Elettrica news - Electric shocking - 2008

Talk about setting yourself up for a fall. A press release arrives in TG's inbox, grandly stating: 'A damp July Sunday in 2007 may well go down in history as the day the practical electric car finally came of age...'

Inevitably, we were intrigued. We don't want to miss out on history. Especially since we have idea where we were when JFK was shot.

So what was the stellar vehicle making this piece of history? A ridiculous-looking thing called the Elettrica. And the achievement? Making the journey from London to Brighton <i>on a single charge.

Hold the front pages and rewrite the encyclopaedias. No matter that the Elettrica is utterly impractical, with barely enough space for two people and a top speed of just 40mph. And no matter that its most ambitious range is just 60 miles, which requires a five-hour charge to attain.

Because, ladies and gentlemen, you're witnessing history. In years to come, your children will ask you where you were when Elettrica made it from London to Brighton on a single charge.

The correct answer, of course, will be 'stuck behind the Elettrica on the A23 with the rest of the motorists from the South-East'.