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B&N Plastics began production on 30th April 2001 in Suffolk. (UK) Under license to Reliant Cars Ltd the company started to manufacture the Reliant Robin under its new name; the Reliant Robin BN-1. The new Robin BN-1’s whilst sharing many of the features found in Reliant’s vehicles had many new features including a reengineered gearbox and axle for increased power along with a completely new interior. The vehicle strongly followed Reliant’s original and Reliant provided the running chassis. This consisted of an 850cc aluminium air-cooled engine attached to a galvanised chassis giving the Robin BN-1 a fuel economy of around 80 mpg. The body of the vehicle is made from fibreglass as in the original and was officially launched on July 12th 2001.
On the same day a Robin BN-2 was also announced which is finished in light reactive paint so that the vehicle changes colour. This was also the first Reliant Robin in history to feature electric windows and CD player as standard. A small handful of these new vehicles were shipped to Reliant dealers in January 2002. In July 2002 the company announced plans to make an electric powered Robin that would have a range of 50 miles between charges and a top speed of 50 - 55 mph. Due to various problems production of all vehicles was put on hold in October 2002.
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