In the cult documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? the filmmakers set out to unpick the shadowy machinations that led to the demise of General Motors’ pioneering EV1.

The premise of the film was that car makers and oil companies joined forces in the 1990s to quash this emerging alternative to the internal combustion engine. But electric cars have come back from the dead and have begun to prosper, thanks largely to a little-known Indian company called Reva.

Based in Bangalore in southwest India, Reva has exported about 1,000 of its G-Wiz electric cars to the UK. London now has more privately owned electric cars than any other city in the world, and celebrity devotees include Jonathan Ross, Kristin Scott Thomas and Bamber Gascoigne.

Such has been the success of these battery-powered quadricycles (they are not officially classified as cars) in recent months that the question has switched from “Who killed the electric car?” to “Will my electric car kill me”?

Top Gear magazine carried out a Euro NCAP-style crash test on the G-Wiz at 40mph last year. It took half an hour to extricate the crash test dummy from the wreckage, and by then it was in three pieces. The Department for Transport said it was considering a review of quadricycles to see whether they ought to be subject to independent crash tests in the same way as other vehicles.

Then in September 629 G-Wizes were recalled by GoinGreen, the UK distributor, to sort out problems with battery chargers, which had been found to be prone to overheating. The potential problem came to light only when one car caught fire. Since then all chargers have been fitted with heat-sensitive cut-out switches and fire-retardant covers.

All the time, GoinGreen insisted “there has not been a single report of a serious injury or fatality [in a G-Wiz]”. But the damage to the car’s image was real enough. So last week the company showcased a new version of the electric car with improved safety systems, including reworked crumple zones, side-impact protection beams in the doors, more powerful front disc brakes, a collapsible steering column and a curved windscreen for better visibility. The car has also undergone independent 25mph crash tests, carried out by the Automotive Research Association of India.

Last week Chetan Maini, head of the Reva car company, arrived in London to promote the G-Wiz i, his all-new and improved model, claiming 25mph was a reasonable crash test speed as most of his cars rarely travel much faster. “What is the average speed of traffic in London? About 6mph during rush hour, maybe 12mph tops?” said Maini, whose father heads the Maini group of companies. “The G-Wiz is perfectly suited to this sort of driving.”

He has a point. The new Revas are lined up in Soho Square in the heart of the capital, where you can get two of the 8.5ft cars to a single parking space. Careering around the square, the silver G-Wiz hits a heady 20mph. But get out into the maze of West End streets and 10mph is a rare treat. And not because the G-Wiz is incapable. It has a top speed of 50mph, up from 45mph for the previous model – which I tested (although high speeds soon zap the battery). The restricting factor is the dense Friday lunchtime traffic.

From the outside, the car looks little changed. You can’t see most of the new safety features, so they don’t feel especially reassuring. What you do notice is that you are driving a tin-foil Munchkin of a car compared with the giant steely Range Rovers, black cabs and dirty old vans competing for road space. It’s hard not to feel intimidated. Then a woman, keen to display her green-tinged approval, gives the G-wiz an appreciative grin. At the same time a stretch Hummer attempts a U-turn close to my front bumper. I could be crushed under its wheels but at least I’ll be buried in the moral high ground.

Compared with the other petrol and diesel-fuelled boxes in this slow-moving snake of cars, the G-Wiz emits no harmful emissions from an exhaust pipe. Factoring in the carbon dioxide emissions produced to generate the electricity used to charge it, the car emits 63g/km of CO2 (although some owners switch to electricity from renewable sources).

Not bad, but when you consider that several conventionally powered cars are achieving less than 100g/km you wonder whether it’s worth the sacrifices in terms of space, convenience and safety.

The G-Wiz can run for up to 48 miles between charges and will then need to be plugged in to the mains for eight hours to recharge. Though technically a four-seater, the back seats of the G-Wiz are really only for show. Even in the front, if driver and passenger are any taller than Nicolas Sarkozy or wider than Carla Bruni, they will find the G-Wiz, at best, cosy.

Maini admits he has a Toyota people carrier, as well as his two Revas, for longer trips, and calls the G-Wiz a “mobility solution” rather than a car. The problem is, rightly or wrongly, most people will continue to compare it with the car-shaped alternatives. And the i model costs just as much as a car, without being able to do all the things a car does. The new model is just shy of £9,000 – more if you want leather seats. It is cheap to run – GoinGreen works it out as the equivalent of 1.2p per mile – and routine maintenance is minimal.

There is a catch, though. The batteries need replacing roughly every three years and when they do they cost £1,695. All but the most committed environmentalists are likely to need an added incentive to trade in their conventional hatchback.

Some London boroughs provide this in the way of free parking for electric cars and Westminster city council is installing public recharge points. Up to now by far the greatest incentive for many G-Wiz buyers was the congestion charge exemption offered by Ken Livingstone to alternative-fuel vehicles. But from October 27, if he is reelected, this exemption will extend to all cars with emissions under 120g/km, giving Londoners the choice of a whole host of economical, charge-exempt petrol and diesel cars. Maini admits Livingstone’s move is “disappointing”.

Other threats could come in the form of a growing number of challengers to the G-Wiz. The Th!nk city electric car was unveiled in Geneva last week, will go on sale in the UK later this year, and claims a range of 125 miles and a top speed of 65mph – although it will cost a lot more at about £14,000, plus a monthly £100 rental charge for the lithium-polymer batteries (replaced free of charge every five years).

An increasing number of manufacturers are planning plug-in hybrids. General Motors, for example, aims to launch the petrol-electric Chevrolet Volt in 2010. Pure electric vehicles, however, are still confined to the realms of one-off concept cars for most mainstream manufacturers.

By far the biggest threat to the electric car per se, and its pollution-busting, oil-free aspirations, is looming in Maini’s back yard. In January Tata, India’s largest car maker, which is in the bidding to buy Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford, unveiled its one lakh (£1,300) car.

The Nano has the potential to bring motoring within the budget of millions of Indian families. It is less than a third of the price of the G-Wiz, which retails at about £4,500 in India. Maini is loathe to criticise his countrymen or trample on the car-owning aspirations of ordinary families. But he admits “it is going to affect pollution and the environment and there is going to be a cost that I do not think is right”.

Who killed the electric car? Watch this space.

Vital statistics

Model

Engine type

48V AC three-phase induction motor

Power/torque 6kW continuous (12kW peak) / 38 lb ft @ 2000rpm

Transmission Single-speed automatic

Fuel/CO2 0g/km from tailpipe but 63g/km from power stations

Range 48 miles (40 in mixed motoring)

Top speed 50mph

Price £8,895

Road tax band A (no charge)

Verdict As good as electric cars get today for the money

Rating

Date of release Now

The opposition

Model Th!nk City electric car (due in UK late 2008)
For More range, shorter charge, a car not a quadricycle
Against Costs £5,000 more, plus £100 monthly rental

Model VW Polo 1.4 TDI BlueMotion
For 700 miles between refills, which take minutes
Against Emissions 36g/km higher than G-Wiz Reva G-Wiz i