Mihai - Cristian Ioniță
CityZEN is a small-sized vehicle which stands in the L7e category, which makes it technically a quadricycle, being lighter and more compact when compared to a traditional car, meaning that it can be driven with a B1 license in Romania, so from 16 years old.
What's the CityZEN like on the inside
Thus, we took the Allview CityZEN for a spin and we drove it through Romania's capital city. When you get in the CityZEN, the quadricycle idea vanishes, because the vehicle feels more like an actual car and less like a microcar. You can easily fit in this car even if you're taller and you don't feel claustrophobic.
I really liked the CityZEN's seats. Even if you're not going to drive long distances in this thing, since the 170 km of WLTP range don't drive you to do so, I think you will come out of it well rested. The seats are soft and large enough to give you good support and while it's not a sports car, the driving position is comfy and the textile material is presented in two colors, gray and the color of the car, which in my case was Cyan Breeze, giving it a modern look. You can set them based on length and the backrest can be leaner or straight, but since this is not a big car, you probably won't need to play around with the seats too much.
The driving position is not too low, which is good, allowing you to see everything with ease, meaning that the missing height adjustment is not missed. I am not very tall, standing at 1.70 meters and I was easily able to see everything I needed in front of me.
Speaking of visibility, that's also a very good part of the car, since it's very squared-off, the side windows are large and the pillars are slim. The side mirrors are also larger than expected, being shaped like those found on SUVs, which helps greatly when seeing what happens behind you. Adjusting the side mirrors happens through a button located on the left side of the steering wheel. The visibility in the rear is also great, thanks to a large window and this is where it's clear that the designers cared more about practicality than the design, because though the vehicle is not very aerodynamic, the visibility and available space have a lot to earn.
So, beginner drivers won't have a problem seeing what happens around them, giving them more comfort when parking or squeezing through small spaces.
Being an L7e category vehicle, the CityZEN doesn't have a rear seat option, but that gets traded for a lot of boot space, 816 liters to be exact. The people at Allview got creative with this and demonstrated on their website how the vehicle can be packed with multiple travel bags, a large TV box or even a standing Christmas tree. This might be one of the car's most important advantages, especially for delivery people, since their cubic backpacks can fit without issues and if you purchase IKEA furniture, chances are you'll be able to transport it back home yourself.
The materials found on the inside don't impress, but are adequate. You have hard plastic everywhere, glossy plastic on the color of the chassis around the doors, the central console and the dashboard, which I hope will fare well against scratches and the only soft textile material on the inside is on the roof. CityZEN doesn't have a glovebox, but that got replaced with a textile net, like those found on trains or planes.
What I care more about is the quality of the assembly and this is where Allview's electric car delivers. You don't hear many weird noises from the inside, not even when you go through a pothole or over tram lines.
On the outside, the CityZEN looks very good and it gets a lot of looks. People examined the car, photographed it and kids were very attracted to the car's funky color and its reduced dimensions.
What's it like to drive the CityZEN
So, it's comfortable and spacious, but how does the CityZEN behave on the road? In my 8 years of owning a driving license, I didn't drive many microcars. In fact, the only one I drove a few months back was from E-Mobility Rentals and I liked it, as well, but for different reasons.
However, I did take the driver's seat in many modern cars and I can tell you that the CityZEN holds its own from multiple standpoints. The steering wheel is nice and comfortable and offers two good points of support. On the wheel you have the horn and the optional airbag, found on the more expensive version of the CityZEN.
The steering in the vehicle is electric and is very soft when driving at low speeds or when the vehicle is stopped, but once you increase the tempo, the steering wheel becomes stiffer. This means that for parking and whenever you need to do fine maneuvers at low speed, you can steer the wheels with little to no effort. Even if it has small wheels and a lower weight, it's very much appreciated that Allview opted for an electrically-assisted steering, since it's essential in packed cities.
The gear selector is basically a small wheel, just like for the Dacia Spring, and pressing this button switches between the ECO and sport modes and the handbrake is conventional.
Once you put the selector in Drive and take the foot off the brake, the car starts rolling, just like in a regular automatic transmission. The pedals are large enough and well-spaced and even though initially, I thought that they were too much to the right side, this proved to be a non-issue, in reality.
What I like about these pedals is that they don't require much force to be pressed and that they're not too sensitive. If you've driven modern cars, you probably noticed that the second you pinch the brake pedal, the car brakes heavily. The CityZEN, on the other hand, behaves more like an older car. When you want to brake, you press the pedal and things don't go to an immediate halt, but the vehicle brakes progressively, which I can definitely appreciate, since I usually drive a budget car from 2008.
Still, if you need to do an emergency brake, Allview's car can definitely handle that, as it's lightweight and small. The car is equipped with ABS and EBD, meaning safer and more efficient braking.
Once you get rolling, you realize that the car moves quickly, even in the ECO mode, being able to keep up with the traffic easily. Normally, when you hear that a car has a nominal power of 17 horse power, even as an EV, you wouldn't give it much of a chance reaching city cruise speeds of 50-60 km/h fast. Yet, the CityZEN has no issues doing that, even when climbing a bridge. Allview officials claim that the vehicle can climb roads that are inclined up to 20 degrees and while I couldn't test that myself, the bridges I went over were climbed with no effort from the tiny microcar.
At 60 km/h, the car is very stable and you don't hear much from the outside, meaning that the soundproofing is decent here. I didn't take it on the highway or on national roads, but as far as city traffic is concerned, you can rest assured, as you won't hear much from the world. The electric motor is audible, but barely and if you have some music going you can cover it pretty much entirely.
For speeds of up to 20 km/h, the CityZEN makes its own sounds to warn the pedestrian of its presence and the same goes when the car goes in reverse.
The other mode of the transmission is sport and it bumps the power to over 27 HP, while the top speed goes from 70 to 90 km/h and this is where things are quite different. From a vehicle that can keep up with the traffic, Allview CityZEN can help you get ahead if you're in a rush, although I would recommend less experienced drivers to stay away from this mode mostly, since the acceleration is significantly faster, especially after 50 km/h and you can get to 80-90 km/h in the blink of an eye.
When you take the foot off the accelerator, the car is doing a slight engine brake and recovers some of the energy and the same happens when you press the brake pedal lightly-moderately, but once you do a harder braking, no energy is being recovered.
At the same time, if the road's wet, you should be careful with the acceleration, since the traction is rear-wheel drive and the rear axile has fixed suspension, meaning the vehicle can fall out of balance slightly on turns, especially if the boot is empty.
While we're on the suspension side of things, CityZEN is a comfy car for our city roads. Potholes, indentations or railroads are all handled very well by the front suspension, which is independent McPherson, while the fixed suspension on the back does a decent job, as well. At speed bumpers, though, the car tends to jump a bit on the back wheels due to the more rigid suspension and the fact that most of the weight is put towards the front.
The wheels are fairly tiny, smaller than those found on a Dacia Spring, for example, but because the CityZEN is smaller and lighter, that's not an issue. The size of the wheels is 155/65R13, large enough to deal with moderate shocks.
Parking and filtering traffic are this car's strong suits and after a few days of driving through a traffic and obstacle-packed Bucharest, I realized why we would all benefit if these types of vehicles became the norm on the streets.
The cameras and sensors, while not mandatory on such a small car in my opinion, can help greatly. The rear-view camera has markings that adapt to the way you turn the steering, helping you predict the vehicle's trajectory and the sensors have good sensitivity.
One thing that surprised me greatly when waiting at a stoplight was that the car can also recognize pedestrians and warn you about them. In my example, while we were waiting, a pedestrian crossed the street through all the cars on the road and by the time I noticed him, the car has already turned the camera on and gave me sound signals to let me know about his presence. This is why I believe that those who want to buy this car should really consider getting it with the full camera and sensors, as it can save them in those situations, as well as assist them while parking.
Other interesting things include the fact that when you turn the signals on, the car will automatically show you the camera on the side you selected to turn and the LED daytime running lights turn on with the car. At the same time, the turn signals are impulse-based, meaning that you don't have to push them completely to signal the intention to switch lanes, for example. The halogen-powered headlights can be adjusted by height on three positions from a button located on the left side of the steering wheel and from the same side, you can press a button to turn on the fog lights.
The infotainment system can be set to 10 different languages, including Romanian, and the car can be connected to WiFi and you can even install applications from external sources, although I didn't try this myself. The commands for things like radio, air conditioning or the camera system are easily accessible and the operating system responds well to input. It looks like an Android interface from a while back. The cameras have unexpectedly good quality and offer you a bird's eye view, as well as a view from the camera you selected.
The climate control system, which I think is electric and not heat pump-based, does a very good job thanks to the fact that the vehicle is not very large, but it can consume quite a bit of energy if you let it run for a long time or at high speed.
Range, charging and conclusion
It's time to talk about the shortcomings of the Allview CityZEN. As far as range is concerned, the car does decently and Allview promises 170 kilometers of WLTP range. After around 10 kilometers of driving through the traffic in Bucharest, with no air conditioning, the battery drained 6%. I didn't spend a lot of time waiting in line at intersections and I didn't go easy on the accelerator, while driving in ECO mode.
After about 10 kilometers of driving in a much easier traffic, with the air conditioning system turned on to hot air for a few minutes and with the sport mode active from time to time, the battery dropped from 91 to 83%, while with 91%, the car estimated around 154 kilometers of range.
The good news is that the recommended numbers seem to be fairly accurate, but the less shiny part comes when charging the vehicle. The time for a complete charge of the CityZEN is estimated at 8 hours on Allview's website and unfortunately, the dealer where we took the car from confirmed these numbers.
If you charge the car at a 220V outlet, the charging process will take even longer and this, I think, is CityZEN's biggest problem. If your daily trips to and from home and school or work are around 40-50 kilometers, I think you can manage with this car, so long as you have a charging station to plug it in overnight.
Besides, if you are used to driving outside the city every now and then, it's best that you have a separate car for that purpose or you'll spend 6 hours at the plug with the CityZEN to charge it from 25%.
However, if you have a charging station at home and charging times are not an issue for you, then I can really recommend the Allview CityZEN as a city-purpose electric car. It's small, but spacious, you can carry something with it, without going over the top with the weight, you have a very comfortable ride for this class, it's not slow and it has many of the modern features you can expect from a car released in 2024.
Allview CityZEN can be ideal as a second car to drive around the city on your own or with your partner, as well as for people who don't want to use their larger vehicles for the daily commutes. Despite the fact that the target audience is young drivers, this car can easily satisfy everyone who wants to just drive around the city with zero emissions and to be able to park and filter traffic fast and efficiently.
My recommendation, if you want to purchase it, is to add the optionals, such as the cameras and the sensors, since these can help you with more than just parking the vehicle faster and more efficiently.
Pros
- fast acceleration
- small dimensions (easy parking and maneuverability)
- very large boot space
- zero-emissions vehicle
Cons
- no rear seats
- very slow charging, even at fast charging stations
- high list price
Any thoughts?