Following  a  successful  crash  test  last  year,  BEV  has  received  official  approval  from  the   Department  of  Transport  Administrator  of  Vehicle  Standards  to  produce  up  to  100  electric   vehicles  per  year.  This  builds  on  BEV’s  status  as  a  licensed  low  volume  (second  stage)   manufacturer  of  motor  vehicles.

“This  approval  is  recognition  of  the  quality  of  our  vehicles  and  our  adherence  to  Australian   Design  Rules”,  said  Ross  Blade,  founder  of  Blade  Electric  Vehicles.  “We  are  committed  to   obtaining  full  manufacturing  status  in  the  near  future,  in  order  to  fulfil  the  increasing   demand  for  electric  vehicles.”

or  further  information,  contact:

Ross  Blade,  Blade  Electric  Vehicles,  03  5472  2009

November 24, 2009

Central Victorian electric car company, Blade Electric Vehicles, has just completed a set of major milestones that place it at the forefront of global development in electric passenger cars.
Firstly, its four door hatchback ‘Electron’ – a converted Hyundai Getz — has just passed being crash tested by a national crash testing authority (Autoliv Australia Test Centre).
“This is Australia’s first electric vehicle to be successfully crash tested and, according to Autoliv’s engineers, the Electron’s results were excellent,” said Ross Blade, founder of Blade Electric Vehicles (BEV). The detailed charts supplied by Autoliv (available on request) show that the Electron easily passed all crash testing criteria by large margins. BEV is the first EV manufacturer to comply with VicRoads’ stringent new rules for evidence of safety in EVs. Victoria has the highest standards of evidence for EV safety in Australia.
Second, one of BEV’s earliest customers, Mr Alan Gray, has just completed 20,000 km in his Electron – unserviced – and without the car being off the road for a single day in the past 18 months.
“The car is amazing. I have to fight my wife for a drive – she loves it more than I do. And it never lets us down. We charge it from the solar panels on our roof, and I estimate that it will pay for itself in four years – even without petrol prices rising,” said Mr Gray.
The Electron currently sells for $48,000 inc GST; BEV have a three year buyback scheme in place; the four-seater car goes 110 km/h+ with all the acceleration of its petrol equivalent, and has a daily range of 200 km with its optional one-hour rapid charger.

• For more information please call Mr Ross Blade on 0410 492 195 or Mr Alan Gray on 0428 51 52 54.