ECC Citroen C1 ev’ie

Electric car based on Citroen C1

ECC is a British plc designed to stimulate the use of electric vehicles in the UK. As well as producing electric vehicles, the company aims to provide a world-class electric car charging network throughout the UK through its Infracharge subsidiary company – ‘wiring the UK for electric vehicles’ as ECC says.

ECC’s electric car is based on a Citroen C1 body and interior - manufactured in the Czech Republic by a consortium of Citroen/Peugeot and Toyota. ECC equips it with an electric motor and battery in a flexible factory in Bedfordshire currently assembling four vehicles a week, with a planned volume of over 2,000 units when the market takes off.

ECC’s all-electric car: Citroen ev’ie

Called the ECC ev’ie (pronounced ‘ee vee’), its 30kW motor and lithium-ion batteries have been cunningly packaged so as not to intrude into the C1’s interior or boot space. The C1’s gearbox and final drive have been retained with the gearbox locked in third gear (with no clutch, of course) – all right for London driving but a bit tricky in hilly countryside, as CAR Magazine reported in their Giant Test of electric cars (September 2009) which ECC’s ev’ie nevertheless won overall.

The ev'ie can be fully charged in around six hours from a domestic 13 amp socket for about 90p – which will take the car 60 miles or so in typical urban driving, 15 miles of which is contributed by regenerative braking. Top speed is 60 mph – again, suited best to inner city driving.

Driving, as Autocar reported (13 May 2009), is ‘simplicity itself’. There is a central lever with only two positions – forward or back and you control your speed mainly with the accelerator. Because the car is light, it’s also agile and handles well.

All electric cars are expensive but think of the savings!

Prices are, as Car Magazine reported, ’eye-watering’. The lead-in model, the three door  VT, is £19,195 on the road while the top of the range 5 door VTR comes in at £20,045 otr, and that’s without metallic paint (prices at October 2009). But you need to balance the sticker price against savings in the running costs, which are achievable if you’re currently driving a large car and commute daily into ECC’s target market - Central London - and pay the congestion charge plus parking fees. ECC say you could be looking at a pay-back time for going electric in a four-seater car that is as safe, well equipped and nimble as the C1,of as little as two to three years.

The ECC ev’ie has zero emissions – no greenhouse gases, no carbon dioxide, no particulates – and it’s available now.