G-Wiz gets some safety upgrades, still not a car

The Indian-built G-Wiz has come under some scrutiny in recent months in the UK for it's apparent lack of safety. After Top Gear commissioned a standard 40 mph offset frontal crash test, people began to realize that these vehicles could have serious issues in crashes at even moderate speeds. The G-Wiz is classed as a quadri-cycle in Europe meaning that it's largely exempt from safety standards much like three-wheeled Zap Xebras are in the U.S. Unfortunately most buyers see these and other electric vehicles and assume they meet the same rules as "real" cars without realizing they are not even close.

GoinGreen, the UK importer of the G-Wiz, has announced that manufacturer Reva Electric Car Company has upgraded the car for 2008. Reva collaborated with Lotus Engineering to beef up the structure of the car with more front and side impact protection. They also added a "creep" feature to allow the car to hold its position without rolling backward on a hill. Performance of the car has also been improved with the range extended to 48 miles and acceleration enhanced. Space for two adults remains marginal. You can see the video of the crash test after the jump.

[Source: BusinessGreen.com, thanks to Domenick for the tip]

The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience.