May 26, 08
The Nice All-Electric Carbon Fiber Car Operates For 3¢ a Mile

The Nice (No Internal Combustion Engine) electric car company is a UK-based manufacturer of full electric zero-emission vans, hatchbacks and scooters. The carmaker has revealed that it plans to expand into other segments - including the performance arena – with the unveiling of a new sports concept car that it will display at the British Motor Show in London this July.

The new concept adopts a traditional coupe body but features a lifting scissor-door design for entry. The design of the vehicle is based around a carbon-fiber cell and utilizes advanced electronic components for the steering, braking and other ancillaries instead of mechanical pieces to help save weight.

Development work was shared between engineers at Nice and students at Cranfield University’s power and drive systems group based in Shrivenham. Its designers stress that it’s not a production car but a showcase of future technologies that will eventually filter into Nice’s regular production models.

In the UK, where most vehicles are primarily sold, the cars receive no congestion charges, no road taxes, a number of parking concessions, and only use about 3c of electricity per mile. Also on display at the London Show will be the carmaker’s Mega-City car as well as several other electric models.