Autoesque

Sales of the electric Twizy are due to begin early next year, but anyone keen to be among the first to own one can reserve theirs now with a £20 deposit via Renault’s website. It’ll be available in two versions, the £6,690 Urban and the £7,400 Technic. However, owners are also going to have to budget for the £40 (including VAT) per month battery lease cost, which is based on a three-year / 4,800 miles per annum agreement. Both the Urban and Technic use the same 19 bhp (15 kW / 20 PS) electric motor, which delivers a range of around 60 miles (100 kilometres) on a single charge and a top speed of 50 mph (80 km/h). Recharging takes three hours and thirty minutes to full battery capacity, or three hours for an 80% recharge. Legally the Twizy is deemed to be a quadricycle, so as such it won’t be eligible for the UK Government’s Plug-in Electric Car Grant.  It’ll be competing directly against similar vehicles such as the Reva G-Wiz, although Renault reckons it could attract scoote...

Well it is according to the UK Government’s Department of Transport. It has launched, via the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), a scheme to help with the purchase of electric cars. The Plug-in Car Grant will cover up to 25% of the vehicle’s price, to a maximum of £5,000, and it’ll be available to both private and business users. Application of the subsidy is going to work in a similar way to the scrappage scheme: the dealer will simply deduct it from the invoice when the car is bought. No form-filling needed to retrospectively claim the cash. £230 million has been set aside, so that’s a potential 46,000 electric cars. The money is due to be available from January 2011, but the rules are strict. Cars will have to fit into one of three categories to qualify: 1. All-electric (electric motor powered by a rechargeable battery) 2. Plug-in hybrid (powered by both mains-rechargeable batteries and an internal combustion engine) 3. Hydrogen fuel cell powered That means ther...