Review: G-Wiz i electric vehicle

According to GoinGreen, UK purveyor of the G-Wiz electric vehicle (EV), its product is an exceptionally green form of transport. The G-Wiz is a small, light and uncomplicated battery-powered runabout - requiring relatively few resources to build or to use - and can have zero CO2 emissions if drivers are willing to pay for renewable electricity. Even if standard electricity supplies are used to recharge the batteries, GoinGreen claims overall CO2 emissions of 63g/km, or about a third less than the most fuel-efficient conventional car on the UK market.

It is important to bear in mind that the G-Wiz is not actually a car, though. Its light weight means that it is officially classed as a quadricycle - a legal oddity that makes it roughly equivalent to a four-wheeled motorcycle. This categorisation means the G-Wiz is exempt from EU legislation requiring cars to have airbags, for example, or to pass crash tests. That safety shortfall may put off many buyers, but people who are happy to ride two-wheelers in cities or drive classic cars should have few qualms.

The latest G-Wiz “i” model is in fact stronger and safer than earlier examples. New structural reinforcements have let it pass crash tests at 25mph, but it still will not offer the same protection as a new conventional car of the same price, which must pass EU impact tests at 35mph.

Those prepared to put collision worries aside and climb aboard will soon realise that the G-Wiz is an exceedingly small vehicle. From the driver’s seat we could easily slide open the passenger’s side window and adjust the nearside door mirror without much of a stretch.

The windscreen - curved in the latest G-Wiz but flat glass in older models - feels unusually close, making the rear-view mirror a little in-your-face. There’s no central tunnel and indeed not much of a gap between the front seats. We didn’t try out the rear seats, which looked so small as to be largely pointless.

The interior features lots of hard and shiny plastic, and the optional leather seats fail to counter the bargain-bin ambience. The overall quality of fixtures and fittings is far below the standards of mainstream cars in the same price bracket.

The controls are easy enough to operate but the stalks feel a little flimsy and, with indicators on the right, run contrary to expectations.

Also unusually, the gear selector is a rotary knob mounted high up on the dashboard, with reverse, neutral, forward and “boost” modes. There is no clutch, and no park position of the kind found in most clutchless cars. A spindly and slightly awkward handbrake emerges like an umbrella handle from under the dashboard.

The adjustable seats are flat and not particularly comfortable, but we liked the driving position. You sit high - the batteries are underneath - putting your eyeline usefully higher than in most small city cars. All-round visibility is excellent. The steering wheel is small, as is the 3.5m turning circle. We could easily U-turn where even small cars would need to perform a three-point manoeuvre.

The new “i” model uses Reva’s latest AC motor and battery back, and we were pleasantly surprised by its pace. The new G-Wiz is easily capable of keeping up with urban traffic, with zero to an indicated 30mph taking about six seconds. We saw 45mph on the speedo and we don’t doubt the claimed 50mph top speed, although few G-Wiz owners are likely to venture onto the kind of roads where this would be legal. For urban journeys, it is more than fast enough and noticeably quicker than the Nice Car Company Mega City we tested last year. The quoted range is 40 to 48 miles, depending on road conditions, and although we did not exhaust the battery our test drives suggest that this ballpark is reasonable - providing the boost mode is not overused. Boost draws more energy from the batteries and thus trades faster acceleration for reduced range.

GoinGreen says that the boost mode should not be used continuously, and indeed its extra urge is rarely needed. We used boost only in situations where we wanted to be sure of a quick getaway, such as entering a busy roundabout, or turning uphill out of a junction.

The new model boasts disc brakes at the front, which we found reassuring and easily able to bring the 665kg G-Wiz to a rapid halt without the need for excessive pedal pressure.

The G-Wiz could be better suited to inner city life, however. The vehicle’s small dimensions are a bonus when parking or nipping through traffic, but a negative when tackling urban traffic-calming measures. At just 1.3m wide, or more than a foot narrower than a Ford Ka, the G-Wiz is much too narrow to straddle square “cushion” road humps, while the ultra-short 1.7m wheelbase, 75cm less than a Ka, exacerbates the upward kick of a full-width sleeping policeman.

Ride quality in general is poor compared to a conventional city car, with bumpy roads leading to noticeable wandering. But overall the handling felt safe enough, with the low-set weight of the batteries helping stability on sweeping bends or roundabouts. The body also seemed more rigid and less prone to squeaks and rattles than the Mega City.

Overall, the G-Wiz is perfectly competent at what it sets out to do. Potential buyers who expect car-like levels of quality and comfort will be sorely disappointed, but urban commuters looking for a utilitarian alternative t o buses, tubes, cycling or walking may find it fits the bill. That is providing, of course, that they have a parking place within reach of a mains socket for overnight recharging.

G-Wiz cars are built in India by the Reva Electric Car Company, and have been imported and sold in the UK by startup GoinGreen for the past four years. At the moment GoinGreen is focused on sales and support within the M25, but managing director Steve Hartridge says this is only because the incentives that make the G-Wiz economically viable are strongest in London. Those financial incentives include free parking in certain boroughs, and exemption from the London Congestion Charge. “Our growth plans continue to evolve,” says Hartridge. “The next step is to grow outside of London. The incentives may be different, but we have a low-cost operating model with no showrooms and internet sales, so it’s relatively easy for us to expand where there is demand.”

The no-showroom model means that the company pays keen owners to personally demonstrate their vehicles to potential buyers - which adds an extra dimension of honesty to test drives.

One major incentive for potential business buyers has just been removed. Until very recently it was possible to write down 100 per cent of the cost of any low-emissions vehicle against tax in the first year. “At the end of March, the government removed the scheme, and there is no sign of a replacement,” Hartridge says. Adding to this unwelcome news, the London Co ngestion Charge changes due in October will maintain the G-Wiz’s exemption but extend that free ride to other small cars in tax bands A and B, such as the Polo Bluemotion tested by BusinessGreen.com recently. Hartridge labels these changes “unhelpful”, and “a backward step”. “The most worrying aspect is the mental message - that [these A and B cars] must be equally good for the environment,” he says, pointing out that the emissions of diesel cars can be anything but good for the local air quality. EVs, by contrast, emit nothing at the point of use and offer much lower CO2 output per mile than even the most frugal diesel.

“The real problem is indecision,” Hartridge adds, pointing out that with a Mayoral election leaving the future of the London Congestion Charge in doubt - a situation that has existed for months - many potential EV buyers have delayed their decisions until the cost implications are clarified.

Like rival EV maker Think, GoinGreen would like to see strong new incentives to encourage EV use, such as the use of bus lanes, and London-wide free parking.

G-Wiz i facts and figures

Purchase price: from £9,240 on the road including VAT.

Insurance group: 1

VED (road tax): zero

24-hour roadside recovery: free for the first year, £90 thereafter.

Service interval: 6 months; a standard workshop service costs £395; a visit from GoinGreen's mobile service team costs £575.

Battery life expectancy: 2 to 3 years. A replacement battery pack costs £1,695 including labour and VAT.

Warranty period: 2 years or 16,000 miles.

Running costs: fully charging the G-Wiz from the mains takes 8 hours and costs about 40p off-peak. The batteries can be topped up from a partial discharge without harm.