Story By: Natasha Spasovska, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash

The inventor of the iconic British Enfield 8000 – an innovative electric car unveiled in 1973 – has died aged 80.

Constantinos Adraktas was the head of a team of Greek and British engineers who designed the electric car, developed in the UK by the Isle of Wight-based Enfield Automotive company.

After its unveiling, production moved to Syros in Greece where only 120 of the vehicles were ever built, with over half sold to electricity companies in the UK.

Adraktas disagreed with the transfer of the Enfield 8000 production from Britain to Greece, and resigned when he was ignored.

The Enfield 8000 used lead-acid batteries to power an 8 bhp (6 kW) electric motor with a top speed of 48 mph (77 kph) and a range of around 40 miles (64 km).

At the time, Adraktas was the chairman and managing technical director of Enfield Automotive.

He was born in Athens on 24th February 1940, and after studying at the University of Ohio in the US he went on to become an MIT graduate.

He worked for NASA before creating the small two-seat electric car that boasted a tiny luggage compartment behind the passenger seat and a unique aerodynamic structure.

His death was announced by Vassilis Apostolopoulos, CEO of the Athens Medical Group, who said on Facebook: “A while ago, a great Greek mind passed away silently. Constantinos Adraktas, the inventor of, among other things, the first modern electric car Enfield.”

He added: “The deceased was a friend of my father, and then he became mine in London during my student years. We had a great relationship of sympathy and appreciation.

“A graduate of MIT in astronomy and astronautics, he worked for NASA and I personally rate him as the man with the highest IQ I have ever known.”

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