Posted by Michael Harvey at 4:45PM on Friday 11 May, 2007 14 Comments
GoinGreen continued to stick to the 'it's not had an accident yet, so it won't have one' argument in support of the G-Wiz electric car's questionable position on occupant protection this morning.
Fine, my house has never caught fire - I'll take the smoke alarm out, then.
The company continues to peddle the '20 million miles' without an accident line, although oddly a week ago it reckoned that figure was 45 million miles.
Its people, meanwhile, are telling The Sun that the G-Wiz 'has the same metal frame as an F1 car'. A 1960s F1 car that would be, then.
And the company's website - which has been repeatedly updated since we first made GoinGreen aware of our crash test - no longer juxtaposes information on the car's occupant protection with irrelevant information from the government's Thatcham facility, which seemed to compare the G-Wiz favourably with the Smart. Thatcham ratings refer to security, not occupant protection.
The site does still mention the car's 'front crumple zone'. GoinGreen would serve itself well if it published details of the programmed deformation engineered into this 'crumple zone'.
When we gave the company the right to reply after we carried out our test on April 27, we believed it was precisely such technical information we would receive. We waited and we waited and... we got a solicitor's letter instead.
In the end, the story was broken not by us, but by the Department for Transport, which says it carried out a near-identical crash test on a G-Wiz three days before, only it won't say where.
It is not planning to release pictures or details for another month or so, but felt the need to scoop itself (or scoop us) by releasing details to two national newspapers early.
Many of the nationals are carrying the story today. Boris Johnson in The Telegraph writes, predictably, that individuals should be free to expose themselves to whatever level of risk they chose. Fine Boris, but until yesterday, because the G-Wiz is NCAP exempt, nobody knew that level of risk.
The DfT is claiming it wants the laws on quadricycles changed, a change that could render the G-Wiz illegal. We support the DfT in this, but until its investigations are complete and its recommendations written up, would it not be appropriate for all those national, regional and local governmental departments that actively encourage cars like the G-Wiz to reconsider their positions?
If the DfT's concerns really are as serious as they seem - as serious as ours - then should it not get on the blower to Revenue & Customs and the Inland Revenue and suggest they suspend their incentives to drive a G-Wiz?
And then maybe have a word with Ken, who exempts the G-Wiz from congestion charging. And local government, which offers free on-street parking. It could maybe even speak to the utilities that offer free battery charging.
All of these incentives are laudable for vehicles that meet the basic standard of occupant protection embodied in NCAP. We now know the G-Wiz doesn't. Surely such incentives then deserve some interrogation.
14 Comments for "Time to pull the plug?"
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If it is classified as a quadricycle - which is technically a motorcycle with a couple of extra wheels - why don't occupants have to wear helmets and other safety gear?
From looking at the crash video, it seems like you'd be safer on a motorcycle because when you crash, at least you'd be thrown far away from it.
I watched the crash video last night, and I can only describe it as properly terrifying.
To not have these road legal vehicles tested in the same way as other road legal vehicles, and the results published for the buyer to see, is deceptive to the buyer.
I don't think the thing should be taken off the roads, but people need to be aware of such factors when buying one, and this information should be available.
For the cars to be NCAP exempt is the bigger story though, isnt it? This new breed of vehicles on our roads is the ideal time to start afresh with Government regulations instead of waiting until there's too many of them, making a loss on the taxes and then change the existing laws, which are then bodged into accommodating them.
How sad to see Top Gear going over to the Elfin Safety camp.
Of course the information about the tests should be known, but now it is - why isn't Boris right?
The makers of the G-Wiz countered that they travel at 10mph most of the time.
But your test is equivalent to a head-on collision with both cars travelling at just 20mph - still entirely plausible and very worrying.
It worries me that this... "car"...crumples like it was made of cardboard at 40mph. If a 20mph head on crash between two G-wiz's is dangerous and potentially fatal (which is virtually what your test represents), what about a head-on crash between a 10mph G-wiz and a 40mph Mercedes S-Class? I shiver at the thought...
According to the law of conservation of momentum, one of the most basic laws of physics:
If a Maybach 62 with a kerbweight of 2780kg, hit a stationery G-Wiz (weighing 665kg) head on at a speed of 40mph, the remaining force would be enough to propel the G-Wiz 165mph in the opposite direction.
Now there's something to think about...
It seems GoinGreen are so taken with the car's inability to cause an accident that they've completely forgotten that someone travelling at 20-30mph could easily cause the accident for them!
One of the tree-huggers on their website seems to think it's the Government's fault, for not giving G-Wiz subsidies to make the car safer!
The simple fact that GoinGreen responded with a solicitors letter rather than concern over the risks involved clearly indicates that they put profits above occupant safety.
Practically anyone who buys a motorbike is aware of the risks involved in riding one, however, it would be fair to say that most people who purchase a G-Whiz would assume that it offers protection similar to a small car, which it clearly doesn't.
So it's not a case of Boris being right in that people should be allowed to choose, it's a case of Boris ignoring the fact that prospective G-Whiz buyers should be able to make an INFORMED choice.
Taking the devil's advocate stance, maybe Boris is right. Whilst most pedal cycles don't do 40mph, they also don't have crumple zones, yet they are allowed on the roads without tax, insurance and MOTs.
Motorcycles are also exempt from these regs, yet we all know they can be death traps, no matter how well the rider does his job.
I'm not supporting the G-Wiz, however I have to question the double standards at play here.
Do we really live in such a cotton-wool society that we've come to believe we can eliminate risk? Let's use common sense - you look at the G-Wiz and unless you're intellectually challenged, you appreciate that it's not a Sherman tank...
If you then decide the benefits outweigh the statistical risk of having an accident in one, you're no different from the person who decides it's statistically acceptable in safety terms to drive a Volkswagen or a Porsche at 70mph down a motorway.
I just can't believe that in this day and age a company is able to market such a product. It's alright arguing that most of the time it's only doing 10mph, but what about when the car coming the other way is an SUV doing 30mph?
In response to Mr Paine, Boris is wrong because people just don't realise how slow you need to be going to have a serious accident.
Even at around 15mph your bodyweight is multiplied by around three times, greatly increasing the chance of injury, yet how many people drive without seatbelts still?
Does anyone remember the EuroNcap rating of any TVR (when they were still being built, that is)?
Thought so. They never underwent a EuroNcap test.
I wouldn't be seen driving one of those G-Wiz's, but then if we are going to go all pro-safety, let's also criticise those vehicles that due to their low sales volume, don't undergo EuroNcap testing.
I'm a green-car fan, but I've never been fond of the G-Wiz. The sooner Smart starts production of its Electric ForTwo, the better!
Alternatively, we could all try to stop General Motors from crushing every last EV-1, which they quite blatantly axed due to pressure from the oil industry.