Eight Citroën dealers in and around London may sell the Evie, an electric conversion of the Citroën C1 VT which is on sale priced £16,850. 

The Evie VTR costs £500 extra and there is a choice of four colours. David Martell, chief executive of The Electric Car
Corporation (ECC), which buys and converts C1s, said: “We are talking to Citroën UK and would like some of its London dealers to sell it.

“We hope the relationship will grow into something more. Paris is a natural market for the Evie and we would like to work with Citroën on supplying cars for that market.”

Citroën said it was “delighted to be supplying ECC with C1s for this exciting project”.

A spokesman said: “We supply cars to ECC as a customer. This is not a joint venture.”

ECC chose Citroën as a supplier because Martell worked with the manufacturer when heading Trafficmaster, which he founded. 

“The C1 is small, light and looks sensible which makes it ideal for us,” he said.

Twelve people have placed orders for the Evie, said
Martell, and all have an interest in protecting the environment.
List prices for the Citroën C1 ranges from around £7,500 to £9,500, and Martell accepts the Evie’s price will be seen as high by some people.

“That is the price we have to ask – if it were £12,000 we could sell 5,000 a year now,” he said.

Marketing is based on the Evie “saving nearly £7,000 a year” based on 10,000 miles. This claim assumes the owner will pay £200 a year for a parking space in Westminster, rather than £4,000 for a conventional car.

Other savings are avoiding 200 days of London’s congestion charge (£1,600), recharging costing £200 compared with £1,250 for petrol), no road fund licence and slightly cheaper insurance.

Five people are employed at the Evie conversion centre in Bedfordshire. Citroën supplies complete cars. Each transformation into an electric car takes 2.5 days.

ECC’s target is around 500 Evies by next spring, rising to between 2,000 and 4,000 units in 2010. 

“The number sold next year depends on demand and the level of government support,” said Martell. “We intend to sell the Evie in UK cities other than London and in Spain.”

London mayor Boris Johnson wants 25,000 juice points (charging stations) in the capital in time.