On friday, I had a drive in a Renault Twizy.
A French-built electric... car? well, car seems a bit of an exaggeration, it's more like a four-wheeled electric scooter, classed, legally here, due to its low weight as a "Quadricycle".
Renault make several electric vehicles, a van, the electric
Kangoo, a small car, the
Zoe, and a midsize called the
Fluence.
But then there's this little strange thing, called the Twizy. It's designed as an urban commuter, short distance, not fast. Range? About fifty miles. Top speed? Fifty miles per hour. It can carry two people, one passenger, behind the driver, preferably not too big a passenger. The 'doors' are an optional extra. more cosmetic than actual, there are no side windows, and, other than the passenger seat, no storage. So, if you're on a mission to the supermarket, don't overfill the trolley (cart).
One of our onsite companies sells solar panels and related items, and we recently fitted an electric vehicle charging point in our carpark.
They're taking various electric vehicles out to county shows and, while this was on site, I was offered a test drive. I'm a gearhead, am I going to say no?
Obviously, I couldn't film my test drive, so here's my co-worker, and a fearful passenger.
As you can imagine, people tend to stop and stare, because most of us have never seen a gadget like this out in the real world.
Don't think of it as a car, because it's not. Practical? Not yet, I'd say.More range, and a bit more luggage room. Here in britain we get rain, sleet, snow, and inclement weather. As an alternative to walking, it's pretty good, but as an alternative to a weather-sealed car, with heater, radio, etc? Not so much.
