CityCom CityEl
Nov 18th, 2006 by aminorjourney
In November 2006 we were lucky enough to stumble across a fantastic single-seat EV for sale on ebay. It went under the name of the “Flying Banana” and was a CityCom CityEl. It was originally powered by 36V worth of lead acid cells and was good for 35 mph and a 25-35 mile range on flat roads, but in Bristol, where we live, we struggled to get more than about 20 miles out of it. We therefore decided to upgrade it to Lithium Ion power and are hoping we can get 45mph and a range of at least 45 miles out of it!. 
Despite it’s diminutive size and three wheels the CityEl is actually a very stable car to drive. With no gears to worry about the it’s an absolute joy to drive in traffic and even easier to maintain. We both love driving it and are so happy that we spotted this rare and fun car on ebay.
There are only a few of these in the UK but in Germany (where the car is now currently made) they are a fairy common sight. Never intended for the open road the CityEl is used as a simple, cheap commuter car. Ours adds fun with a soft-top. There’s nothing better than being terribly British and driving in sub-zero temperatures with the roof off, the sun shining and thick gloves and hat on, although people do tend to stare a lot!
Probably one of the more novel electric cars you’re likely to see driving around a CityElis not the car to own if you hate attention as almost everyone asks about it and jaws inevitably drop when you lift the hood to get out.
This particular car was owned by Fyffes fruit company who used it as a static promotional vehicle. Luckily for us this means that despite the car being over eight years old it had less than 715 miles on the clock when we brought it. It’s probably also why we had a few teething problems with it in the first week. Fortunately for us the car is very simple so there isn’t much that can go wrong!
Owners all over Europe have played with the MiniEl and there are reports of a couple of cars which do well over 50 mph. Having gone downhill in ours at 50mph we think that’s probably all anyone would want to do in it - but then again, it was good fun!
You can see the CityEl around Bristol (Nikki uses it as her company car and ‘MeriKate occasionally drives it to work) and at the monthly BEVOB meets. You can always come and have a little drive!
Nikki and Kate Gordon-Bloomfield (aminorjourney and K8ing)
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[...] Nikki and Kate turned up with their little CityCom MiniEl as did Martin and his wife with their Reva. (You can read more about both cars by clicking on the names of each car.) [...]
[...] took a week to complete, totalling about 40 hours of work, but Nikki and Kate Gordon-Bloomfield’s City El is finally back on the road complete with 43 Volts of Lithium Ion batteries in the battery [...]