The Move Electric team have been flat-out all year covering the hugely broad world of e-mobility, trying out some the best and most innovative machines – and meeting the people who make them.
This week our team are picking out their personal highlights of the year, those moments that stood out for whatever reason.
Next up it's Move Electric staff writer Sam Phillips.
Just like that, Move Electric is a year old. It's been a thriving year for all things electric, so choosing a singular highlight from a year covering all manner of electric vehicles wasn’t easy.
Riding an e-scooter in our race across London was brilliantly fun. As was driving Graeme Cooper - head of future markets for the National Grid - around west London in a Citroën Ami to learn more about electric car charging and if the UK can cope with a surge in demand.
But a standout for me has to be a passenger ride in a Nissan Leaf Nismo RC at this year’s Formula E London E-Prix.
The carbon-fibre tubbed Leaf Nismo RC features a dual-motor setup, with a total power output of 240kW. And thanks to the front and rear motor’s, the 0-60mph sprint takes just 3.4 seconds; that’s impressive considering the car’s 1220kg kerb weight.
I’d not been for a passenger ride before, nor had I experienced what a fully track-focused electric car can do around a circuit.
But in the space of just under two-minutes I was thrust into new realms of speed and acceleration car fanatics can only dream of. Utterly visceral and brutally dynamic, the Nismo proved, comprehensively, what is truly possible when an electric powertrain is fitted to a car’s underbelly,
Tellingly, the Nismo’s performance capabilities were further illustrated by its stopping power. Under braking I found myself being shoved forward as a result, with the car poised and well-mannered as the driver flicked the wheel into the tight corners of the London E-Prix circuit.
Having completed the lap, I exited the Nismo RC amazed by its capabilities to the point where I wanted to do it all over again. Nothing in the electric car sphere comes close to the Nissan racer, but what it does prove is that the future of electric performance cars is promising.
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