Range Rover‘s hybrid versions of its two big SUVs will make their public debut in September, though neither of the diesel-hybrid cars will be headed to US forecourts. Range Rover expects to show off the duo – the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport – in hybrid form at the Frankfurt Motor Show, chief programme engineer for RRS Stuart Frith told Car Sales Australia, with sales kicking off in Europe by the end of the year.
The hybrid will also be joined by a new V8 diesel, returning an SDV8 to the Range Rover Sport line-up. Meanwhile, a four-cylinder version is also teased, with 420kg of shed curb weight meaning that performance is still as perky as drivers would expect.
It’s the hybrid that is arguably the most interesting, however, building on Range Rover’s experimentation with the Range_e concept revealed back in early 2011. That car paired a 69kW electric motor and 14.2kWh lithium-ion battery with a 245PS 3.0-liter TDV6 diesel powerplant, and could be driven for 20 miles on battery power alone.
When the diesel lump kicked in, meanwhile, the Range_e was good for 89g/km CO2 with a fuel efficiency rating of 85mpg (Euro), while the battery could be topped up using a regular 240V outlet.
For the production RR/RRS Hybrid, the car company is aiming for 169g/km of CO2 with a diesel V6 engine. The batteries and the rest of the power system will be hidden under the floor, meaning internal space and luggage capacity will be unchanged, and is expected to feed power through a motor/generator that’s positioned in-between the regular engine and the 8-speed transmission.
However, the US won’t be getting either of those models, since Range Rover’s North American line-up is light on diesels. Instead, there are expected to be unspecified gas-electric hybrids taking similar approaches, though Range Rover is yet to confirm when they can be expected to go on sale.
Tesla has turned its Model S electric car up to eleven, launching a $6,500 upgrade for the hitherto top-spec Performance version which tightens on-road performance as well as slightly stretching range. The new Model S Performance Plus pack includes wider rear tires for boosted grip, and means the EV can run for 6-12 miles longer than the regular car.
The dampers, bushings, and stabilizer bars are all upgraded, while Tesla switches the tires to Michelin Pilot Sport PS2. They’re 20mm wider than the regular 21-inch wheels, as well as being staggered for an extra turn of acceleration.
“Performance Plus takes one of the world’s best sedans into supercar handling territory, while also improving ride quality and range” Tesla crows on its site, billing the Plus package as a no-lose option beyond the hit your wallet takes. “After hundreds of iterations affecting every detail of the suspension, our vehicle dynamics team was able to achieve the rare outcome of simultaneously improving performance, comfort and efficiency.”
According to a message sent to preorder customers, the Plus pack has bigger front and rear stabilizer bars for more predictable handling, and increased lateral stiffness in the rear suspension with springs and dampers that work more efficiently.
Turning your four-door electric car into an eco-friendly beast comes at a cost, however. First off you need to opt for the Performance Model S, which is $87,400 to begin with, and you also need to have specified the 21-inch high-performance tires, at a further $3,500. Then the Plus pack is $6,500 on top.
The political controversy around climate change is so divisive, conservatives are statistically less likely to buy light bulbs marked environmentally friendly compared to functionally-identical but differently branded alternatives, surprise new research suggests. Described as showing “the negative consequences of environmental messaging” according to lead study author Dena Gromet of the University of Pennsylvania, the research indicates a “good for the environment” sticker might not be the marketing gold some companies and retailers believe it to be.
The study, published this week, looked at stated buying intentions when a group of shoppers with mixed political views were presented with a range of bulbs. All chose the eco-friendly compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs when each of the options were priced the same, but when the eco-friendly bulbs carried a premium – just as is usually the case, compared to traditional incandescent bulbs – and a label billing them good for the environment, those who described their political beliefs as conservative were less likely to choose them compared to their more liberal counterparts.
“You can lose significant portions of people who would otherwise be interested in these products when you use that environmental labeling” Gromet told National Geographic. “So it indicates that different messages can reach different groups.”
The results are interesting, because all of the 210 participants in the study were previously given information on how a greater upfront price of CFL bulbs could still be offset by lower running costs and a longer lifespan compared to incandescent. That suggests cost was not the primary deciding factor for the conservatives turned off by eco-labels.
“When we asked afterward, those consumers identified the CFL bulbs as providing greater monetary savings over time. But they would forgo that option when that product was made to represent a value that was not something they wanted to be identified with” Dena Gromet, University of Pennsylvania
Nonetheless, there are also indications that a green message isn’t especially effective on those with liberal views either. Comparing those who stated an intention to buy more expensive CFL versus more expensive CFL with eco-labels, the numbers weren’t much different, Gromet pointed out.
One possibility is that the “green” message on products is generally mistrusted, either resulting in an active dislike – such as observed in conservative shoppers – or the promotion being ignored altogether. Future research will look at whether different emphasis on advantages of energy-efficient products, such as reduced ongoing bills, causes the same political divide.
Toyota has revealed a new EV concept that prioritizes flexibility, eco-concern, and easy damage repair, the ME.WE, cladding a simple aluminum sub-frame with easily interchanged polypropylene body panels. The electric car concept, designed in association with French firm Jean-Marie Massaud, can flip instantly between two- or four-wheel drive, thanks to an individual motor in each wheel, while the doors, bonnet, bumpers, wings, and other components can be switched out to suit different use-cases or to swiftly repair damage.
The core of the ME.WE is a structure made up of tubular aluminum, onto which Toyota and the design firm have predominantly applied two types of material. For the bulk of the shell that’s expanded polypropylene, which has the benefit of being lightweight as well as entirely recyclable; other surfaces, such as a panel under the windshield and across the roof, are bamboo, which is known for being highly-sustainable.
Toyota envisages different colors and textures of panels to be offered, encouraging drivers to switch over their car’s appearance at will. That’s something we’ve seen Smart offer on its city-car, though exactly how many owners actually take advantage of that – outside of making damage repairs – remains to be seen.
Inside, the bench seats are fixed on slender rails and can be moved around or laid flat; the rear bench can be folded and pushed under the front seats, increasing the bamboo-clad load area. Rather than have a permanently large trunk, the ME.WE uses a combination of flexible neoprene covers – which can stretch to accommodate things transported on the roof – and integrated webbing that keeps suitcases and the like in place.
As with any concept, the likelihood of Toyota actually putting the ME.WE into production is something we wouldn’t recommend holding your breath for. Nonetheless, the idea of shifting the electric motors into the wheels – rather than inboard, as per most EVs and hybrids – is one the car industry looks to be moving toward. Earlier this year, specialist Protean announced plans to mass-produce such a motor, which with clever software management could dynamically adjust the power to each wheel independently while also freeing up space in the cabin and chassis.
Nissan and New York have conspired together to bring 6 new electric taxis to the city today. The Nissan Leaf is the model for these taxis and it’s repainted to look right for the job. Nissan and New York worked together to launch these new electric taxis today in celebration of Earth Day. These taxis will test out the waters of New York to see if electric cars are equipped to take on the taxi world.
Nissan states that the Nissan Leaf taxis have a range of around 100 miles, making it more than enough to handle the average daily taxi route of 70 miles. Nissan and New York wants to see whether or not these taxis are fit to take on the demanding life of New York citizens, who are in constant demand of a taxi at every moment. Just in case these Nissan Leaf taxis are unable to survive the day with only one charge, Nissan has set up quick-charging stations around New York so drivers can recharge their taxis if need be.
These 6 new electric taxis are all part of New York’s Mayor Bloomberg’s goal of having electric taxis make up at least 33% of New York’s taxi cars by the year 2020. If the Nissan Leaf performs well as a taxi, then Bloomberg’s plans are well on their way to becoming a reality. David Yassky, the Taxi and Limousine Commissioner, stated that Nissan is “working on that timeline”, with both the Nissan Leaf and an electric version of Nissan’s NV 200.
The Nissan NV 200 is New York’s “Taxi of Tomorrow”, and is set to become the official taxi of New York. It was approved by the Taxi and Limousine Commission and it beat out several rivals for the position. While not electric, it will be much more fuel friendly than the entirety of the taxis in New York City. Nissan plans on launching the NV 200 by October this year, starting the 10-year agreement it has with New York to be the city’s official taxi provider.
Audi has become the first car manufacturer to have its LED headlights validated as contributing to fuel-economy, with the bulb alternatives shaving off over a gram of CO2 emissions per mile. The LED lights – which Audi uses on five models in its range, from the cheapest A3, through to the R8 coupe – were run through the EU Commission’s dynamometer and found to trim CO2 output by 1.61g/mile, as well as using less power than halogen lights.
A halogen lamp in low-beam mode, for instance, demands 135W of power, Audi points out. In contrast, the German company’s LED lights need around 80W, and the firm uses LEDs for the low-beam, high-beam, and license plate lamps.
The testing specifically looked at the Audi A6, with the EU putting the car through ten NEDC cycles. “As a result,” Audi says, “the EU Commission has officially identified the LED headlights as an innovative technology for reducing CO2 emissions.” It’s the first time a car manufacturer has been certified in this way.
However, not all of Audi’s cars come with the same system, nor indeed with the same amount of LEDs. The A3 has just nineteen to play with, switching between low- and high-beam modes; a separate module handles all-weather and cornering lights. In the A8 luxury sedan, however, there are 76 LEDs in each lamp unit.
It’s not Audi’s first flirtation with headlamp tech potential. Earlier this year it revealed its work on so-called Matrix LED lights, which pair LEDs with reflectors and lenses that are computer controlled to react to the surrounding environment. Data from sensors, cameras, and GPS are crunched, and the output of the lights – in addition to even the angle they project at – is adjusted according to daylight conditions, oncoming traffic, upcoming bends, and more.
Matrix LED headlights are expected to arrive on select Audi models before the end of the year, though the company isn’t the only one to be thinking hard about how LEDs make sense in cars. The 2014 Corvette Stingray, for instance, uses special down-firing LEDs and light-guides to blend the output into solid lines of light, rather than leave it as the individual points of brightness as on an Audi.
Tesla has scrapped plans for a small battery version of its Model S all-electric car, claiming tiny driver interest makes the 40 kWh variant uneconomical for production. Only 4-percent of Model S buyers opted for the cheaper Model S, which started at $52,400, Tesla said in a statement today, along with the revelation that stronger than expected deliveries means the firm will make a full profit in Q1 2013. Those who went for the cheapest Model S rung will still get a car, though, borrowing the 60 kWh power pack from the $62,400 version, albeit with a software cap on range.
Even though the car will have a bigger battery than expected – good for 230 miles at 55mph, rather than the 160 miles of the smaller version – it won’t deliver that full range. Instead, Tesla will artificially cap the cheaper Model S using software.
Despite that, there are still some advantages to the strategy, including the ability to “upgrade” the car at some point in the future. Tesla will allow range-loving owners to pay to unlock the extra 20 kWh of potential in the power pack, at any point in the car’s lifetime. Meanwhile, acceleration will also improve, with the software-limited variant matching the 5.9s 0-60mph time of the 60 kWh car, a 0.6s improvement on what customers had been expecting.
It’s not the only bonus Tesla has announced today. The company has also been quietly baking its Supercharger hardware into the 60 kWh Model S, which means that those who later decide to pay to use Tesla’s growing network of cross-US high speed charging points won’t have to have equipment retro-fitted to their car. Previously, the Supercharger tech was only installed by default on the 85 kWh model; it’s a $2,000 option on the 60 kWh Model S.
For investors, though, it’s the big picture around Model S sales that will put the most smiles on faces today. Tesla has confirmed that deliveries of cars this quarter will exceed 4,750, up 250 on the estimates the company previously announced. The result is full-profitability in Q1, both GAAP and non-GAAP, Tesla says, having previously confirmed that it would repay its Department of Energy loans five years early.
Meanwhile, there’s more news afoot. Headline-loving Tesla founder Elon Musk teased a big announcement this coming Thursday, and the car company tells us today’s profitability and Model S tweaking news isn’t it.
Electric cars generally settle into one of two camps: the outlandish, like Renault’s Twizy, or the discrete, like Nissan’s Note. The Mitsubishi i-MiEV, however, straddles both. Its “space jelly-bean” looks are certainly eye-catching, but they’re also borrowed wholesale from the regular gas-powered version available in Japan and Europe, rather than an EV flourish for its own sake. The i-MiEV is also one of the US’ cheapest EVs, though with prices starting at $21,625 (after tax incentives) it still commands a premium over more traditionally fuelled cars. Can the i-MiEV’s frugal charms win us over? Read on for the full SlashGear review.
Design and Interior
It’s not quite a Twizy, but the i-MiEV is certainly no wall-flower when it comes to Mitsubishi’s aesthetic. The tall, narrow body was intended for snapping down cramped Tokyo side-streets, but it makes for a car that catches more than its fair share of glances while you’re driving. Whether they’re admiring or bemused is unclear.
You still get four doors, however, and four seats inside – the rear seats fold down individually, boosting the trunk’s compact 13.2 cubic feet of storage to a more useful 50.4 cubit feet – with room for adults front and back. It’s an upright ride with plenty of headroom, though the limited width can mean those in the back sit closer together than usual. Despite the price, the only leather you’ll find inside is wrapping the steering wheel and shifter knob; the seats are sturdy fabric, instead, and adjusted manually not electrically.
Mitsubishi i-MiEV walkthrough:
Given the ostentatious exterior, we’d half expected the sort of swooping, LED-encrusted dashboard that would make a concept car jealous. In fact, the i-MiEV’s interior is surprisingly sober. The plastic top dash panels match the purplish-brown seat fabric for color, with a bulbous central stack topped with a sizeable LCD display above the HVAC controls and finally the gear shifter at the bottom. The latter looks like it could’ve been pulled from any automatic car, with the usual park, neutral, drive, and reverse options, as well as an “Eco” mode a notch away.
In the minimalistic driver’s instrument binnacle the view is dominated by a center gage with a digital speedo in the middle, flanked by a simple indicator which shows how economical or profligate you are with your current driving style. A smaller display on the left shows battery level and current gear; range in miles is shown in another screen on the other side. Jabbing at a small plastic button in the binnacle flips over to distance traveled since your last charge.
It’s functional, for the most part. The plastics in general are somewhat flimsy to the touch, though you at least get air-con, power windows and mirrors, and remote central locking as standard. There’s also a heated seat, on the driver’s side only, which Mitsubishi recommends using instead of cranking up the HVAC on a cold morning, since it’s more power-frugal; alternatively, you can turn on the HVAC (to the last used settings) remotely from the keyfob while the i-MiEV is still plugged into the mains. The touchscreen audio system, complete with Bluetooth streaming/hands-free, a reversing camera, and navigation is comprehensive, though not the easiest to use.
Engine and Performance
The i-MiEV’s motor pushes out 66HP through the rear wheels via a single-speed gearbox, and manages 145 lb-ft of torque. It’s good for a top speed of 81mph, and though Mitsubishi isn’t especially keen to talk performance figures (0-60mph is a 13s affair), the combination of the 1.3 ton curb weight., low center of gravity, and immediacy of electric motors means acceleration is surprisingly eager. The i-MiEV is certainly at its best around town, where the combination of pep off the starting line and regenerative power topping up the battery show their worth, but that’s not to say it can’t handle the highway.
Mitsubishi i-MiEV driving:
At highway speeds, there’s a fair amount of wind noise, and while you don’t get the familiar thrum of a gas engine, you have the whine of the electric motor instead. Side-winds can lead to some uncomfortable buffeting, too. The suspension – taut, given the batteries the i-MiEV must lug – is firm but not unduly so.
Battery and Range
As with all EVs, the big question mark hanging over the i-MiEV is range. Mitsubishi quotes an EPA MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) of 126 for city driving, 99 for highway driving, and 112 combined; total EPA range is 62 miles.
That’s assuming ideal circumstances, of course. In practice, you tend to drive with one eye fixed to the range indicator, alert to how your driving style affects how many miles you’ll be able to do. We found the estimates to be reasonably accurate, though weather more than anything is the big decider. Setting out for town on a particularly cold day and, by the time we’d reached our first stop, the gage had dropped considerably more miles than we’d actually traveled. Mitsubishi does include a single out-of-energy rescue per year for the first three years.
Extremes of temperature are known issues for battery performance, and the i-MiEV tackles one of them as standard. All i-MiEV versions have a cooling fan that counteracts the effect of hot days, but its counterpart battery warmer is only standard on the SE “Premium Package” – $2,790 – or as a $175 add-on.
Charging generally depends on how much juice you have to spare. The i-MiEV can power up from either a 120V domestic supply or, if you have access to it, a 240V supply. A 120V portable charging cable is included to satisfy impromptu recharges while on the move, something which we found takes roughly 20- to 22hrs. A “Level 2″ 240V charger cuts that to seven hours, or if you have access to a “Level 3″ public quick-charger you can take the i-MiEV to 80-percent in 30 minutes.
Mitsubishi includes a total of three warranties with the i-MiEV, covering different aspects of the car. Shortest is the 3-year/36,000 mile New Vehicle warranty, followed by a specific 5-year/60,000 mile powertrain warranty. Finally, there’s 8-year/100,000 mile cover for the Li-Ion batteries, which unlike other car companies Mitsubishi sells rather than leases to drivers. Nonetheless, some degree of battery degradation is to be expected (and isn’t covered by the warranty): you should expect to have 80-percent of total capacity left after 5yrs, falling to 70-percent after 10yrs.
Wrap-Up
Most of the issues affecting the i-MiEV are applicable to every all-electric car. The preoccupation with range, balance of equipment versus saving as much power for actually moving, and the lifespan of Li-Ion batteries are to modern EVs what gas consumption, engine oil, and emissions are to traditional cars.
Where the i-MiEV succeeds is in helping make electric travel more affordable. Thanks to federal tax incentives you can have the Mitsubishi for under $22k (before destination and handling); considering only a couple of years ago you’d be looking at twice that for an EV, it shows how far we’ve come in eco-friendly motoring. The i-MiEV is certainly a second car, unless you’re a resolute city dweller, but for low-cost trips around town and room for four in a small footprint, it’s a perky addition to your garage.
This ain’t your daddy’s Tesla. In fact, the Renault Twizy is arguably the antithesis of the Model S: eye-catching where the Tesla is discrete; cheap where the electric sedan is expensive. Intended for city driving and the sort of short trips where nippy and straightforward are the key factors, the Twizy also manages to be a whole lot of fun, albeit with a couple of caveats (and preferably a pair of gloves). We raised our eco-cred with a Twizy blast around the urban jungle.
The Twizy may be small, but it’s certainly not discrete: expect to be looked at when you’re behind the wheel. The moon-buggy styling, prominent safety-shell cabin design, narrow footprint and comical dimensions add up to a car that gets noticed. Years ago, I used to drive a Smart car, back when they were still an unusual sight on the roads; the Twizy definitely gets the same sort of attention, with other drivers pausing at junctions to gawp, pedestrians stopping still and turning on the spot to watch you zip past, and kids pointing phone cameras at you.
European sales of the Twizy began almost a year ago, though the car is still relatively uncommon. That’s arguably down to the compromises owners have to make: in its base form, the Twizy lacks any sort of doors, for instance. Renault charges £545 ($832) on top of the base £6,795 ($10,370) for the scissor doors, though that still only gets you the side bars and translucent lower sections. In fact, it was only in October last year that Renault relented and offered plastic upper windows as a £295 ($450) add-on.
Even with the “doors” in place, the Twizy’s cabin can be an uncomfortable place to be. There’s no attempt to make it water-tight – there are gaps all around the edges, including huge holes where the scissor bar clicks into the rear locking mechanism that you could easily fit your hand through – and the waterproof seats are sturdy foam rather than something more cosseting. It’s also not a car you’d want to leave your phone or sat-nav in: security is limited to a lockable cubby behind the vestigial rear seat, and since you have to unzip the window from the outside merely to reach through to grab the door-opening switch, anything left in plain view is likely to be snatched.
Renault Twizy first-drive:
If the Tesla Model S’ vast, touchscreen dashboard is one example of EV usability, the Twizy’s console sits at the other extreme. There are the usual indicator, light, and wiper control stalks behind the steering wheel, and a pod binnacle showing speed, range, battery status, and drive status above. A hazard blinkers button is on the left, next to two buttons to select either drive or reverse (pressing them both puts the Twizy into neutral), while under the left hand side of the dash is a parking brake.
No rear view mirror – there’s no rear window, though a clear plastic roof is a £195 ($298) option – and the wing mirrors are manually adjustable. More worrying is the complete lack of heating options: in an effort to save battery power, you don’t get fans or heated seats, and even with the windows zipped up there was plenty of cold air circulating through the cabin. At least the windscreen gets a heating option for quick demisting. Your right foot is kept occupied with two pedals – accelerator and brake – and there are no gears to consider.
Starting off in the Twizy is an unusual sensation, even if you’re used to driving electric cars. The Renault is pretty much silent initially, and the feeling of openness from the minimal doors makes you feel quite exposed. As the electric motor ramps up (and you suppress the feeling that you really ought to change gear) it starts to work its way up to a heady whine, combining with the whistle of wind noise to make a cabin that you’d struggle to hear the radio in at comfortable levels, if that is Renault actually fitted one.
Then again, perhaps comfort should be left to drivers of $100k Teslas: the Twizy has its own brand of appeal. After the initial disconcert has worn off, you quickly realize that the tiny Renault is in effect a go-kart for grown-ups. The non-power-assisted steering is direct and immediate, and the tiny wheels and minimal seat padding contribute to a ride that tells you everything there is to know about the condition of the road and how much grip you have. Renault quotes a top speed of 50mph (we managed to squeeze out 52mph with the help of a mild slope) but even at sub-30mph rates the Twizy is incredibly fun, demanding you punt it round corners.
Acceleration lacks the instant verve of other EVs we’ve tried, but is perfectly fine for urban use. Less reassuring is the brake, which feels wooden and overly-stiff. Like other electric cars, the Twizy uses regenerative braking to top up its 52V drive battery – stored under the driver’s seat – with graphics on the LCD showing when you’re using power and when you’re creating it. Maximum range is 62 miles, Renault says, but that’s very dependent on driving style and, more pressingly in the 2-degree centigrade conditions we tried the car, temperature. In fact, we never saw more than 38 miles in estimated range on the display, though with the benefit of regenerative braking that didn’t quite drop in parallel with the actual distance we traveled.
A full charge from a 240V European domestic socket takes 3.5hrs, with the Twizy sprouting a curly extension cord from a hatch in its snout. In fact, the sticker price doesn’t actually include the drive battery at all: Renault is instead leasing them to owners, with finance packages depending on estimated usage (from 4,500 to 9,000 miles per year, ample considering this is not a car for the freeway) and length of agreement. For a year’s rental at the minimum mileage, you’re looking at under £0.15 ($0.22) per mile, not including actually charging the Twizy up.
The Twizy is undeniably a silly car. It’s impractical if your travel isn’t limited to urban use, potentially uncomfortable in inclement weather, suffers from limited range (like most small EVs), and is fairly expensive for a supermini once you add in “essentials” like doors and windows. The version we drove came to around £8,500 ($13,000) when you added in the wheels, doors, windows, clear roof, and a Parrot hands-free kit, which is a lot for a city toy.
And yet… there’s something addictive about it. Maybe it’s the purity of the driving experience, or that the bemused and entertained expressions of the people you whiz past can easily distract you from the fact that you’ve had to dig out gloves and a hoodie in order to keep warm. Maybe it’s the fact that you quickly start to believe you’re at the wheel of a lunar rover, or a car from a Gerry Anderson show. Stopping to recharge doesn’t seem like such a chore when you can combine it with warming up again over a coffee, watching pedestrians pause to ogle the Twizy parked outside.
Renault’s ambitions for the Twizy in the UK are conservative: whereas warmer countries on the European continent might be able to ignore the open-air cabin, it’s far less fun in rain and wind. Still, while we can appreciate the efforts of Tesla and the big car companies attempting to make EVs more mainstream, there’s no denying that the ridiculous (and ridiculously good fun) driving experience of the Twizy makes us glad Renault hasn’t gone entirely sensible as it looks beyond gas engines.
Toyota can’t seem top stop designing long, thin city cars, and its latest – the Toyota i-ROAD – has been teased ahead of a debut at the Geneva Motor Show. Billed as ”an ultra-compact zero-emissions city car” the i-ROAD is otherwise shrouded in secrecy, though the top-down view suggests something along the lines of the Toyota Smart INSECT shown off in Japan last October.
The Smart INSECT had an eye-catching gullwing design – complete with proximity sensors so that the doors would open for you automatically as you walked up – and a hook up to a smartphone for traffic reports and other information. Toyota also envisaged it linking with your automated home, so that you could remotely control locks, appliances, and other hardware while on the move.
It’s not clear if the i-ROAD follows the same single-seater approach of the Smart INSECT (and, indeed, the Toyota COMS announced alongside it) or puts two people in tandem. That would certainly make more sense for city use, though it would have an inevitable impact on battery life.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen this narrow style of vehicle attempt to address the frustration of city driving. Renault has been offering its unusual Twizy EV for some time now, though it comes with some compromises: no doors or windows as standard is probably the most obvious.
However, narrow doesn’t have to mean dull. Persu – previously VentureOne – has been talking about its tilting three-wheeler for years now, with a production launch now tipped for 2014. It uses tilt-tech licensed from Carver, which previously offered the Carver One before declaring bankruptcy in 2009.
We’ll know more about the Toyota i-ROAD in early March, when the company shows it off properly in Geneva.
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