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Electric Tricycle Replica Review: Super Enlightening, Mildly Terrifying

I'm an advocate for electric cars needing to get back to basics. There's no need to be running off, sticking in 56-inch touchscreens, or making the EV larger than a small European state. Really, one of the things we should be working on is taking existing chassis, finding ways to quickly convert them to EVs, and worrying about all the fancy stuff later. Nothing new under the sun and all that, which is how I found myself driving a converted motor tricycle from 140 years ago through the British countryside.

Two weeks ago, journalist Jeremy Hart got in touch with me and asked me if I wanted to drive a replica of an EV from 1881. The answer, obviously, was yes. Nothing on earth could be more my jam than this. Once I'd worked out if it was legal for me to actually leave my house and drive something under the U.K.'s lockdown restrictions, I was straight on the train to Surrey to have a go in a remake of what was very probably the first-ever vehicle with a rechargeable battery.