Asking for a school project; if someone were to develop a medium speed vehicle (35 mph and under) for the American market would people be interested in purchasing cars like this, and at what price bracket? What would be the faults? What form? (Truck, Wagon, SUV, Hot Hatch, etc.)
Medium Speed Vehicle
1 - 20 of 37 Posts
An Interesting take on the French voiturette legislation that allows people without licences (14 YO and DUI banned) to drive restricted lightweight cars. The modern EV incarnation is the Renault Twizzy.
For a lot of city dwellers 35 MPH is all that they can achieve on the school or shopping run, so a practical limited performance version makes sense.
Could I have painted wood panels down the side?
For a lot of city dwellers 35 MPH is all that they can achieve on the school or shopping run, so a practical limited performance version makes sense.
Could I have painted wood panels down the side?
That is an interesting question, Ekoa or Flax would certainly work in the case of some obscure unibody construction
Most of our members live in the UK. We have a handful of Americans and citizens of other countries.
I am an American expat living in the UK. I thought about a 13kW(17hp) Twizy here in Wales but decided against it.
Why: Questionable safety. No heat. Too hard to get to-from Renault dealer for service or warrany repairs. Too expensive. When I considered one, Renault sold the car without batteries and you had to take an expensive battery rental from Renault. Renault now sell Twizy batteries included but a new Twizy is still about £12,500.
We are likely moving to north west Montana in a year or two. I would not consider a medium speed vehicle there.
20 miles each way to supermarket.
Rural highways in MT have 80mph speed limit.
Very cold in winter with snow.
Most people drive large pickup trucks.
Dirt roads. My mother in law's cabin is 7 miles down a dirt road.
If were were there now, I'd be choosing between Model 3 LR, Ford Mustang Mach E or Cybertruck.
==============================
Renault sell a low power Twizy in Europe. Twizy 45 has a 4kW motor and a 28mph speed limiter. This qualifies for various moped or no licence categories.
The high power Twizy sold EU/UK has a 13kW motor and a 50mph top speed. Here in the UK you need a regular drivers license for a Twizy.
Axiam make a range EVs that fall into the French licence free category. They are(were?) sold here in the UK. There are a few hundred in the UK. You can search howmanyleft for numbers.
The SORN to licensed ratio of those Aixams is quite telling (one of them is mine and it’s awaiting repairs to the charging electronics!)Most of our members live in the UK. We have a handful of Americans and citizens of other countries.
I am an American expat living in the UK. I thought about a 13kW(17hp) Twizy here in Wales but decided against it.
Why: Questionable safety. No heat. Too hard to get to-from Renault dealer for service or warrany repairs. Too expensive. When I considered one, Renault sold the car without batteries and you had to take an expensive battery rental from Renault. Renault now sell Twizy batteries included but a new Twizy is still about £12,500.
We are likely moving to north west Montana in a year or two. I would not consider a medium speed vehicle there.
20 miles each way to supermarket.
Rural highways in MT have 80mph speed limit.
Very cold in winter with snow.
Most people drive large pickup trucks.
Dirt roads. My mother in law's cabin is 7 miles down a dirt road.
If were were there now, I'd be choosing between Model 3 LR, Ford Mustang Mach E or Cybertruck.
==============================
Renault sell a low power Twizy in Europe. Twizy 45 has a 4kW motor and a 28mph speed limiter. This qualifies for various moped or no licence categories.
The high power Twizy sold EU/UK has a 13kW motor and a 50mph top speed. Here in the UK you need a regular drivers license for a Twizy.
Axiam make a range EVs that fall into the French licence free category. They are(were?) sold here in the UK. There are a few hundred in the UK. You can search howmanyleft for numbers.
Joined
·
4,749 Posts
They're popular in some countries, I understand Scandinavian countries use to have quite a large following for such limited vehicles but then motorcycles and mopeds are impractical in their winters.
I wouldn't be interested. Outside of London, nearly every city in the UK is a short hop from the country side and 60mph NSL roads.
I wouldn't be interested. Outside of London, nearly every city in the UK is a short hop from the country side and 60mph NSL roads.
Disclaimer.... not American.
Something small, light, cheap, speed limited but quick off the mark, dry and warm could be useful for cities. The challenge is limited appeal. You lose the ability to weave through the traffic that two wheels offers, make it large enough for the school run and you may as well have a ‘normal’ car which loses the size benefit. Then there’s the matter of whether someone who is only going to travel at 35mph would be better off using public transport anyway.
Something small, light, cheap, speed limited but quick off the mark, dry and warm could be useful for cities. The challenge is limited appeal. You lose the ability to weave through the traffic that two wheels offers, make it large enough for the school run and you may as well have a ‘normal’ car which loses the size benefit. Then there’s the matter of whether someone who is only going to travel at 35mph would be better off using public transport anyway.
Aptera are back. Their car will have much broader apeal then a medium speed vehicle. The real question is will they manage to come to production this time or will they fail again.
$25,900 with 250 mile range. 0-60mph in 5.5 seconds.
Options for 400 to 1000 mile range higher performance. Enough solar cells to put 15-36 miles of range back in the pack on a sunny day.
$25,900 with 250 mile range. 0-60mph in 5.5 seconds.
Options for 400 to 1000 mile range higher performance. Enough solar cells to put 15-36 miles of range back in the pack on a sunny day.
They are the American Riversimple - it will never happen.
Aptera don't have a good record. They tried before and failed completely.
The biggest difference is Aptera aren't using fuel cells. Their design has more promise than Riversimple.
We shouldn't hijack this thread. .....
Joined
·
1,110 Posts
Hot Hatch sort of means that 'medium speed' is not really in the right format.
The definition of 'hot hatch' is a rather powerful hatchback, lightweight and responsive, like the old Peugeot 205GTi, VW Golf GTi. If it only goes fast up to 35mph, it's not really anything like a hot hatch.
Is there a hot hatch EV?
Peugeot e208 GT has the same motor as all the versions. 7.8s 0-60
BMW i3s ? 6.9s 0-62
Tesla M3 Performance 3.1s 0-60
I suppose the Model 3 but calling it a hot hatch doesn't feel right.
Peugeot e208 GT has the same motor as all the versions. 7.8s 0-60
BMW i3s ? 6.9s 0-62
Tesla M3 Performance 3.1s 0-60
I suppose the Model 3 but calling it a hot hatch doesn't feel right.
Joined
·
1,301 Posts
What was the tiny city car George Clooney had?
Joined
·
6,237 Posts
Joined
·
5,746 Posts
Plenty of cars that are incredible to own ... But many are incredibly awful to live with.
Slower than a Twizy 
Does it matter, when the average speed of traffic in central London (for example) has dropped from 8mph to 7mph since 2008? 😋Slower than a Twizy
But it is legal (in France) for anyone over 14 to drive (including people who've lost their driving licence for... reasons).
1 - 20 of 37 Posts
