Electric wheels in motion

Lawrence Tomlinson has just returned from winning a 24-hour race at Silverstone and he's elated though a little tired. It's not just his driving skills that have passed the test. He was behind the wheel of a car which he invented, designed and built, one of a five-man team driving a Ginetta G40 launched earlier this year.

A previous winner at Le Mans, Lawrence did not take up racing until his late thirties. The 46 year-old now has had plenty of experience of tearing down a straight at 200mph, so why would he want to spend so much of his time working on another car which is only half as quick? Called the G50 EV it has interesting qualities not evident from the outside. It's what is under the bonnet which matters, or rather what isn't. These hot wheels are electric. The G50 EV is not a hybrid but an all-electric vehicle. And before you think disparagingly of golf carts and milk floats, bear in mind that it has been given the thumbs-up by experts both for its speed and practicality. Just plug in with a normal three-pin plug and an overnight charge will give this sports-style two-seater the legs to cover 200 miles. Lawrence uses it to commute from his home in the Washburn Valley to the Ginetta factory just east of Leeds at Garforth.

It looks a winner both to petrol heads and green campaigners. George Osborne, then the Shadow Chancellor, thought so too when he visited the factory earlier this year. But since he came into power, silence. "He said to us: 'This is exactly the kind of thing a new Government should be supporting'," says Lawrence. "He seems to have changed his tune now."

That seems a pity since Lawrence has ideas about wealth creation – and the evidence to show they can work – which seem worth backing.

"For me, as an engineer, I just wanted to find out what the truth was about electric cars and whether it was possible to produce this kind of car," he says. "The prototype works extremely well, but we haven't received any Government funding. I genuinely believe there is a huge future for electric cars. But quite simply, we need funding and support to take it further.

"The US government has just given two of their companies not much short of a billion dollars for development. As an individual, I can't go head-to-head with a US company that's been given that kind of money. Our main bread and butter business is constructing good value custom-built race cars and selling them all over the world. So I am not going to take a financial risk on just one car.

"If we get funding, however, I am sure we could achieve a lot. I don't need a billion: I'd struggle to spend 10m in development costs."

Lawrence drove it down the Mall in an eco-rally in London organised by Prince Charles. With Formula One racing star John Surtees at the wheel it was the first car to be driven under the Channel to mark Eurotunnel's 15th anniversary. "What we are doing with the electric car is to keep other manufacturers honest," says Lawrence. "There are people who would like you to believe it isn't possible. Well, we keep turning up with the G50 EV and saying, 'Here's one!'

"We are never going to go into mass production with the EV. It will appeal to people who want an electric car that's at the higher end of the market in terms of performance."

The magazine Autocar tested the G50 EV and were impressed. "But it's a working prototype so the fit and finish isn't what you would get on one of our production cars," says Lawrence. "It was built to prove the technology works."

His Ginetta G40 is an affordable race car for the road, 300 of which are produced and sold to customers all over the world each year.

The former Batley Grammar School boy is a refreshingly straight-talking Yorkshire businessman with ideas worth hearing. Eton College recently invited this successful engineer, designer, innovator and philanthropic entrepreneur to talk to its pupils about them. He has an estimated personal wealth of 400m and in these recessionary times his companies are going from strength to strength.

They operate under an umbrella called LNT Group and include care homes, industrial chemicals, business software, babies' bottles and designer fashion goods.

"We have just opened our latest home in Batley and we are just as proud of that as of winning the 24-hour race," says Lawrence.

All his employees are shareholders with a minimum of 600 shares, each share paying an annual dividend of about 1. The companies now have 1,000 employees, with anticipated growth in the coming year of a further 500. "We want people to feel that it's their company," says Lawrence. "I can't do it all myself."

He has dispensed with board meetings. "These now consist of me meeting the people working on a particular site once a month. I get to see all the site managers and we have croissants and bacon sandwiches and chat fairly informally. Since we have been doing this, I think we have saved hundreds of thousands of pounds just through my listening to what people have to say. Everything is minuted and things get done."

Lawrence demonstrated his entrepreneurial flair in his early twenties. He raised the money to buy his parents' care home and then rapidly acquired several more. "It's a philanthropic model. We find the sites, we do the design, planning and building and fitting out through the mechanical and electrical part of the business, then all the management. We work on the principle of making homes with no more than 64 beds. We want to give the highest level of care and personal service.

"For each care home we open we get up to 1,500 applications for 20 jobs. Lydgate Lodge in Batley is the latest and it's almost like walking into a beautifully fitted out, yet homely, hotel. The living space is built around communal areas and there is always plenty of outside space. "

Lawrence's philosophy is that you have to spend money in order to earn money. Much of that cash is spent on research. Developing de-icing fluid for car windscreens, for example, recently won them contracts to de-ice airport runways all over the world. Network Rail is buying their chemical to keep leaves off the line. "We just get on and solve problems," says Lawrence

Sleek, silent and ready to go

First Impressions – The exterior of the Ginetta G50 EV is sleek and aerodynamic. A two-seater with a leather interior it has a touch screen which runs everything – Lawrence wanted to keep the dashboard neat.

How does it handle? The drive was very smooth and not at all slow, banishing recollections of being stuck behind a milk float with a dwindling battery. The car handles extremely well and from the outside is silent. This can be a problem on country lanes, Lawrence says – he has alarmed a few cyclists because they don't hear him coming. Inside, however, the prototype is still a bit noisy. Lawrence says the humming is from the power steering which could easily be cushioned, so that it would be virtually silent if the car were to go into production. It is quite a strange sensation when you stop at a junction and there's silence. Lawrence says you get used to it.

You can travel up to 200 miles on one charge and can reach speeds of up to 110mph ("apparently" says Lawrence with a smile) but can easily cruise at 80mph. The great thing is that every time you take the car out – if it is fully charged – you have a 200 mile range. He compares that to a petrol or diesel car when every morning, the tank is at a different level.

YP MAG 27/11/10