Editing Sinclair C5 (section)

===Sinclair's other electric vehicles===

Sinclair envisaged producing follow-up vehicles such as the C10, a two-seater city car, and the C15, a three-seater capable of travelling at {{convert|80|mph}}.<ref name="AK198">Adamson & Kennedy, p. 198</ref> As Wills put it at the launch event, "We're developing a family of traffic-compatible, quiet, economic and pollution-free vehicles for the end of the '80s." The C5 was described as "the baby of the family".<ref name="Dale165" /> The C10 was intended to be a city car, capable of carrying two passengers at up to {{convert|40|mph}} in a roofed but open-sided compartment with two wheels at the front and one at the back. Wood Rogers intended it to effectively be an updated version of the [[Isetta]], a 1960s Italian [[microcar]]. Sinclair built a full-scale mock-up of it; according to Wood Rogers, "it looked great. I specified open sides to keep the cost down and having no doors meant it escaped a lot of regulations too." The design is strikingly similar to the modern [[Renault Twizy]] electric vehicle; Wood Rogers comments that "you could put the C10 into production today and it would still look contemporary."<ref name="Burton102">Burton, p. 102</ref>

At the time of the C5's launch, Sinclair described the C15 as having "a futuristic design with an elongated 'tear-drop' shape, a lightweight body made of self-coloured polypropylene and a single, possibly 'roller' type rear wheel".<ref name="AK198"/> It would have been launched at the 1988 International Motor Show in Birmingham following a development programme costed at £2 million. Unlike the relatively conventional technology used in the C5, Sinclair intended to use [[Sodium–sulfur battery|sodium sulphur batteries]] with four times the power-to-weight ratio of lead–acid batteries to give the C15 much greater speed and range – over {{convert|180|mi}} on a single charge. It would have had approximately the same dimensions as a conventional small car, measuring {{convert|3.5|m}} long, {{convert|1.35|m}} high, and {{convert|1.35|m}} wide.<ref>{{cite news|title=Car That the Sinclair C5 Led up a Cul-De-Sac|last=Cane|first=Alan|work=The Financial Times|page=14|date=30 September 1986}}</ref> However, it could only have worked if sodium sulphur batteries had realised their promise. In the event they did not, the project could not continue, due to thermal problems.<ref name="Burton102" /> Neither the C10 nor the C15 ever left the drawing board.<ref name="AK198" />

Although Sinclair went on to produce more (but much smaller) electric vehicles (including the [[Sinclair Zike]] in 1992) the C5 debacle did lasting damage to the reputation of subsequent EVs in the UK, which the media routinely compared to the C5. It was not until a highly regarded manufacturer, [[Toyota]], launched a serious and well-received vehicle in the 1990s, the [[Toyota Prius|Prius]], that the C5 "jinx" was finally laid to rest.<ref name="Burton">Burton, pp. 106–7</ref>

In 2017 Sir Clive's nephew Grant Sinclair presented what he called an updated version of the Sinclair C5 called the Iris eTrike.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://newatlas.com/sinclar-c5-updated-iris-etrike/47966/|title=Clive Sinclair's nephew creates a C5 for today|website=newatlas.com|date=18 February 2017 |access-date=2 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/watch-its-not-sinclair-c5-12611052|title=Iris eTrike 2017's answer to the Sinclair C5?|first=Chris|last=Elliott|date=15 February 2017|website=Cambridge-news.co.uk|access-date=2 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-38960275/can-modern-incarnation-of-c5-succeed|title=Can modern incarnation of C5 succeed?|date=15 February 2017|access-date=2 September 2017|website=Bbc.co.uk}}</ref>