Today I'm thinking about the Sinclair C5, a glorious EV failure

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Today I'm thinking about the Sinclair C5, a glorious EV failure SlashGear

Sir Clive Sinclair, the British inventor, has died today at the age of 81, and though it’s the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and its impact on personal computing that will go down as his biggest success, it’s an altogether more oddball gadget – and disaster – that I can’t help but think of fondly. The Sinclair C5 arguably beat the current trend of electrified transportation by several decades, a three-wheeled curio that – like the Segway many years on – promised plenty but failed to live up to that in commercial terms.

Sinclair’s attempts to revolutionize transportation struggled to make the same sort of splash. In 1985, the Sinclair C5 was unveiled, billed as an alternative to cars and bikes. A recumbent single-seater trike, it featured a plastic body and a 250 watt electric motor, powered by a 12V lead-acid battery.

Riders would need no license, no road tax, and of course no gasoline, the company promised; it would cost £399, or about £1,200 ($1,700) today.

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The C5 was, it’s fair to say, a commercial disaster. 20 miles of range, a top speed of just 15 mph, and no weatherproofing for the rider – a fairly short-sighted decision in rain-prone Britain – didn’t exactly endear it to potential buyers. Questions about its safety among more traditional traffic effectively sealed the C5’s fate.

Production both began, and ended, in 1985. Around 5,000 of the C5 were sold, a little over a third of the total number produced. Sinclair Vehicles, the company Sinclair founded and had hoped would eventually expand to include larger C10 and C15 versions, went into receivership.

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Ever the Third Wheel: The Electric Tricycle that Failed to Gain Traction 99% Invisible

In the 1970s and ’80s, Sir Clive Sinclair was a veritable giant in the fields of electronics and computing. He was knighted in 1983 for his technological innovations, including the first pocket calculator and Britain’s first mass-produced personal computer to be sold for under £100. But the invention that he is be best known for—at least in some circles—happens to be one of the least commercially successful products of all time: the Sinclair C5.

In the early ’80s, Sinclair turned his eye from transistors and computers to the highways and roundabouts of Britain’s congested roadways. On those roads, he saw potential—potential for reduced traffic, less pollution, and greater access to personal transportation for everyone. All of this could be had for the low, low price of £399.00 (about a tenth of the cost of an average car at the time).

The C5 was a three-wheeled, battery-assisted, recumbent Tricycle that Sinclair hoped would drastically reduce the need for cars. He also hoped cyclists would be drawn to its combination of pedal power and motorized capability. It weighed roughly 100 pounds, sat only inches off the ground, and had handlebars located under the thighs of the rider. It couldn’t reverse, only seated one, and had a tiny trunk. It was a pretty terrible design.

Despite its drawbacks, Sinclair hoped the public would be drawn to the C5’s low energy costs (the original ad claims one penny can take you five miles). He also hoped the lack of polluting exhaust would make this an ideal vehicle for environmentalists and penny-pinchers alike, but that wasn’t the case.

In January, 1985, the Sinclair C5 was released to the public…to a response of resounding disappointment and ridicule. In an effort to create something that just about anyone could drive, that a large swath of the population could afford, that would attract cyclists as well as motorists, Sinclair created a product so full of compromises that it pleased hardly anyone.

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