PAST IMPERFECT:In 1985, the electric C5 was ridiculed – but perhaps it was ahead of its time, writes BOB MONTGOMERY
JANUARY 10th, 1985: Sir Clive Sinclair has assembled the world’s press for the launch of his revolutionary electric vehicle on a snowy, British winter’s morning.
The Sinclair C5 promises to be revolutionary and expectations are high.
After all, Sinclair is established as a brilliant innovator and inventor, an eccentric genius who has amassed a fortune through the sale of some visionary electronic products including calculators, watches, pocket TVs and micro-computers. He had pioneered the use of affordable home computers in 1982.
So strong is his belief in his new electric car that he has backed its production with £12 million of his own money.
The details that have leaked out ahead of the launch are promising: chassis design by Lotus, electric motor by Polymotor (a Philips company), and a polypropylene body reputed to be the largest single-piece injection moulding made up that time. Sinclair attempted to buy the derelict former DeLorean plant at Dunmurray, Belfast, and when negotiations failed, the Sinclair C5 was instead built in a Hoover factory in Wales.
As things turn out, few automotive launches have ever been so disastrous. When the C5 is finally unveiled, the assembled press struggle to take it seriously. It’s far from being the ‘real’ electric car they had expected, resembling little more than an electrified child’s car. It ‘skates’ across the icy roads and there are immediate suggestions it is too low to travel safely on the road. The reviews, when they appear, are merciless and there’s even worse to come as the UK’s Safety and Advertising Standards authorities get involved.
Built and marketed on the principal of ‘stack ’em high and sell ’em cheap’ the sales of the C5 never take off and before long dealers are selling off their stock at a price of £199, some £200 less than the price at launch. Before long the writing is on the wall for Sinclair Vehicles and in October of the same year the company is wound up leaving Clive Sinclair out of pocket to the tune of £8.6 million.
A cautionary tale for any company brave enough to embark on the manufacture of an electric vehicle and particularly relevant to today’s motoring conditions. Almost a quarter of a century after the C5 disaster, the surviving vehicles out of the 12,000 manufactured are prized collectors items.
Sinclair achieved a personal electric vehicle which incorporated many innovative features. Its range of just 20 miles in optimum conditions was seen as insufficient and apparently it was quite scary to travel alongside other vehicles on the public road owing to its small dimensions.
Twenty-four years on most cities have dedicated cycle lanes and many have centres where cars are not allowed. These would have provided the ideal environment for the operation of the C5 with little possibility of danger to their operators. And that 20-mile range between re-charges would have been fine for most city journeys (the C5 could also be pedalled when the battery charge ran out).
Perhaps, like most great visionaries, Sir Clive Sinclair had it right after all – he just was ahead of his time. Now, we must have a look on eBay.