Guernsey's Electric Smart Car

Engineer Mark Parr with his brother founded The Electric Vehicles Company, which operates out of the old Rocquaine shellfish factory on Guernsey’s west coast.

Mark converts petrol powered cars to battery power. Smart cars are relatively straightforward to convert. Mark removes the petrol engine and replaces it with an electric motor. He installs lithium ion batteries in the boot. The SmartEV has a custom designed AC power system with Regen.  The computer controlled drive system can be programmed for the driver's needs. The conversion to an electric motor costs about £6,000 but the price is expected to decrease as orders for the conversion increase.

The lithium ion batteries give the electric Smart car a range of 50 to 70 miles before the batteries have to be recharged and they will last about eleven years so they should last at least as long as the life of the car.

To charge the batteries the car can be plugged into any household 13 amp socket. The car costs £0.50 to charge fully so it costs less £0.01 per mile to run using the economy 12 tariff from Guernsey Electricity Ltd.  This equates to a fuel efficiency of 270 mpg!

Guernsey receives currently about 50 percent of its electricity from France. The other 50 percent is generated by an oil fired power station in Guernsey. Only about 5 percent of the electricity from France is produced from fossil fuels so the car is responsible for approximately 20 to 30 grams of carbon dioxide emissions per kilometre travelled based on the percentage of electricity produced by fossil fuels. As more renewable resources such as tide and wind energy provide Guernsey’s electricity supply the electric Smart car will be responsible for even lower emissions.

The electric Smart car is ideally suited to travelling around Guernsey’s 24 square miles. It has an adequate range for daily use and it produces no emissions. It travels quietly so one can hear bird song in the countryside and the sound of the sea when travelling along the coast road. The car is ideal for commuting into town. It is easy to park as it is short enough to be parked perpendicularly in some streets.

Depending on the specification the Smart EV costs £14995 to £16450.  The high initial cost will be recovered by the very low running costs.  Finance is available to purchase the vehicle for £299.00 per month.

To contact Mark Parr at The Electric Vehicle Company in Guernsey, Channel Islands, Great Britain call +44 (0)1481 264434 or FAX +44 (0)1481 268153 http://www.evc.gg/