Media File: 1983
Sinclair in the News

UPI
June 19, 1983

British industrialist plans mass-produced electric car

Sir Clive Sinclair, the British electronics wizard, wants to develop the world's first mass-produced electric car, British motoring correspondents said Sunday.

The newly knighted Sinclair, 42, is personally investing $13.5 million to $19.5 million to put the electric car into commercial production by 1985, possibly at the old DeLorean car plant in Northern Ireland.

Motoring correspondents said the Sinclair car would be a single-seat, three-wheeler but Sinclair Research refused to confirm or deny that. ''We do not want to alert competitors,'' they said. If it were anyone else, the auto industry might laugh off his dream, but Sinclair has made a personal fortune of more than $150 million from pocket calculators and personal computers by undercutting Japanese prices.

Sinclair's hand-held, flat screen TV is to be launched soon and is expected to sell for only half the $350 price of its Japanese rival in Britain.

The Sunday Telegraph reported Sinclair was holding discussions on the purchase of the failed DeLorean sports car plant in west Belfast, which was closed in October after the failure of the gull-winged sports car venture.

Owner John DeLorean was arrested by the FBI in October on a drugs peddling charge, supposed trying to raise money for his venture. The British government had ploughed $126 million into the car.

Engineer magazine reported Friday that Sinclair's car would be powered by a new lead acid battery. It is said to be a low-cost battery capable of withstanding heavy daily recharging.

That would give it a very limited battery life, but if Sinclair sticks to his basic tenet of ''make it cheap,'' consumers sick of gasoline prices might be able to stomach buying new batteries frequently.

The Telegraph also reported Sinclair was holding talks with banks about acquiring control of Group Lotus, the sports car company rocked by its founder's death in December. Lotus did the development work on the DeLorean.