Actually I like the looks!

Having said that, it is highly unlikely a production version would bear any more than a passing resemblance to the Oli. That vertical windscreen would be gone for a start, can only imagine what that would do for wind resistance, even on a car which can't top 70mph.

Would I have a cheap basic electric car?, absolutely. That top speed doesn't really bother me, as I've said before, I really like the Xbus and its top speed is quoted as being 'over 100km/h'!. Speaking of which, there are actually quite a few companies working towards putting low priced EV's into production, but having a big name looking at it too can only be a good thing.

The problem is going to be the car buying public in general. With most aspiring to the latest enormous gadget laden SUV's, I can't see much success for an EV like this without a fundamental shift in peoples attitude towards cars.

Totally agree...the uglier and more distinctive the better.!

I'd seriously consider such a vehicle and the restrictions that go with it.

70 mph top speed is fine for me....I seldom do more than that in my V6 Estima..lol

Edited by nellyjak on 30/09/2022 at 08:30

I had a look at the xbus website Hopefully this makes production. I like the versatility of what there doing. It looks very narrow. I would need the bus model so looking at 20k. I do like the design of this but it reminds me of those really small rascals vans.

The ami is designed to be very slow at acceleration to save battery power

The Ami isn't designed to be slow at acceleration to save battery power, it accelerates slowly because it only has 8bhp and weighs 700kg (our Suzuki Ignis has 89bhp and weighs 860kg). Its lack of power and performance also enables it to be driven by a 14 year old without a licence in France.

I had a look at the xbus website Hopefully this makes production. I like the versatility of what there doing. It looks very narrow. I would need the bus model so looking at 20k. I do like the design of this but it reminds me of those really small rascals vans.

The Xbus is certainly small for a modern vehicle, but its footprint is around 30% bigger than a Rascal. While £20k isn't exactly loose change, it is a bargain next to the new VW ID Buzz which starts of at £57k!.

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Edited by corax on 30/09/2022 at 19:36

There was a time when there were very cheap used electric cars. Because people didnt trust them as used buys.

A friend picked up a Mitsubishi i-MIEV for about £2K back in 2017. It has a feeble range - 60 miles - but you know what, it suits him and his wife fine. He loves it. Costs next to nothing to run, and is spacious and airy, if a bit tough to look at! He has the drive to charge it, but didnt bother with a wall charger - just charges off mains.

I'm quite jealous actually.

I had a look on autotrader just now. There's one for sale at nearly £7k

Natural gas cars are popular and successful in South America and Asia, where natural gas is plentiful and cheap. They are seen as a greener alternative to petrol and diesel. It could, perhaps, have worked here but so could LPG and that's still rather niche. Maybe when our wise PM restarts fracking we will all have cheap gas again.

Back to the point on electrics; it would be great to have cheap lightweight vehicles. I k ow some people are desperate to go faster than 70, but it wouldn't bother me in the least, it would just mean I didn't have to put the cruise control on. There are only two real reasons EVs cost more; manufacturers recouping R&D costs and the cost of batteries. The former will cease at some point, and I suspect the answer to the latter is out there somewhere.

I was interested in the thread the other day about cars capturing atmospheric hydrogen to use as fuel. You could imagine leaving the car plugged in overnight to fill the tank and perhaps using solar power during the day to keep the 'converter' running. Presumably, your car would get lighter and more efficient as it filled..