV transmitters
generate thousands of kilowatts. The technology is not hard to work out.

Sadly, our space program has been hijacked by the military. :-(

But then, so has nuclear power. :-( :-( :-(

Simon

Good energy

27.05.2004 17:49

That's very true, at the moment most electricity is produced by the burning of coal, oil and gas. Any Eco-friendly person would look into alternatives though. For example, I get my electricity from a company called Good energy (previously Unit-E) who only use renewable energy supplies (wind, tidal, geothermal etc.). The more customers they get, and the less these fossil fuel burners get, the more they will be able to put into making more and better alternatives.

Saying that EV's only displace the pollution only looks at the present state of affairs, we should stop only making decisions based on narrow-minded views of pollution problems and look at the energy cycle as a whole.

Adam Dennis
mail e-mail: adam_dennisuk@yahoo.co.uk

Simon you've lost your marbles

12.07.2004 08:35

Simon,

You've lost your marbles. Beaming power down from space? How's about:

1.) The heating of the atmosphere that would result from having mega-watts of energy beamed through it.

2.) The energy required to lift a satellite into geostationary orbit (22,000 miles) so that it stays above the same part of the earth and can function as a power transmission satellite.

3.) The pollution caused by putting such a satellite into orbit, the cost, the raw materials being wasted...

Alternatively.

wind-farms - simple, easy to maintain and if the idiot farmers who don't want wind-farms on desolate hills had to pay tax on the fuel they used on farms unless they allowed 1 field to be used for wind-farming they might change their mind.

solar power - even in rainy England we still have so much potential solar power going to waste

tidal power - we have some of the highest tidal ranges in the world. There is so much power there that could be converted into electricity.

Fact is, electric cars and hydrogen cars are the way forwards - the sooner we realise this and our government start to fund this evolution, the better.

Simon Brown
mail e-mail: spam@gibsongardens.co.uk
Homepage: http://www.escapefromwork.com

Electricity generated for electric cars

16.09.2005 13:37

Carry made a serious point about the electricity for electric cars being generated from oil and gas and therefore the car is no cleaner than a conventional car. Carry is clearly unaware that power stations are much more efficient than the internal combustion engine and they have much more sophistaicated pollution control eguipment on their exhaust pipes. Harmful emmissions are very much less than those from conventional cars. As for the idea that nuclear is cleaner, well, that's an entirely different debate!

Dave

Electricity source

23.01.2006 13:02

To the people saying that the electricity used to charge the electric vehicles causes pollution, I have two comments.
1) There are now several electricity suppliers who supply only renewable energy into the national grid, including ecotricity and NPower Juice. I myself have owned an electric car, and I can happily say that by using a renewable energy supplier I was ensuring that my contribution to global warming as a driver was minimised.
2) Even if one chooses not to switch to a renewable energy supplier, the emmisions caused by charging an electric vehicle are still significantly lower than the emmissions caused by doing the same number of miles in a petrol vehicle.

Bassey

Campaign for battery Electric Vehicles

22.07.2006 13:48

Check out the Campaign for battery Electric Vehicles. Campaigning for motorway capable zero emission vehicles in the UK;

http://www.cbev.org

KEYWORDS: electric car electric cars electric bike electric bikes electric van electric van electric scooter electric scooters zero emission more environmentally friendly transport electric vehicle electric vehicles

brian mcmillan
Homepage: http://www.cbev.org

Who Killed the Electric Car?

23.08.2006 23:11

The new documentary film "Who Killed the Electric Car?" has come to London and will be available on DVD in November. This is a highly informative, engrossing, and even entertaining film about the demise ot the GM EV1 and the resurgence of interest in EVs and PHEVs.
Requests at local arthouse cinemas to carry the film have been frequently met with success here in the US. The same can happen in the UK. Visit www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com for more details.

David Lane
mail e-mail: silas10961@aol.com
Homepage: http://pluginamerica.org

I WOULD LOVE TO GO GREEN, BUT THE INITIAL OUTLAY IS TOO GREAT AT PRESENT...

01.09.2006 16:09

I WOULD LOVE TO GO GREEN BUT THE INITIAL OUTLAY IS FAR TOO GREAT, DO YOU KNOW ANYONE WITH AN OLD MILK FLOAT. AT LEAST THEN IT COULD BE CHARGED BY SOLAR ENERGYAS WELL AS WIND GENERATION FROM THE HOUSE.

john exhasperated
mail e-mail: aphraelscorner@tiscali.co.uk

EVs and generation

10.05.2007 11:04

Until much more of our total power needs are supplied by renewable generation, there is no benefit to EVs. I propose that for now, everyone buying an EV should be required to install sufficient self-generation - PV or wind, for example - to run it.

Bill
mail e-mail: bishopstonbooks@btconnect.com