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Sinclair C5, the Tiny EV That Dreamed Big – And Failed Spectacularly

On September 16, 2021, Sir Clive Sinclair, a most brilliant and creative inventor and entrepreneur, father of the pocket calculator, as well as of the pocket TV and color game consoles, passed away at the age of 81. The British media often described Sir Sinclair as incredibly smart, as if he had two brains instead of one.
The Sinclair C5 was born and died in 1985, but it remains revolutionary 13 photos
Photo: PA News
The Sinclair C5 was born and died in 1985, but it remains revolutionaryThe Sinclair C5 was born and died in 1985, but it remains revolutionaryThe Sinclair C5 was born and died in 1985, but it remains revolutionaryRestored Sinclair C5 for saleRestored Sinclair C5 for saleRestored Sinclair C5 for saleRestored Sinclair C5 for saleRestored Sinclair C5 for saleRestored Sinclair C5 for saleRestored Sinclair C5 for saleRestored Sinclair C5 for saleRestored Sinclair C5 for sale
His most iconic invention is also his biggest failure, and the only one to have called into question his intelligence and business savvy. That would be the Sinclair C5, which he described as an electric vehicle but was actually an electrically-assisted pedal trike. It was the tiniest EV at the time, dreaming the biggest dream of reinventing personal mobility in the big city.

It was also a death-trap on three wheels.

Sir Sinclair began thinking about developing his own electric vehicle in the late 1970s. Already a rich man and a national treasure for his inventions, he wanted to deliver something that would disrupt the automotive industry, a vehicle that anyone could drive, that would be affordable to purchase and run, and that was fun. At the time, no one was paying much attention to global warming, so cutting down operation costs was the biggest selling point – not reducing pollution.

The Sinclair C5 was born and died in 1985, but it remains revolutionary
Photo: PA News
By 1983, when Sinclair Vehicles partnered with Hoover to set up a production facility with several production lines, the buzz was strong that Sir Sinclair was working on an electric car. The word “car” was thrown around a lot, to the point where even established carmakers started to wonder whether they really had fierce competition to fear. The insane build-up would eventually seal the fate of the tiny C5, when it premiered on 10 January 1985 at Alexandra Palace in North London.

The event was glitzy, with several gorgeous girls driving into the arena in what looked like toy vehicles. That was the Sinclair C5, in production form: a one-seat three-wheeler that sat incredibly close to the ground, with no protection from the elements, hardly any visibility on the road and, as journalists would immediately find out, very little means of actually moving in traffic.

Powered by a 250 W motor on the left rear wheel and a 12-volt lead-acid battery, the C5 had a two-stage gear drive and pedals in the front. The idea was that the single occupant wouldn’t have to use the pedals all that much but, in reality, the C5 was hardly able to go up an incline without overheating, even with pedaling. Top speed was touted at 15 mph (24 kph), and per-charge range at 20 miles (32 km), but both these figures were proved over-inflated in subsequent tests. In real life, the C5 maxed out at 12.5 mph (20.1 kph), while range was 10 miles (16 km) – and almost half that in cold weather.

Performance issues weren’t the trike’s only problem, not that they weren’t serious enough on their own. The polypropylene body offered no protection, either in traffic or from the elements, while also being highly uncomfortable. At a faster corner, it could topple over. In street traffic (since the C5 was not meant for riding on the pavement and cycle paths did not exist back then), its low profile made it invisible to drivers. If a bus, truck or car did not hit whoever was sitting recumbent in the C5, then at the very least that rider would get their lungs filled with exhaust.

Restored Sinclair C5 for sale
Photo: eBay.co.uk / red--leader
Needless to say, the fact that the unveiling took place on a January day, on top of a hill with ice and snow on the road, did not help. The media savaged the electric trike, and Sinclair with it. At the time, confident that the C5 was the future and estimating a production of 100,000 units for the first year and 500,000 after that, Sir Sinclair already had 14,000 units built, boxed and ready to ship.

By August that same year, Sinclair Vehicles was entered into receivership and officially pronounced a failure. Not even the low price of the trike, of just £399 ($544), helped to drum up interest. Of those 14,000 units, only some 5,000 were sold during production, and many were returned to the factory with issues. Before closing this disastrous chapter of his life, Sir Sinclair tried to sell the EV outside of the UK, thinking that the negative media reception was partially responsible for the lack of interest. Safety bodies from all the countries he tried to expand to responded the same way: putting such a vehicle on the road, as it was, was beyond dangerous. It was criminal.

And that much was true. The C5 was ahead of its time in terms of approach to personal mobility in the city, but it was also terrible because it failed to take into account safety issues. It felt like a rushed job, though considering Sir Sinclair lost £10 million ($14 million) on it, it was probably anything but. The only thing it had going in its favor was the fact that it was fun to ride for as long as it did ride, and that operating it was easy. It wasn’t enough.

Restored Sinclair C5 for sale
Photo: eBay.co.uk / ttocs06
Today, a Sinclair C5 can sell for as much as £5,000 ($6,820), since it’s attained cult status. Owners mod them to go faster and longer, or they restore them to original condition and show them off at meet-and-greets. A C5 is far from a symbol of status, but it is like a badge of honor for being positively cool, by owning a vehicle from an era before all these electric two- and three-wheelers became cool.

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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