Buying a car anywhere isn’t cheap (except maybe for India), though there is a growing market for cheap transportation in an increasingly expensive world. It is notoriously expensive to buy a new car in Europe, though a small electric car company plans to launch a $12,000 city EV sometime in 2015, and if such a car can succeed anywhere, it’s Europe.
The Colibri is a German-built electric car with a goal-price of just 8,831 euros, or about $12,000 U.S., as well as a $74 monthly battery rental fee. Equipped with a tiny 6 kWh battery pack, the Colibri is strictly a city commuter, with room for a single person and a few bags of groceries. Weighing in at less than a thousand pounds, the Colibri claims a range of 68 miles per charge, and can scoot from 0 to 60 mph in less than 10 seconds. Despite its size, the designers claim it can comfortably fit people up to 6 feet 3 inches tall.
While the top speed is limited to 74 mph, most drivers probably won’t even come close to maxing out this miniscule EV. A full charge takes just two hours from a Level 2 charger, and you can supposedly squeeze two of these tiny cars into a normal parking space. There are no plans to sell the Colibri in the U.S., and a planned 2014 launch date was pushed back to 2015.
Though a car seems difficult to find a market for, Europe’s best-selling EV is similarly designed and priced. I am talking about the Renault Twizy, which doesn’t even have a fully-closed cockpit, but has found plenty of urban buyers looking for an alternative to mass transit. If the Colibri makes it to market, it could find a decent following, though America is still many years (and much higher gas prices) from embracing such a small, limited-use vehicle.
Source: Plug-in Cars
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