Sinclair C5
Encyclopedia
The Sinclair Research C5 is a battery electric vehicle
Battery electric vehicle
A battery electric vehicle, or BEV, is a type of electric vehicle that uses chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs. BEVs use electric motors and motor controllers instead of, or in addition to, internal combustion engines for propulsion.A battery-only electric vehicle or...

 invented by Sir Clive Sinclair
Clive Sinclair
Sir Clive Marles Sinclair is a British entrepreneur and inventor, most commonly known for his work in consumer electronics in the late 1970s and early 1980s....

 and launched by Sinclair Research in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 on 10 January 1985. The vehicle is a battery-assisted tricycle
Tricycle
A tricycle is a three-wheeled vehicle. While tricycles are often associated with the small three-wheeled vehicles used by pre-school-age children, they are also used by adults for a variety of purposes. In the United States and Canada, adult-sized tricycles are used primarily by older persons for...

 steered by a handlebar beneath the driver's knees. Powered operation is possible making it unnecessary for the driver to pedal. Its top speed of 15 miles per hour (24.1 km/h), is the fastest allowed in the UK without a driving licence. It sold for £399 plus £29 for delivery.

It became an object of media and popular ridicule during 1980s Britain and was a commercial disaster, selling only around 17,000 units, although according to Sinclair, "it currently remains the best selling electric vehicle of all time."

History

Sir Clive Sinclair started to think about electric vehicles as a teenager, and it was an idea he toyed with for decades. In the early 1970s Sinclair Radionics was working on the project. Sinclair had Chris Curry
Chris Curry
Christopher Curry is the co-founder of Acorn Computers, with Hermann Hauser and Andy Hopper.-Early life:...

 work on the electric motor
Electric motor
An electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.Most electric motors operate through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors to generate force...

. However, the company focus shifted to calculator
Calculator
An electronic calculator is a small, portable, usually inexpensive electronic device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic. Modern calculators are more portable than most computers, though most PDAs are comparable in size to handheld calculators.The first solid-state electronic...

s and no further work was done on vehicles until the late 1970s. Development began again in 1979 and progressed erratically until, in 1983, it became apparent new legislation
Legislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...

 would alter the market and make it possible to sell a vehicle closely resembling development efforts.

As time went on, the Sinclair Research C5 development cost gradually increased. In March 1983, Sinclair sold some of his shares in Sinclair Research and raised £12 million to finance vehicle development. In May a new company, Sinclair Vehicles Ltd, was formed out of Sinclair Research and a development contract entered with Lotus
Lotus Cars
Lotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at the former site of RAF Hethel, a World War II airfield in Norfolk. The company designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and fine handling characteristics...

 to take the C5 design to production. At the same time, the Hoover Company
The Hoover Company
The Hoover Company started out as an American floor care manufacturer based in North Canton, Ohio. It also established a major base in the United Kingdom and for most of the early-and-mid-20th century, it dominated the electric vacuum cleaner industry, to the point where the "hoover" brand name...

 at Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil is a town in Wales, with a population of about 30,000. Although once the largest town in Wales, it is now ranked as the 15th largest urban area in Wales. It also gives its name to a county borough, which has a population of around 55,000. It is located in the historic county of...

 contracted to manufacture the C5. This, together with the fact that the motors were made by Polymotor in Italy, started the urban myth that the C5 was powered by a washing machine
Washing machine
A washing machine is a machine designed to wash laundry, such as clothing, towels and sheets...

 motor. In 1984, Sinclair Vehicles set up head office at the University of Warwick Science Park
University of Warwick Science Park
The University of Warwick Science Park was one of the first university based science park in the United Kingdom when it was opened by the Rt. Hon. Margaret Thatcher in 1984. It was a joint venture between the University of Warwick, Coventry City Council, Warwickshire County Council and Barclays...

.

Reaction

Despite promotion involving former formula one
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 racing driver Stirling Moss
Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England...

, the reaction upon its release was that the C5 was impractical in the British climate meaning it was only comfortably usable in southern England in the spring and summer, and possibly dangerous on busy roads.

A court case involving a drunk driver of a C5 ruled that the vehicle was a tricycle (not a car).

On 13 August 1985, the Hoover Company announced the end of production. Only around 17,000 C5s had been sold. Sinclair Vehicles was put into receivership on 12 October 1985.

Design problems

The C5 suffered from problems: cold weather shortened battery life, the driver was exposed to the weather, and because it was low to the ground, doubts were raised about the safety in traffic
Traffic
Traffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel...

. The problems were addressed with a second battery, side screens for bad weather and a reflector on tall poles - all available as extras from the launch. The problems were expressed in a cartoon showing a C5 and a juggernaut
Juggernaut
A juggernaut in colloquial English usage is a literal or metaphorical force regarded as mercilessly destructive and unstoppable.Originating in ca...

 approaching each other at a blind corner, the C5 being occupied by lemming
Lemming
Lemmings are small rodents, usually found in or near the Arctic, in tundra biomes. They are subniveal animals, and together with voles and muskrats, they make up the subfamily Arvicolinae , which forms part of the largest mammal radiation by far, the superfamily Muroidea, which also includes rats,...

s. Users of recumbent tricycles and a study by the Department of Transport
Department for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...

 suggested visibility fears were largely unfounded, but the weight, lack of seat-to-pedal adjustment, lack of gears, short pedal cranks, and that the motor overheated on long hills were serious problems; indeed the motor was essentially useless for climbing hills, with even mild gradients necessitating significant pedal assistance.

Modified C5s

A heavily modified C5 reached a top speed of 150 miles per hour (241.4 km/h) and accelerated from 0 to 60 mph in 5 seconds taking the speed record for an electric vehicle. The C5 also became the world's first electric stunt vehicle when it was driven through a 70ft tunnel of fire. A "turbo conversion" converting the C5 to 24 volts and boosting the speed to 27–30 mph (43.5–48.3 km/h) is available.

During the Swiss Tour de Sol in the early 1990s, several C5s were solarised and modified to provide more range and speed. Plans were made available for these conversions, required to use the C5 legally in Switzerland.

Sinclair C5s have also been converted to jet engine
Jet engine
A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...

 power.

In 2006 another Sinclair C5 was fitted with a hybrid rocket
Hybrid rocket
A hybrid rocket is a rocket with a rocket motor which uses propellants in two different states of matter - one solid and the other either gas or liquid. The Hybrid rocket concept can be traced back at least 75 years....

 engine for an episode of Sky TV's Brainiac
Brainiac: Science Abuse
Brainiac: Science Abuse is a British entertainment TV show with a science motif. Numerous experiments are carried out in each show, often to verify whether common conceptions are true or simply to create impressive explosions...

 science show. After evaluating the performance of three different fast foods as rocket fuels (combined with nitrous oxide
Nitrous oxide
Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas or sweet air, is a chemical compound with the formula . It is an oxide of nitrogen. At room temperature, it is a colorless non-flammable gas, with a slightly sweet odor and taste. It is used in surgery and dentistry for its anesthetic and analgesic...

), the winning fuel was used to propel the C5 in a drag race with an electric scooter.

Sinclair X-1

In November 2010 Sinclair told The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

he was working on a new prototype that should be launched within a year. "Technology has moved on quite a bit, there are new batteries available and I just rethought the thing. The C5 was OK, but I think we can do a better job now." He said the prototype was called the X1.The X-1 will be available in July 2011 at the price of £595.

External links

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