Zoomi Life

While all the big automakers have been touting their coming-soon plug-in hybrids - you’d have to be under a rock not to have heard of the Chevy Volt or the Toyota Prius Plugin - a little-known automaker is getting set to quietly release the first mass-produced, inexpensive all-electric car onto the US market.

You’ve probably never heard of BG (Be Green) Automotive Group. Neither had I until I came across their website. But apparently this relatively unknown company is about to pull off a feat that the Big 9 haven’t been able to do - introduce a mass-produced electric car with all the safety features and accessories of a regular car, and offer it for under $20,000.

To be fair, the C100 can’t do everything a regular car can. The C100 is rated as a low-speed vehicle (Also as a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle) and is thus electronically limited to a maximum speed of 45mph - so you won’t be taking this car on the freeway. Depending on your local laws, your legal maximum top speed might even be lower - check your DMV for laws for NEV’s in your local area.

However, the C100 looks and is manufactured with many of the same specs as any other vehicle - the C100 is a four door, five passenger vehicle with dual airbags, climate control, a CD stereo, power locks and windows and even has an option for an in-dash iPhone. Depending on the package, the C100 will cost you between $16k and $18k.

The C100 has a range of about 60-120 miles depending on the battery configuration you choose at purchase, and charges from any 110/220V outlet. No details are currently provided on recharge time, but we’ll guess and assume it’s going to be the standard 4-8 hours.

The C100 is also no slouch on safety. While many other NEV’s amount to nothing more than electric-powered go-karts, the C100 exceeds all DOT/NHTSA requirements for safety.

BG’s website is still very sparse on additional details, but you can visit them here and get on their mailing list. They are due to release an official brochure for the C100 any day now.

If BG can keep its promises and make the C100 available for sale in 2009, we might be seeing the start of an electric car revolution and a classic case of David-beats-Goliath. If an unknown like BG can pull this off, how many other companies are there out there right now in stealth-mode coming up with the next Prius killer?

Check out the BG website here, and check out a video of the C100 in action below: