Automobile News

Electric car manufacturers are having a very difficult half this year as unit sales continue to plummet to new levels. Going by statistics, electric car sales have come down drastically to just 156 against a healthy 374 for the same period last year, a staggering decline of 58%.

The turnaround happened only a few months after Nice Car Company, one of London’s two electric car distributors, had taken over reins as the administrator.

It may be mentioned that Nice, set up by ex-Lotus colleagues Julian Wilford and Evert Geurtsen in 2006, had been selling an all-electric version of the French-made Aixam Mega. There were also plans on its part to expand the existing range by the end of the year by selling a Chinese-made two-seater called MyCar and five-seat MPV called the Ze-O.

The plans however, now appear to be a distant reality provided the given circumstances. Meanwhile, administrators are being called up by the stake holders to provide the logic behind the emergence of such a situation. Top selling brands like Going Green are also facing the heat with comparatively reduced sales.

Going by a conservative survey there are around 1,100 all-electric cars plying the UK roads. Many of the owners turned electric to take advantage of a policy that exempted electric cars from congestion charges and allowed parking congestions.

The nemesis of this infant market turned out to be Ken Livingstone’s plan to exempt standard petrol and diesel cars with sub-120g/km CO2 emissions. So we will have to wait awhile before the electric car is as prevalent as the electric toothbrush. Even though the plan in question was later scrapped, it had already done enough to lure away potential customers.