Two brothers living on the island of Guernsey (in the channel between France and England) have founded The Electric Vehicle Company and started transforming regular Smarts into electric vehicles.

Their first version of the electric Smart was powered by lead acid batteries and had a range between 20 -35 miles but after using lithium-ion batteries to power their electric version of the Smart the car had a range of up to 60 miles and a top speed of 60 mph.

The electric Smart costs about 15,000 pounds or 30,000 dollars, meaning twice the price of the regular Smart. In 2010 Smart electric vehicles will be available for purchase directly from the producers according to treehugger.

Considering the fact that the island they are living on has only about 30 square miles the electric Smart’s range seems more than enough for somebody who is only looking for a city car. You can use your electric vehicle with an estimated cost of a penny per mile (which is really really cheap) and you are using an electric car so there is no CO2 coming out of it. Still the energy you’ll be using to recharge it will probably be produced by using a non-renewable, polluting source.

Plus, paying $30,000 dollars for a car that has a range of 60 miles seems a little too much for me. Still, if you’re too lazy to ride your bike through town and are willing to pay that amount of money just for driving around town the Electric Smart is perfect for your needs.

Source: TreeHugger