Enfield Automotive was an electric car

Electric car

An electric car is an automobile which is propelled by electric motor, using electrical energy stored in batteries or another energy storage device. Electric cars were popular in the late-19th century and early 20th century, until advances in internal combustion engine technology and mass...

 manufacturer founded in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 in the 1960s. Under the ownership of Greek millionaire Giannis Goulandris, production was moved to the Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 isle of Syros

Syros

Syros , or Siros or Syra is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is located south-east of Athens. The area of the island is . The largest towns are Ermoupoli, Ano Syros, and Vari. Ermoupoli is the capital of the island and the Cyclades...

 during the oil crisis of 1973

1973 oil crisis

The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...

.

Enfield 465

The Enfield 465 was a small 2+2-seater electric car built only in prototype form in 1969. It was equipped with a 48 V, 4.65 bhp electric motor and had a fibreglass body on a steel frame.

Enfield 8000

The Enfield 8000 (also known the E8000 ECC or "Electric City Car") was similar to the 465, but with an 8 bhp motor and aluminium body. 120 Enfield 8000s were built on the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

 in the mid-1970s, of which 65 were used by the Electricity Council

Electricity Council

The Electricity Council was a governmental body set up in 1957 to oversee the electricity supply industry in England and Wales. The Council's responsibilities included:...

 and southern English Electricity Boards.

The E8000ECC had passed all the necessary tests for production in the United Kingdom and was on its way to be produced in the United States of America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Then Governor of California Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

 sent a cargo plane to have three E8000ECCs moved to California in support of his Clean Air legislation. However, the E8000ECC was never produced in the United States. The unique aerodynamics of the E8000ECC were not based on traditional industry principles and ideas. They were based on designs made by Konstantine Adraktas, the Chairman and Managing Technical Director of Enfield. The car was eventually produced in Greece after the company was incorporated into Neorion

Neorion

Neorion is one of the oldest Greek heavy industries, located in Ermoupolis, on the Greek island of Syros. Today, it is one of the few remaining major industrial corporations in that picturesque and nostalgic island town that used to be the industrial and commercial heart of Greece, before being...

 (also owned by Mr. Goulandris) and renamed Enfield-Neorion.

Key Characteristics

• The range of the E8000ECC was 50 miles (80 km) to 90 miles (145 km), depending on driving conditions.
• The top speed of the E8000ECC was 70 mph (113 km/h) to 80 mph (129 km/h), depending on driving conditions.
• It had an aluminum body to guard against corrosion.
• It was available in a "Bicini" version which had a body composed of simple flat panels and was never crash test
  Crash test
  A crash test is a form of destructive testing usually performed in order to ensure safe design standards in crashworthiness and crash compatibility for various modes of transportation or related systems and components.- Types :...
  
  ed.
• A leather interior was available.
• Its turning radius
  Turning radius
  The turning radius or turning circle of a vehicle is the size of the smallest circular turn that the vehicle is capable of making. The term turning radius is actually a misnomer, since the size of a circle is actually its diameter, not its radius. The less ambiguous term turning circle is preferred...
  
   was comparable to a traditional London cab
  Austin FX4
  The FX4 is the classic Black Cab. While the majority are black, there is in fact no requirement for them, or indeed any other make of London taxi to be black. Over the years, the FX4 has been sold under a number of different makers' names.-Design and launch:...
  
  .
• It had no gear lever, reverse was entered with the use of switch.
• It was based on widely available components and parts for easy maintenance and worldwide replacement part availability.
• It had an on-board charger.