New British car is launched

An all-new, British-designed and built electric family car goes on sale this month - just as the price of petrol and diesel approaches the £5 a gallon barrier.

And the promise is that the five-seater can quickly pay for itself thanks to 'fuel' costs of less than two pence per mile.

Britain's newest motor manufacturer is Stevens Vehicles Ltd which could have built its five-door Zecar overseas, exploiting cheap labour and subsidies from foreign Governments.

Instead, the company has decided to stay loyal to the UK by opting for a manufacturing plant at Port Talbot, thereby creating valuable jobs in South Wales.

Zecar runs on maintenance-free electric motors that provide a top speed of 56 mph and a maximum range of 56 miles. When the sealed lead acid batteries run flat, it's a simple case of hooking the car up to a domestic or commercial electricity supply via a standard 13 amp socket.

A full recharge usually takes between six to eight hours but costs pennies rather than pounds. Some employers and council-owned city centre car parks are even allowing owners of electric cars to carry out recharging at no cost. Also, on the grounds that these vehicles should be encouraged due to their total lack of exhaust emissions, free parking facilities including the London Congestion Charge are often not applicable to them.

At £15,000, Zecar can hardly be considered cheap when it goes on sale this week. But its maverick designer, Professor Tony Stevens, insists that it's not as tiny as most other electric cars-about-town and it can genuinely carry five people in reasonable comfort - while still lugging luggage or sets of golf clubs in the boot.

The c light commercial vehicle also goes on sale this week with an official price tag of £11,995. The Post Office is thought to be interested in adding some to its predominantly diesel fleet of vans and trucks.

Discounts may be available to Zecar and Zevan customers who place the very first orders and/or put down large deposits.

And there will be more variations on the Ze (zero emission) theme including a Black Taxi-rival called the Zecab, plus the Zepick-up, Zebeachbuggy and stretched Zecar and Zevan. Also possible is a sleek coupe/cabriolet based on a concept sports car Professor Stevens has been working on for years along with his son Peter, an international banker who is taking care of the business, investment and sales side of the newly-formed Stevens Vehicles business.

New British company, new British car, new British factory. When Ford, Peugeot, TVR, MG, Rover and others have been totally - yes, totally - abandoning their car building operations in the UK in the 2000s, isn't it great to see an all-British outfit bucking the trend for a change?

Mike Rutherford is a freelance writer, broadcaster and pro-car activist. Currently writing weekly columns for The Daily Telegraph and Auto Express, and monthly columns for The Independent and Motoring & Leisure, he also presented Pulling Power on ITV.

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