The importer of zero-emission, all-electric cars has admitted that there is still a long way to go before managers will feel comfortable putting such vehicles onto their fleets in any significant numbers.

Steve Hartridge, managing director of GoinGreen, which imports Reva electric cars, told Fleet News that the company is still unable to answer wider fleet concerns over battery life and reliability.

His comments were made as the company launched the new Indian-built Reva L-ion electric car.

To attract fleet customers, GoinGreen is selling a new rapid re-charging system, which will allow the lithium-ion batteries the car is powered by to be re-charged in under two hours.

However, rapid charging answers only one of several issues fleet managers have with all-electric vehicles.

The issue over battery reliability is answered in part by the L-ion’s three-year battery warranty.

However, concerns remain over whether there will be demand for the car when the warranty has expired.

Hartridge points out that there is already a residual benchmark set with the older G-Wizz electric car, which is now appearing at auction.

“There is a market for used G-Wizz electric cars,” he said.

“A three-year-old G-Wizz is worth between £3,000 and £4,000 and its list price new is £8,000 – that’s pretty good.”

Such figures are impressive until one realises that the used G-Wizz electric cars Hartridge is referring to will already have had a new battery pack fitted, which costs £1,895.

A replacement battery pack for the new £15,795 L-ion electric car, which uses lithium-ion technology, costs even more – around £7,000.

And the rapid-charge station, which needs a three-phase power supply that is only available in commercial premises, costs an additional £6,000, although it is capable of charging the car’s batteries to 90% of full charge in one hour and a complete charge in one-and-a-half hours.

Normal charging takes six hours using conventional recharging sockets.

But with no long-term fleet field tests of the L-ion, which has a range of 75 miles, there is no indication yet of how long the battery will last past the three-year warranty.

“There is no option for an extended warranty for the batteries,” confirmed Hartridge. “And, there is no option to lease the batteries.”

There is also no option to lease the cars either, although Hartridge said the Indian manufacturer is looking at “all solutions” in an attempt to sell more cars and reassure lease companies and fleets that the lithium-ion technology has a future with them.

“There is clearly a growing market for these cars,” he said.

“We are exploring all the solutions and would invite anyone to come forward with ideas on how to overcome the current problems.