Sure, the Tesla roadster is not for everybody, but it is a car that appeals to the early adopter community, and makes headlines outside of its niche. Both of those things are very important for a nascent technology like EVs.

Also, be sure to check out the comments for some other electric vehicles that they don’t have in their 17.

Sounds like the primary reason for these cars being made is to help meet California’s zero-emissions vehicle mandate, but the official line is that it will help BMW understand more about electric vehicles. Shame it is just 500, but let’s hope they are just the first 500 of many.

Unlike the Tesla, the X1 is still a one-of-a-kind proof of concept vehicle that is not available for purchase. Whereas the Tesla gets its chassis design, and some other components, from Lotus, the X1 gets its chassis from another British car company: Ariel. Based on the Ariel Atom design, the look of the X1 is a little different too, bearing more of a resemblance to track racing cars or some of the classic British kit car designs like the Caterham 7.

Both cars use powertrain technology from AC Propulsion, although Tesla licensed the technology and built their own solution incorporating it whereas the X1 uses a solution directly from AC Propulsion. (AC Propulsion had its own concept electric vehicle too, first created over 10 years ago, the tZero).

So, there are a number of pure electric cars out there that are more fun than a golf cart, but just how much fun? Well, the X1 numbers look like this:

• 0-30 mph: 1.35 sec
• 0-60 mph: 3.07 sec in 117 ft
• 0-100 mph: 6.87 sec
• 0-100-0 mph 11.2 sec
• Range: over 100 miles

The Tesla claims a 0-60 mph time of under 4 seconds, top speed of 125 mph and a range of about 220 miles. Oh, and both have equivalent mpg numbers that would put even a Prius to shame: 170 mpge for the X1 and over 250 mpge for the Tesla!