Sinclair C5 Electric Vehicle

Sinclair C5 electric vehicle, made by Sinclair Vehicles Ltd and Hoover plc, c.1985.

Sir Clive Sinclair, a successful entrepreneur in home computing whose company produced the ZX80 and the ZX Spectrum computers among others, founded Sinclair Vehicles in 1983, intent on producing electric vehicles for the mas market. The Sinclair C5 was its only production model, an electric recumbent bicycle concept, but was widely met with criticism on its launch. It was exposed to the weather, and had limited safety features which meant road operation was dangerous. 14,000 C5s were produced at the Hoover Factory in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, but only 4,500 were ever sold, and production was halted after less than a year.