The Rover Spiritual was set to be the car that would take over from the ancient Rover Metro and take Rover back into the heart of mass producing small cars, which was essentially its bread and butter.
The Spiritual concept broke free at the Geneva Auto Show way back in the spring of 1997, Rover were eager to go for something radical and new, whilst Rovers owners at the time BMW were aiming to remake the mini in modern form. Ultimately Rover changed hands, and BMW took the MINI concept with them, but the Spiritual concept stayed on, probably in a dusty corner of Longbridge under two inches of dirt.
It appears that Spiritual concept seems to have come back from the dead in the form of the Roewe E1 concept sedan, although the Spiritual was going to have its engine under the drivers seat, the E1 is going to have an electric motor in roughly the same place. The Spiritual and the E1 do share a common element, they are both attempting to redefine the way we drive and assert bold new designs into a new era of automotive. The Spirtual was going to be a 21st century car with a focus on it being light weight, yet roomy and a good drive as the original mini, the E1 is focusing on being an entirely new electric car which from what we hear is not actually all that far from being put into production.
TURBOII030
中国首款私人纯电动车挂牌上路
今年将是私人新能源车元年
1月23日，中国首辆面向私人市场量产的纯电动车——荣威E50正式挂牌上路。当天上午，在位于上海国际汽车城的新能源汽车展厅，市民钱先生从经销商手中接过荣威E50的车钥匙，成为荣威E50的全球首位车主，同时他还免费领到了上海市首块新能源汽车专属私车牌照。在此之前，全国范围内虽有纯电动车挂牌上路，但大都面向出租及公交领域。
两级补贴+免费牌照
据了解，荣威E50纯电动汽车于去年11月正式上市，其市场指导价为23.49万元，在享受国家和上海市政府的两级补贴后，终端售价仅12.8万元，此外更可免费获得上海市新能源汽车专属的私车牌照。2013年1月，上海市的私车牌照拍牌价已达到7.5万元，二手车牌突破了8万元大关，购买荣威E50纯电动汽车可免费获得上海私车牌照的政策对于广大上海市民有着巨大的吸引力。
http://auto.sina.com.cn/news/2013-01-29/08121098779.shtml
售价23.49万元 荣威E50电动车正式上市
荣威E50正式上市。该车是一款纯电动汽车，在充满电之后它的续航里程为180公里，而充电方式上，该车有快慢两种，慢充可用家用220V插座充电，而快充可在30分钟内将电池充满80%。另据悉，新车将拥有3年或8万公里的整车质保期，其电池组的质保时间则为5年或10万公里。价格方面，荣威E50售价23.49万元。
动力：拥有47kW的电动机，最大续航里程190公里
动力方面，荣威E50电动车采用最大功率为64马力（47kW）的电动机驱动，最高时速可达130公里/小时，续航里程最高为180公里，对于这种小型电动车而言，这样的续航里程表现还是比较抢眼的。
SAIC Roewe E50 pure electric makes Chinese market debut SAIC’s brand new Roewe E50 pure electric car made it Chinese market debut this week, Gasgoo.com (Chinese) reported today. The Roewe E50, which is SAIC’s newest own brand model, is priced at 234,900 yuan ($37,349). The Roewe E50 (pictured) can be driven for a total of 180 km on one charge. The car has two charging options, the faster of which can recharge 80 percent of the battery in just thirty minutes. The E50 is covered by a three year or 80,000 km warranty. The car’s battery, meanwhile, come with a… Read more »