A German start-up has built a compact, electric microcar that it plans to sell for a low price en masse, and has presented it at the Munich motor show.
Munich-based Adaptive City Mobility (ACM) has been developing the City One over the past eight years and says the car will have an interchangeable battery and space for up to five people. The firm recently secured the services of Magna International, a global automotive parts manufacturer.
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Prices look set to be between €10,000 to €15,000 (£8562 to £12,843). Most sales are expected to come from the fleet sector, with taxi and leasing companies in Asia and Africa considered key markets. The City One can also be used as a small commercial vehicle and has a cargo bay of up to 1450 litres.
ACM also claims the City One will provide an alternative solution to the shortage of fast charging stations, combining home charging and swappable batteries with range-extending capabilities.
Parts giant Magna is currently developing a production model, with test vehicles set to be produced in Asia in 2024. ACM, which was formed in 2014, says documents of intent have already been signed for the sale of 208,000 cars, with a total sales value of over €3 billion (£2.5bn).
“We are thrilled to take this significant step forward in bringing the ACM City One to the market,” said Paul Leibold, founder and CEO of ACM. “We look forward to bringing the expertise and capabilities of this leading complete vehicle supplier [Magna] to bolster our mission of making electric transportation truly accessible on a global scale.
“As a unique vehicle, the ACM City One is one which requires a unique approach to serial production. Magna’s engineering expertise is perfectly suited in bringing to fruition - on a mass scale - the ecosystem of this specialised vehicle, from the adaptive structure through to the operation systems.”
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This is the sort of EV I've been wanting to see. Properly good value (as opposed to "affordable" when touting a price tag of £35k+), funky styling, handy and interesting without being a bit pretentious. I'm surprised it didn't come out of Italy. I'm also still eagerly waiting to see how Fiat's Centoventi will be positioned - probably above this.
Fantastic. I'd love to see this sort of thing used for last mile deliveries rather than the huge vans that currently clog up our urban roads.