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Rating

Verdict Small thinking

This is what happens when you let a bunch of nitwits take charge of the greenhouse gas debate. The G-Wiz. I have often mocked this little car for being slow, ugly, unsafe and hypocritical. But I have never driven one . . . until now.

First things first. It is very small. It is so small, in fact, that anyone over the age of four will find their left knee is jammed behind the windscreen washer switch, causing it to spray the windscreen constantly as you drive along.

There are two seats in the back, but God has not yet designed a creature that could fit in them, and it’s pretty much the same story in the boot, which is the size of a mouse.

Speed. Well 0-60mph is impossible because it won’t do 60mph. In fact, this is the first car I’ve driven that seems to have no top speed at all. It’s like walking, only less comfortable. Small wonder this is not classified as a car by the European Union.

They call it a quadricycle, which means it can be sold without having to pass the usual safety tests. Pity, because a test by Top Gear magazine found that it was unsafe at pretty much any of its speeds. All two of them.

You will also lose all your friends because to justify your significant £7,000 purchase (£8,542 for the newer AC version), you will need to explain, loudly and often, that it uses no fuel, that you simply charge it up at night and you’re good to go 40 miles. Unless you use the lights. Or the radio. Or the washer jets. Which you will, a lot.

In which case it’s only 30 miles, or maybe 20, before you coast to a halt.

Even if I were a committed environmentalist I would not buy this car. It is too small, too dangerous and I’m sorry but it runs on juice from a power station, which is hardly a flower in the big green scheme of things.

Current price (AC model) £7,999

Price when tested (August 2007) £6,999

Motor/Power 48V DC / 4.8kW continuous (13.1kW peak)

Torque 50 lb ft @ 2000rpm

Transmission Single-speed automatic

Range Up to 40 miles (32, mixed roads)

CO2 Equivalent of 63g/km if charged from fossil fuel source

Top speed 40mph / Acceleration: n/a