My wife used to drive a for2 and as she is not tall there was definatly enough space dehind the seats for a foot well. You coud put a simple small back seat in (it would have to be removable to have access to the old ICE engine space) and it would be no less safe than a G-Wiz but I am not sure I would want my kids that close to the back of the car.

 

I think the iMiev's boot floor is a bit high to become the rear seat base, which is effectively what would happen.
I don't like to think about seatbelt mountings in that scenario.

Also, someone already made a life size Little Tikes car

 

if you cut the back off an iMiev it would be very slow, as that's where the motor, inverter, charger etc. live.

 

Being in car design all my life the idea of cutting and shutting a car never works.
Is the IMiev the smallest car? I take it you are just looking for a two seater?
I often see the two seater Smart car and think that would make a good city electric car, I think they may have an electric version but not available in the UK.
I love the idea of a small electric city car

 

I love the idea of a small electric city car

This is the classic electric car stereotype, typified by the doomed THINK car. The problem is that it tends not to mesh with the fact that urban dwellers mostly live in flats or terraced houses without access to off-road parking or charging facilities. Sadly EVs are best suited for suburban or rural transport. The distances involved in a city car are best travelled by public transport or bicycle.

 

Smart fortwo EV, there are a few floating around the UK, especially with London dealers - they never really sold all that well range was a little too compromised for the UK commute.

 

When I went into the Dealer in Southampton, by the Airport, he looked at me as if I was a Martian. He was only interested in cars that had added carbon fibre and loud exhausts, even though he was the designated Smart salesman.

 

Smart dealers are very hit and miss, I ended up using one miles away from the local to me when I had my fortwo. Although it was quite funny I always got better seemed to get better service than the idiots with E class AMGs, in fact one time they had given said idiot a loaner Smart because he did loads of damage to the E class loaner, so I ended up with a nice AMG for a couple of days

 

An i-MIEV is only 3.4 metres long. I can't see what advantage you'd really get by making it shorter. It certainly wouldn't be feasible in the slightest. Even ignoring the hardware issues, it'd have to go through an IVA test and be a Q plate because you're substantially modifying a monocoque structure.

As mentioned, Smart EV is the sensible short option at 2.7m, but you'd never legally get a rear seat in one. A Toyota IQ is only 40cm shorter than an i-MIEV.

 

Hi Roland, I really have one comment, Why?
If the G-wiz does what is needed for now why not continue to use it until it dies a death. A cut and shut job on i-MIEV seems a great deal of work if you already have most of what is required. In a few years , or even months, you may be able to locate a suitable 'off the shelf' car from elsewhere in the world.

 

As you say in the original post, another issue would be the battery - it takes up pretty much all of the space below the floor between the wheels - if you shorten the wheelbase, then you'd have to reduce the size of the battery pack. I would guess that would be a "non-trivial" operation, and of course would reduce the range.

 

Thanks for all comments.
One of the criteria was a 4 seater. The G-Wiz - although lethal - has a small back seat where i can squeeze in my kids.
I might have a closer look at the ForTwo - In my mind it would be too small to stick a back seat in. Also would have to see where a belt could be attached. The waist belt of yesteryear - are they legal on new cars these days?

Barry: In all honesty (albeit raining on my parade) you are probably right. Seeing as the EV market has started to pick up speed - I might be better off sticking with the G-Wiz and wait for the right car to come on the market. Probably goes hand in hand with battery tech. If the low number of production series had poor sales partly due to market not being mature enough for EVs as well as poor range - then with some luck we might see a fully blown production and improved sales of an electric Toyota IQ or similar micro EV with an acceptable range.

In which case I'm back researching for a super Li-on battery pack that would give me decent range and not rapidly loose umpf once charge goes below 50% like on the lead-acid (not mentioning winter driving..).

 

In my mind it would be too small to stick a back seat in

Unless the passenger is a suitcase, your not going to get any more seats in.

 

Unless you've worked out how to stop your kids growing, you're going to need a longer car at some point in the future.

 

Lets hope the car and battery industry works fast then

 

I'd be recommending a Zoe tbh.

 

If you don't like the imiev then consider e-up, actually longer than Imiev but more chance your kids will survive a crash than in a gwiz.

 

A follow up to brighten your day!
This is what you can buy in India, off the shelf, you could incorporate a test drive into a family holiday.
Mahindra e2o – Driven by Goodness .It even has a Phone App. and is filled with Goodness.
Probably not yet ready for UK city streets, I don't see that it has the certificates for European roads , but I expect that will change as the market expands.
Just one example of what is out there. Good hunting.

 

@BarryP - Mahindra have said in the past they specifically intend to bring the an improved e2o to the UK, but the timescale has gone of the window, and no further news from Mahindra themselves - so I don't see us getting any new micro-EVs soon.

In Roland's case, if 4-seat head-on parking is an essential requirement, best bet would be to get a Li-ion G-wiz, or convert one. There was a G-wiz model with Li-ion batteries (Revai Lion) but I don't think many made it over here. There was also conversion kit available for lead-acid AC drive G-wiz models, and several owners also did conversions themselves, so I imagine that (and tweaking the suspension at bit to compensate for lower weight and soften/refine the ride) would be a simpler route to go down.

 

Why does it have to be so small? If space is that tight and range is not an issue, I would think a bike would be a better bet. Bike and sidecar even.