Press
The UK's first eco-car spectacular
By Tannith Cattermole
October 18, 2010
Britain held its first free eco-car show last month on London's famous royal driveway, The Mall. The event was held as part of HRH Prince Charles's latest sustainability initiative “Start”, which aims to promote positive steps to leading a sustainable lifestyle, and was opened by his “Garden Party to Make a Difference”. The Start Eco-Car Spectacular aimed to showcase the future of green transport with a variety of bicycles, cars and other environmental transport solutions.
Parading cars included some of our favorites: the all-electric BMW MINI E; the G-Wiz electric vehicle (EV), billed in 2008 as the greenest commercially available vehicle in Britain; the Honda FCX Clarity, from one of the first major companies to bring a hydrogen fuel cell car to the market; the fast-charging zero-emission Mitsubishi i-MiEV; the electric Smart Fortwo ED (though sadly the newly-revealed Smart E-Scooter Concept was not in attendance); the Vauxhall HydroGen4; the THINK City; the record-breaking Tesla Roadster, which traveled for 313 miles on a single charge in October 2009; and the diminutive Tazzari Zero EV.
Visitors were also treated to some of the newer kids on the block: Citroen's Survolt, the electric super-mini with the look of a larger super-car; the Ginetta G50 EV, Ginetta's first 100% electric low carbon offering; the mass-transport EV GUTSi ZerO and the 100 mile range THINK City.
Also on show was the TAG Heuer-branded Tesla Roadster just back from its 24,000 mile, 15 country electrically-powered round-the-world trip.
Heading up the new interest in green racing cars were the THINK City EV Cup Edition and the Westfield iRACER electric race car.
In the motorcycle category there were two universities represented: the team from Kingston University’s Faculty of Engineering presented their electric racing bike for the World’s First Clean Emission Carbon Free Grand Prix; and Brunel's X-team, a clean technology bike racing team formed within the School of Engineering and Design at Brunel University London with the aim of building and racing one zero emission performance motorcycle per year.
The Weald Drag Racer, a project to build the UK’s fastest electric motorbike; Zero Motorcycles, Quantya and the Mavizen-TTX02 also made an appearance.
Other notable two-wheelers included the Vectrix currently used by the Automobile Association; the PDT Sprint, billed as the world leaders of electric scooters; the Govecs and my personal favorite for zipping around town, the aptly-named Zepii V60.
Finally on the electric bicycle front there was the Wisper; the A2B Metro; the Urban Mover the compact folding Shrinkabike; the i-Scoot fold-up electric scooter; the Segway personal green transport system; and the Cyclus Maximus high-capacity tricycle.
The event was sponsored by EV Cup, and delivered by a duo comprised of Kevin McCloud of Grand Designs, and curator Roger Saul, founder of Mulberry and organic farmer.
“The day was filled with celebrity endorsements and the support of tens of thousands of spectators, a prelude to the EV Cup race series next year,” said EV Cup Operations Director Andrew Lee. Five awards were given; the Vision Trophy to Citroen, the Endeavour Trophy to TAG Heuer, the Right Here, Right Now Trophy to Telsa Motors, the Future City Trophy to Mitsubishi i-Miev and the Innovation Trophy to Vectrix. With such a prestigious line-up, it certainly looks like the future of motoring will be green and top-quality. We hope HRH will make it an annual event and look forward to seeing the new movers and shakers released in 2011.
Andrew Anthony, The Guardian, Saturday 5th June 2010
Zepii V60: There are plenty of other electric scooters on the market, but none looks quite so attractive.
Photograph: Simon Stuart-Miller for the Guardian
Zepii V60
Price: £1,350
Top speed: 30mph
Average consumption: 40 miles per four- to seven-hour recharge
CO2 emissions: 0
Eco rating: 10/10
Bound for: The nearest plug socket
In a word: Modish
Sooner or later, and usually sooner, every man of my vintage has had to pose himself the key existential question: am I a mod or a rocker? As a boy, these twin taxonomies flitted around the edge of my consciousness, looming into focus only on bank holiday weekends when the rival tribes would perform the ancient seaside ritual of beating each other with deckchairs. But there was no escaping the decision and, all things considered (the greasiness, the leather and the fact that I couldn't ride a motorbike), I came to the conclusion that I wasn't a rocker.
That said, mods could look bloody silly, what with the mohair suits, long parkas and Small Faces haircuts. The only stylish thing they had going for them were the Italian scooters on which they farted off to Brighton and back. And even then they tended to despoil them with an excess of lights. It wasn't until I visited Italy and saw that the scooter was the cool means by which urban youth, particularly heartbreaking young women, moved between assignations did I realise that the mods were a naff take on something really quite natty.
All of which is to say that I got a surprisingly big thrill out of seeing the Zepii V60 in my front yard. With its pleasing retro curves and bright modern sheen, the Zepii makes an obvious but nonetheless successful bid for what its marketing people call, with cavalier disregard for originality, the "iPod generation".
Nor is the idea of an electric scooter particularly novel. There are plenty of others out there, but it's fair to say none looks quite so attractive. The Zepii comes in nine different finishes – in an eco-version of Henry Ford's famous maxim, you can have any colour you like: they're all green....
The Zepii is very much a metropolitan concept. In his vision for a green capital, Boris Johnson has promised that by 2015 no electric vehicle driver will be more than a mile from a recharging point. In the meantime, it's an easy process to plug the Zepii into a domestic mains socket.
As the distance delivered by a fully charged bike is around 40 miles, that rules out the prospect of armies of Zepii V60 drivers laying siege to innocent seaside towns. But city-dwellers be warned: behold the dawn of the i-Mod.
See Jason Bradbury, from Channel Five's "The Gadget Show", on his Zepii.
Zepii Electric Scooter from Jason Bradbury on Vimeo.
Introducing the Zepii V60 – the best looking electric scooter for miles!
The Zepii V60 is perfect for ‘cool’ urbanites who want a safe, stylish, efficient, low cost and green way to commute to work and once more with great acceleration!
Sexy and sophisticated design matched with precision manufacturing equals a ‘must have’ electric scooter. Going green has never looked this good! The Zepii V60 comes in eight delicious colours: Rooster Red, Electric Blue, Yellow Mellow, Cherry Pink, Purple Haze, Graphite Grey, Classic White and Gold Star making the Zepii V60 ultra fashionable and distinctly affordable at £1350.
The Zepii V60 offers fantastic cost and time savings – imagine a world without congestion zone charging, traffic jams and road tax. Hop on the gorgeous Zepii V60 and enjoy a stress free journey for an amazing running cost as low as 12p per day*.
The Zepii V60 electric scooter is a vehicle set to capture Mayor Boris Johnson’s ‘eco-heart’ in line with his pledge that every Londoner will be no more than one mile from an electric charge point by 2015. ‘A golden era of clean, green electric motoring is upon us’ stated Mayor Boris Johnson at a meeting of city leaders that took place in Copenhagen in autumn 2009.
The Zepii V60’s vital statistics:
• 1500 watt motor
• 60 volts
• 32 Ah La batteries
• Hydraulic disc brakes front and rear
• 13" Wheels for a safe ride
• Sports Telescopic suspension
• Distance per charge 40+ miles*
• Top speed 30mph restricted (top speed 35+ mph)
• Running costs as low as 12p a day
• Recharging time 4-7 hours
• Removable battery charger
*Actual results will vary. Like all electric vehicles, range is affected by a number of factors including speed, acceleration, number of starts and stops, changes in elevation.
Download The Zepii V60 Retro Electric Scooter PDF.
Download The Zepii V72 City Boy PDF.
Media enquiries: To arrange a test drive or for product shots, please contact Lee Curle 020 8891 0281 or email info@zepii.com
Additional Information
We aim to help the discerning city commuter beat the cost of public transport and ever rising fuel costs. The Zepii V60 Electric Scooter is clean and green, safe and fun to ride.
With the average motorcycle on the road polluting the planet with 30 times more carbon dioxide than most cars, the Zepii V60 electric scooters is a valuable contribution to London’s green initiative - enabling people and businesses alike the chance to lower their carbon footprint.
Aimed at the Blackberry/i-Pod generation this colourful brand is reminiscent of classic retro chic combined with 21st Century technology. The Zepii V60 is set to be a ‘must have’ for London style hunters in 2010.
All Londoners within one mile of an electric charge point by 2015
Evening Standard, 15th December 2009
Every Londoner will be no more than one mile from an electric car charge point by 2015, the Mayor Boris Johnson announced today at the Copenhagen climate summit. The Mayor revealed detailed plans to deliver a comprehensive network of electric charge points in the capital, supporting the mainstream use of zero carbon-emission electric vehicles.
He was addressing city leaders from around the globe to promote London's advanced plans to make electric cars an everyday feature of life in the capital. London is leading a coalition of major cities working to use their collective clout to create massive global electric vehicle markets through joint procurement commitments.
The charge point plan is the first milestone in the Mayor's over-arching vision to make London the electric capital of Europe. The strategy shows how by 2015 in London, 22,500 charge points will be at workplaces, with 500 on street and 2,000 in public car parks. A strategic network of publicly accessible faster charge points will be installed as part of this coverage at key locations on the road network and motorway service stations.
To further boost consumer confidence, the Mayor announced Transport for London is working with London's boroughs to launch in 2010 a one-stop website for electric vehicle drivers. This will provide a single point of information and payment option to access charge points across the capital. In addition, Transport for London will work with the boroughs and the private sector to create a membership scheme for all electric car drivers who currently have to register in every borough they want to drive their vehicle in.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: 'A golden era of clean, green electric motoring is upon us and London is well ahead of cities around the globe in preparing the right conditions for this.
'There is an urgent need to tackle the risk of serious and irreversible climate change, yet this does not need to be about hair shirt abstinence. I want to pursue radical yet practical steps to cut energy waste. Electric vehicles are a clear example of how technology can provide the solution to the biggest challenge of our generation.'
The Mayor announced that after detailed investigations to establish operational requirements, early next year the Greater London Authority will publish a detailed procurement framework to buy 1000 electric vehicles for the GLA group fleet by 2015. The Mayor is seeking funding from the Government to help deliver this major introduction of electric vehicles, recognising the massive potential this has to catalyse the market.
Peter Hendy, Commissioner of Transport for London, said: 'This plan provides the road map to switching on an electric vehicle revolution in London.
'Not only do electric vehicles produce 50 per cent less carbon emissions than their diesel counterparts, they are also cheaper to run. Increasing the numbers of electric vehicle charging points all over the Capital will provide Londoners with the option to use a more sustainable form of private transport that is also more economical to operate.'
The estimated cost of the 25,000 charging points, conversion of the Greater London Authority fleet and other initiatives to kick-start London's electric vehicle revolution is £60million - the Mayor has pledged to fund a third of this. Transport for London is currently working with a number of private and public sector organisations to pull together a consortium to apply for Government infrastructure funding, available from next financial year. This, along with other government funding, would be transformed into electric vehicle charge points from 2010, electric vehicles for the GLA fleet from 2011 and incentives and guidance for businesses to electrify their fleet.
Electric cars will also deliver considerable benefits to the environment by improving air quality, cutting emissions and reducing noise pollution. Sixty-nine per cent of harmful particulate emissions in London come from road transport whereas electric cars have zero emissions when being driven. Electric vehicles also result in between thirty and forty per cent lower carbon emissions than comparable petrol or diesel cars and this will reduce further over time as the amount of energy - which charges the electric vehicles batteries - generated by renewable sources increases.
Manufacturers are investing hundreds of millions to bring a greater choice of vehicles to consumers. Small and medium cars from major car companies are expected in the next few years starting with Mitsubishi iMiEV in 2010 and Renault, Ford, Nissan and Peugeot planning new models by 2012.
Cities across the world consume 75 per cent of the world's energy and produce 80 per cent of its climate change emissions. The Summit of Mayors being attended by the Mayor is bringing together representatives from more than 100 cities around the world to champion practical ways to tackle this issue. The event is being held in parallel to the UN Copenhagen Climate Summit just ahead of the culmination of talks to reach a global deal on carbon reduction targets.
The Mayor is attending the Summit in his capacity as Honorary Deputy Chair of the C40 to promote how cities are delivering practical ways to cut carbon emissions and save energy.
Whilst in Copenhagen, the Mayor and nine other mayors from around the world will take part in an event to show climate change programmes in action. He will also participate in a roundtable discussion on low carbon transport with the mayors of Hong Kong, Paris, Kyoto, Nantes, Johannesburg and Mexico City.
The electric vehicle infrastructure strategy launched today is in draft form inviting comments from interested parties by 26 February 2010.
Download the Mayor's Turning London Electric PDF. It has a section on E2W (Electric 2-Wheelers).
