2012 Renault Twizy
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I well remember the first time I saw a Renault Twizy. Wandering along the Champs Elysees in Paris in the spring of 2012, I happened upon a Renault showroom hosting an electric car extravaganza. Amid flashing lights, blasting techno music, and vamping supermodels sat a couple of Renault Zoes, the then-new electric subcompact. DON'T MISS: Is An Electric Scoot Quad (nee Renault Twizy) Car-Sharing's Urban Future? But my eye was soon diverted to the back of the showroom, to what appeared to be a giant egg-on-a-skateboard. Call it a microcar, a quadracycle, a glorified golf cart, whatever—the...
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Renault Twizy low-speed electric car comes to Canada
The Renault Twizy has always been an unusual vehicle, the sole low-speed electric vehicle to carry the brand of a major global automaker. Sold in a number of European countries, it's been tested here and there in North America. To date, the only way to experience a Twizy has been to rent one from...
John Voelcker -
Is An Electric Scoot Quad (Nee Renault Twizy) Car-Sharing's Urban Future?
In San Francisco, driving a bright-red tandem two-seat electric Renault Twizy gets you noticed--by everyone from sweet little old ladies to skate punks. Even on Castro Street. On Halloween. We spent a weekend with the low-speed electric vehicle, which is just being added to the Scoot Networks fleet...
John Voelcker -
Who Drives Electric? Famous Racing Driver Stirling Moss, It Turns Out
Celebrities are always a good way to draw attention to cars. Now the U.K. arm of French carmaker Renault has made a short video about one very well-known driver of its Twizy electric car. That would be none other than Sir Stirling Moss, one of the most famous racing drivers of all time. DON'T MISS...
John Voelcker -
Renault To Return To N America With Twizy Low-Speed Electric Car?
Four of Europe's six mass-market carmakers have long sold cars in North America. The exceptions, for a quarter of a century, have been the two French makers: PSA Peugeot Citroën and Renault. Now it appears that Renault may be considering a return to the continent, using its Twizy low-speed...
John Voelcker -
Nissan's Twizy Urban Electric Car Tour's Japan's Vacation Spots
When we first drove Renault's tiny Twizy electric car on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza, we got the impression it'd be at its best in some of Europe's warmer climates. In fact, it could be the ideal vacation island rental car. Simple to operate, economical to use, that wind-in-your-hair...
Antony Ingram -
Buoyed by the quiet European success of the Renault Twizy electric city car, the French firm's Japanese partner Nissan is considering its own diminutive electric vehicle. That's according to Etienne Henry, Nissan's head of product strategy and planning. Speaking to Automotive News Europe, Henry said Nissan's vehicle would improve on the Twizy's concept, combining the compactness and agility of a motorcycle with proper weatherproofing and protection--something the Twizy can't claim to possess. Renault sold over 9,000 examples of its tiny Twizy city car in 2012 (via Best Selling Cars Blog)...
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Renault Twizy Cargo: Electric City Car Loses Seat, Gains Cargo Space
Removing equipment from a car isn't usually the way to make it more appealing, but a new variant of the Renault Twizy city car may have done just that. Called the Renault Twizy Cargo, the French automaker has removed the rear seat from the Twizy's normal tandem layout, replacing it with a larger...
Antony Ingram -
Renault Twizy: See How The Tiny Electric City Car Is Built--By Hand
Building cars by hand is an increasingly endangered art, and the few carmakers that still persist tend to charge rather a lot for their products. Renault's Twizy electric minicar doesn't quite feature hand-rolled fenders or curvaceous aluminum bodywork, but unusually it uses far less automation...
Antony Ingram -
Renault Twizy Electric Minicar On eBay: What You Need To Know
We've written about the Renault Twizy electric minicar on several occasions in the past. After driving it in Ibiza we later tested it in the UK, and while flawed, it really does have appeal for those living in tight, crowded cities. By European standards, most cities in Florida aren't too crowded...
Antony Ingram -
A Free Electric Car With Every Gas-Guzzler? It’s Happening In Spain
As we pointed out yesterday, sales of purely electric cars in the U.S. aren’t as high as many in the industry hoped they would be. In an attempt to get more customers, Nissan has lowered the lease prices of its 2012 Nissan Leaf SV and 2012 Nissan Leaf SL, while automakers in Europe have...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Weekend Test-Drive: Can Tiny Renault Twizy Be A Real Car?
When we first heard that French automaker Renault was producing a tiny, two-seat electric car with a top speed of 52mph called the Twizy, we have to admit to laughing. A lot. But after driving a production Renault Twizy in Ibiza earlier this year, our impression of the plucky go-kart changed. Could...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Smart might have just unveiled the 2013 Smart ForTwo, but it doesn't take a genius to work out it's little more than a facelift with some new trim materials. While the car is gaining evolutionary improvements, Smart really needs the next generation of ForTwo, currently being co-developed with French maker and electric car specialist Renault. It's all good news for small-car fans, but Renault and Smart are already showing signs of treading on each others toes with the next generation of minicars. According to The Motor Report, Renault has already canned its own version of the ForTwo, which was...
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Little Car, Big Apple: Renault Twizy In New York City
When we drove the Renault Twizy on the island of Ibiza last month, we asked whether Renault would actually sell any. A vehicle that's virtually ideal for a sun-drenched island may not work so well in a rainy country like the U.K, or the colder climates of Eastern Europe. We did find it very much...
Antony Ingram -
Renault Twizy Electric Minicar First Drive Report: Video
GreenCarReports was invited to the island of Ibiza to test Renault's latest electric effort. The Twizy isn't your average electric vehicle, so this won't be your average review. Instead, we'll aim to answer some of the multitude of questions we were asked via the site and via Twitter. What is it?...
Antony Ingram -
Renault Twizy Electric Minicar: What Would You Like To Know?
Electric cars have some clear benefits over combustion-engined equivalents--zero local emissions, inexpensive "refuelling", luxury-car levels of refinement from silent powertrains--there's a lot to like. But what about pushing the boundaries of engineering? Freed from the constraints of the...
Antony Ingram -
Audi To Sell Electric Urban Concept, Join The Not-Quite-Car Parade?
If one is a fluke and two is coincidence, then three makes a trend for sure. Audi is close to approving plans to build a limited number of the all-electric two-seat Urban Concept vehicle that it launched at the recent Frankfurt Motor Show, according to CAR magazine in England, If built for sale...
John Voelcker -
2012 Renault Twizy Price Announced -- But Will It Ever Come To The U.S.?
A few years ago the idea that mainstream european automakers would be focusing so much effort on minuscule electric urban runabouts would have been met with derision. But a few weeks after it unveiled its third generation two-seat urban concept vehicle at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show, Renault has...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield