New LSV startup Wink Motors offers a lineup of four-seater LSVs starting at under US $10,000. While the Eli Zero is a two-seater and would be great for single drivers or couples living in cities, many LSVs are oriented toward families. You can take a quick look at it from my test ride last year in the roundup video below (start at the 4:00 mark for the Eli Zero). I’ve driven an Eli Zero in both the US and Europe, and I can tell you firsthand that it feels much more like a “real” car than you’d expect. The Eli Zero’s accoutrement list includes features such as a 70 mile (120 km) range, 2.5 hour charge time with on-board charger, regenerative braking, keyless start, heating & air conditioning, and optional power steering/power brakes. The Eli Zero, a crowdfunded micro-electric vehicle coming to both the US and Europe, is expected to begin EU deliveries soon with a price of around US $12,000.ĭespite that low purchase price, the Eli Zero still has a surprising number of features that make it feel like a “real” car, not a souped-up golf cart. Prices can start as low as $10,000 for an electric LSV, compared to most electric cars that cost several times as much. When it comes to LSVs, tiny cars, or whatever you want to call them, their smaller size offers big advantages.įirst of all, they are much more affordable than most full-size electric cars, while still offering many of the major benefits of electric cars. Why would someone want an electric low-speed vehicle (LSV) These vehicles, which are considered either light or heavy quadricycles depending on their class, are already produced and sold by major European car makers like Citroen, Renault, and others. The European Union has their own set of electric micro-car rules that classify such vehicles into L6e and L7e categories that allow for higher speeds. Towns such as Peachtree City, Georgia, have become famous for their thousands of golf carts that share the roads with larger vehicles as well as make use of mixed-use paths where cars aren’t allowed. Even so, while golf carts are not federally regulated to achieve street legal status, many US cities have created their own local ordinances to allow them to operate on certain roads. Many people think of golf carts when they think of NEVs, but those technically aren’t LSVs because they usually can’t reach the minimum required 20 mph to fit into the LSVs class, nor are they produced to LSV safety or manufacturing standards, such as having a VIN on file with the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). The Silence S04 is a two-seater (believe it or not) electric micro-car concept designed for European cities Terms like NEV (neighborhood electric vehicles) isn’t actually an official vehicle class, but rather just a loosely defined colloquial term for smaller and lower-powered EVs. It puts them in a class of smaller vehicles limited to 25 mph (40 km/h), and sets them aside as a street legal class of motor vehicles, at least if they meet a stringent set of production and manufacturing requirements and remain on roads with speed limits at or below 35 mph (56 km/h). That’s the only federally defined term for the majority of these vehicles. Micro-cars, mini-EVs, tiny cars, NEVs (neighborhood electric vehicles), LSVs (low-speed vehicles), and other names add to the confusion in this burgeoning industry.Īt their core, most of these vehicles are technically LSVs, at least in the US. My own NEV mini-truck that seats two and hauls 800 pounds (360 kg) in back What are electric micro-cars?įirst of all, there’s no good definition that encompasses all of these small format electric vehicles. But for people who live in a densely populated area or who drive only a few dozen miles per day (i.e., most people in the US), an electric micro-car could do the trick while saving money, energy, emissions, and more. If you regularly use your electric car to drive a few states over, an electric micro-car simply won’t cut it for you. They’re mostly suited to urban areas, beach communities, planned neighborhoods, and other areas without high-speed roads. Of course, that doesn’t mean that electric tiny cars are for everyone. Those smaller electric tiny cars, NEVs, and LSVs also come with big advantages over their full-size cousins, saving more than just cash. But even a $50,000 Tesla is still much harder to afford than an electric micro-car that can cost a quarter of the price. It’s true that prices for many leading full-size electric cars have dropped slightly in the last few months.
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