At the same time, large companies, such as Citroen, have their own electric microcar models that are ready to take over city streets.
Because this segment is very offering, every once in a while, a company comes and revolutionizes it with a new type of product. Now Swedish microcar maker Luvly has its chance to prove that ready-to-assemble electric microcars can be desirable in a city environment and they bet you'll want to drive to and from work in one of their small vehicles.
Interesting Engineering reports that, compared to even regular microcars, let alone cars, the Luvly O doesn't come rolling off an assembly line, ready to be driven around, but rather it's you, the consumer, that has the chance and pleasure to "assemble" your own car. It's similar to how you are buying furniture from IKEA, just to put it together at home yourself.
This way, the company aims to hugely increase transport efficiency, since around 20 cars worth-of parts can be fit in a single transport container, so with around 100 containers, you can cover a moderately large city in terms of personal mobility.
Starting at 10.000 euros, the Luvly O could be one of the cheapest EVs out there and it would be assembled by local distributors, saving a lot of time and emissions from assembling the vehicles in a regular factory.
Some of the car's specs include a 90 km/h top speed limit, a 100 kilometer range and a swappable battery, similar to the Squad Mobility. While small, the car's boot space is fairly generous at 267 liters, sitting in between a Ford Ka and a Fiesta.
With a length of just 2.7 meters, the microcar can be parked nearly everywhere, even in a crowded, car-filled city.
Luvly CEO Håkan Lutz believes that younger drivers will start adopting such vehicles, especially in Europe's historical city centers, where narrow streets are a challenge for traditional cars that are also heavy beasts. In such an environment, the 400 kg Luvly really is smaller and lighter than it seems, making it safer for the pedestrians, as well, while still allowing us to drive in a personal vehicle that doesn't pollute or take up living rooms worth-of-space.
Photo source: Luvly
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