The £125k electric Range Rover

Major motor manufacturers are already investing increasing amounts of time and money to the creation of a new generation of electric cars – and now a new British company, Liberty Electric Cars Ltd, claims that it’s set to launch a range of electric versions of existing vehicles.The Liberty Range Rover is being detailed to the press at the Sexy Green Car Show today, although an actual prototype of the car is yet to break cover. It has a claimed range of up to 150 miles on one charge and, says the company, will be faster than the petrol version. Prices will be between £95,000 and £125,000 according to specification, meaning that the cars’ appeal will be to affluent early adopters rather than economy-minded misers.Liberty says it’s already built two prototypes and has a further eleven orders from customers interested in the project. One prototype is purely electric power while the other has a small, range-extending engine which recharges the batteries when they run out of charge. The company has a small-scale facility to retro-fit its electric systems to Range Rovers at the moment, but claims that it is investing £30 million into the project. Skepticism is likely to surround the project until the working Range Rover is unveiled, although Liberty cites the need to protect the technology it’s using for the delay in unveiling its protoyptes. The lack of infrastructure to recharge an electric car in Britain will be a challenge for Liberty. However the company says it will install drive-on recharging beds into owner’s garages with the cost of the car. The advanced battery technology used, says the company, takes 4-6 hours to fully recharge in this way. However it could be recharged in ten minutes with a huge 1000amp, 440watt source. Liberty bosses even claim they’re at the preliminary stages of negotiating with electricity companies about providing these power points, for example in railway station car parks, where the infrastructure already exists. The company anticipates a potential market for tens of thousands of converted vehicles per year. Barry Shrier, the company’s founder and CEO, reckons the project will create around 250 jobs, with a variety of potential UK manufacturing locations under consideration. Liberty wants the Range Rover to be a flagship model and intends to offer aftermarket electric systems to other models in the future. No technical details about the system have been released, although Liberty claims that it will be possible to specify the powertrain in conjunction with an on-board, range-extending generator in some models; that’s a similar principle to the one behind the forthcoming Chevrolet Volt.“The Liberty Electric Range Rover will drive cleanly and quietly around roads and cities, free of tax, congestion and parking charges,” said Shrier, “making less environmental impact than even the smallest, most fuel-efficient car, yet still offering the comfort and security of a luxury 4x4.”