I have driven the G Wiz.
Here is the report I did on it at the time:
Turn down a rather grubby side street in Southall and you will find the cleanest car in the UK.
Imported from India by the newly formed GoinGreen Company the diminutive little electric city car never fails to produce an amused smile from other drivers.
But the last laugh is always yours.
Whilst they pay nearly £5 a gallon for their fuel, you are paying one penny a mile for yours. You can sail in and out of the congestion charge zone of London without paying anything in a vehicle for which you pay no tax. And any parking meter within the City of London or the City of Westminster is free.
You can even nominate a specific car park at which you can stay for a year at a cost of £100. Put this alongside £6,000 for an annual Soho car park permit and it is easy to see why your quiet chuckle to yourself is the most rewarding.
Already over 200 of these little electric cars are running around London driven by highly satisfied customers who are fed up with being taken to the cleaners by just about every anti-motoring movement in the country. By switching to something which is environmentally friendly – there are no emissions – you not only avoid tax but gain the lowest insurance group – one.
Until now electric cars have been something of a non-starter. Costs have been prohibitively high, speed too low, acceleration sluggish and the range limited.
Selling at around £7,000 the G-Wiz accelerates briskly to its maximum of around 40mph and will give you a range of 40 miles before it needs recharging. In India it is known as the Reva and already around 900 have been sold. It looks a little as though it has been squeezed between two trucks and hit in the back by a bus, but it really does do the job it was designed to do.
Going Green imported its first 16 cars in 2003 and gained its first customer in January of 2004. Joe Byers, sales manager, chief executive, mainspring and moving spirit, told me that it just had to be a shoestring operation with only seven employees. The only advertising they can afford to do is to run a website. Every other sale has come from word of mouth.
And business is brisk and gaining momentum as more and more people ask “What on earth is that?” and like the answers they are getting.
I took the G-Wiz out onto the crowded streets of Southall and rapidly discovered the car could be threaded through gaps denied to other vehicles. It moves smartly and in no way holds up other traffic. It has no gears and only two pedals. A large switch to the right of the steering offers forwards, backwards, normal power and economy power. Economy allows you to go further although when the car is running low on current it switches to economy automatically.
There is a heater and air conditioning is available, although both reduce the range and are extras. But oddly the little car has perforated seats through which cooling air can be blown to chill the posterior. Normally you need to spend upwards of £45,000 to get this feature!
The ride is a little bumpy, the bodywork – although dentproof – is jiffly. The makers claim four seats but in reality it is two, with two vestigial child seats at the rear. These fold forward to increase the luggage more than sufficient for the weekly shop. A small driver with seat well forward could carry three children or two children and one adult.
IN A NUTSHELL
Smiles are guaranteed from both yourself and others. Bodywork is a little crude but running costs have to be the best on the road – and you won’t get anything which is environmentally friendlier.
G-WIZ ELECTRIC CITY CAR
Price
£7,999 (Current offer £6,999)
Looks
Squashed
Handling
Battery weight aids roadholding
Practicality
Perfect in town. Ok for shopping
Performance
Very streetwise
Engine Electric with 400 Amp microprocessor
Max power 70 Newton Metres
Top speed 40mph
0 – 69 N/A
Economy Approx 1p a mile
Emissions None
Insurance Group One
THE OPPOSITION
GEM e2
Seats two. Top speed 25mph. Range 30 miles
Ford Think
On lease only next year. Range 30 miles
Citroen Berlingo Electrique van
Costs £9120. Batteries leased at £74 a month
ends
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Car plugs into ordinary house socket.
Nine units of electricity give full charge.
Full charge takes five hours, 80 per cent charge, 2.5 hours.
Running cost approx 1p a mile.
Dashboard gauge indicates charge remaining with low battery warning.
No showrooms. Sales direct from
GoinGreen - Showroom_G-Wiz
Hope this answers your questions!
Rod
