Australian Blade Electron

[Blade Electron Full Specs]

It will cost you $48,000 and you can't drive it to Sydney but the Blade Electron represents progress on many fronts.

First, it's the closest you can get to an Australian-built electric car and driving 100km in it will cost you $2.

Provided the electricity comes from renewable sources, that's the greenest 100km you'll find, short of a pushbike.

And with the Electron capable of charging in eight hours from a domestic power point, it doesn't have to wait for the promised electric car recharging points to appear around the city.

The car, if it does everything its makers say it can, could launch Castlemaine into the ranks of Australian automotive, or electromotive, household names.

Blade Electric Vehicles employs eight people in the Victorian town to take a standard production model Hyundai Getz, remove the engine, the drive system and most of the other bits and turn it into an Electron.

The first Canberra driver of an Electron, Haydn Lowe, of Downer, knows the car he bought for his software company Wollemi Systems is a bit different, and he loves it.

''It was clear-cut choice for us because the tag lines we're running is that we're the green alternative,'' Mr Lowe said yesterday.

''The car is brilliant, it's so much fun to drive around town, so quiet and I never have to go to a service station again.''

Blade Electric Cars director Ross Blade said he believed the Electron would soon be available for registration in any state or territory.

''We're applying for full production which means we can produce any number of these vehicles and they can be bought and registered anywhere,'' he said.

The virtues of the mostly Australian-built car are being spruiked by the ACT Government, which is a partner in the plan, still at least 14 months away, to roll out recharging points for electric cars around the city.

Chief Minister Jon Stanhope threw his weight behind the Electron yesterday, saying it was the perfect renewable energy car for the capital's streets.

''As a city designed for motor vehicles, Canberra is an ideal place for companies like Wollemi Systems to use an electric vehicle to travel to and from appointments at sites across the city,'' Mr Stanhope said.

''Combined with green power or renewable energy, electric vehicles can run on zero emissions helping to achieve a significant reduction in our carbon footprint.''