City car
-
A Danish bicycle and e-bike company, Biomega, has shown an open-wheel concept car that takes the sculpted, less-is-more ideas of Scandinavian design to new extremes—to what may be a regulatory impossibility in the U.S. The four-seat four-wheeler, called SIN, for Singapore, appears to be aimed at some of the most congested cities in Asia. It’s a futuristic, bare-bones urban warrior, with a flat floor, seating for four, and a windshield that wraps up and over the occupants—with an additional windshield (which the company calls a “fascia window” at the footwell...
-
Electric Cars Are City Cars? Not In U.S.: They're Suburb Cars Here
Automotive journalists who write about electric cars hear the phrase "city car" a lot. As in, "Battery-electric cars are perfect city cars, but [fill in different powertrain] is required for other uses." There's just one problem: No one in the U.S. has ever turned to their better half and said...
John Voelcker -
Shell Project M Concept City Car: Huge Efficiency Gains Possible, Designer Gordon Murray Says
Famed car designer Gordon Murray will team up with former Honda engine specialist Osamu Goto and oil company Shell to develop a concept for "an ultra-compact, efficient car for city use based around the internal combustion engine." It's not intended for production. Instead, the project's ambitions...
John Voelcker -
2016 Smart ForTwo: First Drive Of European Version
The 2016 Smart ForTwo minicar will arrive at U.S. dealers this fall. When it does, it will be playing the redemption card every chance it gets. Smart was created to counter the increasing global trend toward urbanization. One way to make cities more manageable is a microcar that fit the needs of...
Matthew Askari -
Toyota i-Road Electric City Car: Here's How It Leans
Toyota might not be planning to invest in a mainstream electric vehicle for the U.S. anytime soon, but now, globally, it has this oddity: the i-Road. As we caught last month in this demonstration at the Paris Auto Show, the i-Road is driven at the front wheels by twin 2-kW electric motors, and...
Bengt Halvorson -
Toyota i-Road Electric City Car Undergoes French Car-Share Trials
Toyota might not be convinced by battery electric vehicles but that hasn't stopped the company testing its i-Road urban electric vehicle. Its latest round of testing takes place in Europe, where a fleet of 70 i-Road and Coms personal mobility vehicles are being deployed throughout the French city...
Antony Ingram -
The car you see here, the Renault Twingo, will not be sold in the U.S. A car like it will be, though--Smart's next Forfour, and indeed the two-seat Fortwo, have been co-developed with the French brand, so there'll be plenty of similarities between the two. Renault's version of the car is a four-seat, four-door vehicle, and will therefore share its platform with the equivalent Smart Forfour. There's no two-seat Renault planned, but Smart is continuing its flagship city car. Smart's traditional engine and drivetrain layout has been retained--rear engine and rear-wheel drive. The Twingo shares...
-
Kandi Chinese Electric-Car Sharing Service Expands To Larger Cities
Who says electric cars aren't working in China? Certainly not Kandi, whose electric car-sharing service--that hires out electric vehicles from vending-machine like buildings--is proving profitable and moving into other Chinese cities. Kandi's service started off in the Chinese city of Hangzhou...
Antony Ingram -
More Details On Yamaha Motiv-E, Electric Smart Fortwo Rival For Asia?
The Smart Fortwo is a car that heavily divides opinion. In the U.S, it's been less than successful. Sales have been much better in Europe, but even so other manufacturers have hardly rushed out to release competitors for the two-seat city car. Until now, that is. We revealed initial details of...
Antony Ingram -
2014 BMW i3 Electric-Car Orders Limited To Single Trim Level (For 3 Months)
The 2014 BMW i3 electric car will only be offered in Launch Edition trim for its first 3 months on sale.
Stephen Edelstein -
Nissan Electric Cars To Be Split Into Three Different Types: Design Director
Fed up of waiting for a cheaper, smaller electric car from Nissan, or something a bit more interesting and sportier than the Leaf? You may not have to wait much longer. In an interview with Motor Authority, Nissan's global design chief Shiro Nakamura says Nissan's electric car plans will take three...
Antony Ingram -
Daimler Boss Says Smart Car Is "More Relevant" Than Ever
Cars described as "ahead of their time" are usually regarded fondly, but often commercially unsuccessful--the resulting vehicles often too unusual for many consumers. Daimler's Smart brand and the Fortwo minicar fits that bill and could well be described as ahead of its time, but company boss...
Antony Ingram -
Ever had to keep a really big secret? Respected automotive engineer Gordon Murray has: Having known for quite some time who one of the biggest customers for his highly-efficient iStream production process was, Murray has been unable to reveal it to us all. Now that secret is officially out. Announced at the Tokyo Motor Show, Yamaha is revealed to be the first company adopting iStream, and will use it to build the tiny Motiv city car--the closest true competitor for the Smart Fortwo the market has seen. The car itself is a little different from the T.25 and T.27 concepts revealed through...
-
2014 BMW i3: First Drive Of BMW's Radical New Electric Car
You may have read stories lately that suggest the BMW i3 is the first luxury competition for the Tesla Model S electric car. It’s not. You may also have read that it’s the first range-extended car to go head to head with the Chevrolet Volt. It’s not. In building its first...
John Voelcker -
Armadillo Electric Car: Fold It, Park It With A Smartphone
They aren't practical for all, but some of the ideas for future urban electric cars are certainly intriguing. Renault was the first to take the concept seriously with the Twizy, but since then several Japanese companies have had a go, and Europe has also tackled the urban congestion problem with a...
Antony Ingram -
2013 Smart Electric Drive: 4 Stars Overall For Crash Safety From NHTSA
The 2013 Smart Fortwo Electric Drive is the latest electric vehicle to have undergone the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's crash test procedures. Following frontal crash, side impact, and side pole impact tests, the Electric Drive was awarded four from a possible five stars overall...
Antony Ingram -
Gordon Murray's City Cars, iStream Production Soon A Reality?
Lackluster sales of cars like the Smart Fortwo have illustrated that the market for really tiny cars still doesn't really exist in the U.S, but elsewhere things are quite different. In some European or far-Eastern cities, size--or lack of it--is everything. Those are the markets the T25 and T27...
Antony Ingram -
Honda Electric Micro Commuter Car To Begin Testing In Japan
America's wide open spaces have never been conducive for small car sales success, but the story is quite different elsewhere. We already know how popular the tiny kei-class cars are in Japan, for example--but some automakers are exploring even smaller vehicles to meet future transportation needs...
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)...
-
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 -
80-MPG Elio Three-Wheeled Car To Be Built At Former GM Truck Plant?
Startups making small, economical vehicles come and go, but one company offering a high-efficiency vehicle has big plans, buying a former General Motors assembly plant. Elio Motors is the company behind a three-wheeled car capable of 84 mpg highway, on nothing more complicated than gasoline...
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 -
2014 Smart ForTwo: More Details, Renault Version Nixed
Smart's tiny Fortwo city car is being replaced in early 2014, and more details are emerging on the next generation small car. Changes include new engines, new transmissions and a size increase--but partner Renault will no longer be producing its own two-seat equivalent. CAR Magazine reports that...
Antony Ingram -
Hiriko Folding Electric Car Now Set For Production
One of the most novel electric vehicles we've seen in recent years is the Hiriko. The Hiriko is designed for inner city car sharing schemes, initially in Europe but also touted for some U.S. cities. And it has a party piece: The Smart-sized electric vehicle can effectively fold in half to fit tiny...
Antony Ingram