Electric Town Car Launched in the U.K.

The Electric Car Company today began to sell its all-electric town car. Technically, it's a Citroen C1, a very small economy car, that's been surgically retrofitted to run on electricity rather than gas (see dazzling photo here).

The car costs about $25,500 in U.S. dollars (note: we are unclear about whether that includes an anticipated $7,500 tax credit or any battery or other incidental charges). If anything, the car will let Londoners avoid the congestion tax.

It is not going to be confused with a Tesla Roadster. The car tops out at 60 miles and hour and only goes 60 to 70 miles on a charge. It takes about six to seven hours to charge. That puts it in roughly the same category as the Think City. The Think City gets 112 miles on a charge, but tops out at 62 miles per hours. The Think, however, costs about $28,000 and that doesn't include the $183 monthly charge for the battery. Hence the skepticism about the price of the ECC.

Expect to see a lot of experimentation in electric cars over the next three years. Some will make it. Many won't. But it will be fun.