Radical slimmed-down electric car boosts range

Gaël Lavaud, head of Gazelle Tech at Blanquefort, said: “Making the Gazelle with composites gives a lighter car, cuts power usage by 40% and so gives more range.

“About 75% of a car’s consumption is linked to weight so it weighs 500kg rather than the usual 1,500kg, and it will run for 170km after a four-hour recharge on a domestic plug.”

The company already has orders and the first car will be built in December.

Aimed at councils and small firms in Europe but also for emerging countries, cars can be assembled in an hour in container-sized workshops using prefabricated parts and a patented Aerocell chassis.

This allows Gazelle to ship parts to those countries to be built there and create jobs.

Mr Lavaud added: “These countries are key markets as there are already many manufacturers in Europe. We will offer a petrol engine where there is no charging network.”

France leads the way in electric car usage – one in three of the 340,000 cars on European roads is in France. The market leader Renault is also working with partner Nissan to create a cheap electric car for China.