I drove an electric car today!!!

Wow. Well this is one of those moments - the first time I ever drove an electric car. It was very impressive to be honest. Not only was it electric, but it was a great car too.

Based on the Mitsubishi 'i' car chassis, the engine has been replaced by a purely electric drive train and battery that can be charged from the household mains from flat to full in 6hrs. Not bad, bit like my phone really. That charge will cost you £1, making the annual estimated bill £144. Brilliant.

Driving it is so different. The power is totally consistent, a bit more like the opposite of breaking - it's smooth and even rather than jerky, either as a result of the engine changing gear manually or automatically. Spookily quiet as well, though with the windows down - it was a summer's day - the sounds of the city were enough.

Acceleration was good - we beat a Bentley and a Prius off the lights by quite a margin - apparently it's about 30% quicker than an equivalent 'city car'. It's due out at the start of next year thanks to the government's recent announcement that they are giving £5k rebate off electric cars and although I don't think I'll be getting one myself just yet (at about £30k) if I had the cash and lived in the city I'd probably do it. No congestion charge, no car tax and less than a weekend's spending money a year on charging. Life changing.