Redesigning the Sinclair C5

I was a friend of Sir Clive Sinclair. He was Chairman of Mensa while I was Secretary, and we helped run it for 13 years. During that time he brought out many inventions, including the first pocket calculator, a pocket TV, and a series of low-cost computers of which the most successful was the Sinclair Spectrum.

Clive's C5 electric car was not a success. It was too low, too light, and was released in mid-January as a business commuter car. Had it been released in summer as a holiday camp fun car, it might have done better.

The bones were sound. The C5’s problems were less about the idea than about where it put its driver and when it put itself on sale. It launched on 10th January 1985, in a British winter, with the rider’s head roughly at the height of a lorry’s wheel nuts. Buyers looked at it, looked at the sleet, and looked away.

Start with height. The original sat its driver about 80cm off the road.

We learn from our mistakes, so I’ve redesigned the C5 in my mind, bearing in mind the original’s shortcomings. Raise the seat so the eyes are level with a car driver’s, around 1.1 to 1.2 metres, and the whole psychology changes. You are no longer something to be run over; you are something to be seen.

A taller stance also lets you climb in rather than lower yourself in, which matters to anyone over forty or wearing a suit. Widen the rear track a little to keep it stable at the new height, and drop the batteries low between the rear wheels so the centre of gravity stays where Sinclair wanted it.

Then weather. Give it a proper shell: a lightweight composite body with a clear polycarbonate canopy that tilts forward or hinges up, like a fighter cockpit. Add a single wiper, a small demister fan, and side vents that open in summer. Mudguards over every wheel, not as an afterthought. The rider should arrive dry, warm, and smug rather than damp and defiant.

The power plant needs its own upgrade. Lead-acid batteries gave the C5 a range of perhaps 20 miles on a good day, fewer on a cold one. Modern lithium cells would triple that at a fraction of the weight, and a stronger hub motor would handle hills without the pedals the original quietly relied on. Keep the top speed modest, though.

The legal genius of the C5 was that it needed no licence, no tax and no insurance. Preserve that and you preserve the market.

Finally, the launch. Unveil it in late May, at the seaside, with a fleet for hire along the promenade. Let families try it for an afternoon at Butlin’s before anyone asks a commuter to bet a winter on it. Fun first, function second. People who have enjoyed a thing are far readier to find reasons why it is also practical.

Clive was right about the future of small electric vehicles. He was simply forty years early and three feet too short.

Madsen Pirie