Is there a spot on this planet for an electrical metropolis automotive that’s easy, environment friendly, and low value? Sweden’s Håkan Lutz thinks so. He has began Luvly, an organization that may make a automotive so fundamental that it’s going to have just one operate — transporting as much as two individuals in a 4-wheel weatherproof cocoon from place to position inside a crowded city surroundings. There’s no pretense that it could possibly tow a ship or journey lengthy distances.
The Luvly 0 is diminutive. It’s 2.7 meters (106.3 inches) lengthy, 1.5 meters (60.2 inches) large, and 1.4 meters (56.7 inches) tall. With a curb weight of simply 380 kg (837 lb), it has a most vary of 100 kilometers (62 miles) from its 6.4 kWh battery pack and a high velocity of 90 km/h (55 mph). Since charging generally is a problem for condominium dwellers, the battery is cut up into two packs that weigh 15 kg every. Slide one out and take it dwelling with you. Plug it right into a wall outlet after which deliver it again to the automotive the following day when it is advisable to go someplace. No EVSE to put in, no electrician to name. Easy, simple, and handy.
Simplicity & The Luvly 0
Lutz will be the anti-Musk. The place Elon focuses on vehicles which are computer systems on wheels, Lutz prefers simplicity. Lots of the fundamental capabilities of the Luvly 0 are managed by an app on the driving force’s smartphone, which is held in place by a bungee wire. There’s a fundamental show in entrance of the driving force for important data. Over-the-air updates are included, after all.
The Luvly is designed to adjust to European quadricycle laws, however Lutz has thought lengthy and exhausting about security. In such a small automotive, sharing the highway with huge SUVs and hulking supply vans will be daunting. On its web site, the corporate says, “We take security severely. That’s why we’ve created a technical answer that’s mild on weight however heavy on safety. We name it ‘gradual system racing tech,’ and it’s the important thing to giving our Luvly O finest at school security.”
The Lovly 0 encompasses a robust, light-weight security cell that makes use of sandwich composites. It additionally has added Vitality Absorption Zones to the surface to guard passengers regardless of the low weight of the automotive. The consequence, the corporate says, is passive security akin to a small automotive. The idea ought to be acquainted to anybody who has watched trendy Components One racing. Within the occasion of a crash, numerous items of the automotive could get destroyed, however the driver sits inside a monocoque construction that’s as robust as a financial institution vault.
Pedestrian security can be a consideration. “We’re not simply looking for primary. We’re looking for everybody on the highway. And with Luvly O, you’ll be able to be ok with driving a automotive that’s designed with the security of others in thoughts. So buckle up and really feel assured figuring out that you just’re driving the most secure light-weight automobile on the highway, for you and for others,” the corporate says.
Sustainability & The Luvly 0
Lutz has plenty of artistic concepts for manufacture the Luvly 0. He expects the vehicles to be made in a central manufacturing unit (which doesn’t presently exist, as far as we all know) after which transported in knocked-down type in flat packs to native micro-factories the place the vehicles will likely be assembled. As many as 20 flat packs can match inside one delivery container, decreasing the price of transporting the vehicles to clients.
Astute readers will acknowledge this because the mannequin for constructing modular properties which are constructed in factories then shipped to the constructing websites the place they’re assembled. Arrival has the same plan for making bigger electrical automobiles and Native Motors as soon as envisioned making 3D-printed vehicles close to to the place their clients have been situated.
Lutz says he desires to prepare manufacturing in a approach that’s environmentally pleasant and conserves assets. Having native micro-factories full the meeting of the vehicles will assist meet these targets. He claims making automobiles this manner makes use of 80% much less vitality throughout manufacturing in comparison with typical full dimension vehicles.
“Sustainability isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a promise,” the corporate says. “We’re conscious that consumption just about at all times will contribute to emissions and air pollution. The merchandise we develop is not going to be revolutionary on this respect. We’ve made positive that each facet of the Luvly 0, from its supplies to its manufacturing course of, is geared in direction of minimizing its environmental impression.
“We’ve additionally tackled one of many largest sustainability issues in electrical automobiles — battery dimension. By maintaining our automobile light-weight, we’ve been in a position to reduce the scale of the battery, one of many extra problematic elements of electrical automobiles. And in the case of recycling our merchandise, we’ve made positive that it’s easy and simple. The physique is produced from a single light-weight materials that wants no floor remedy and goes straight to recycling.”
1976 Citicar. Credit score: Wikipedia
Luvly is a mild play on the idea of a “mild utility automobile” and the English phrase “Pretty.” [It has nothing whatsoever to do with the former Chevy LUV, which was a small pickup truck based on an Isuzu design.]
Magnificence is within the eye of the beholder, however as my outdated Irish grandmother would say, the Pretty 0 has a face solely a mom might love. That’s not essentially a foul factor. The unique Volkswagen Beetle was no magnificence queen, but it surely went on to grow to be one of many bestselling vehicles of all time. The Luvly 0 resembles the Good ForTwo in some respects, however its design is paying homage to the Citicar produced in Sebring, Florida, within the Seventies. Actually, the 2 vehicles are fairly comparable not solely in look, however in size, width, and peak. The styling of the Pretty 0 will not be fairly as outré because the Citroen Oli, but it surely’s shut.
The Takeaway
The corporate says it has plans for different fashions, together with a sporty trike and a small van with the identical manufacturing and logistics ideas. However first, it has to get the Luvly 0 into manufacturing. Certification in Europe is pending.
There may be one piece of data we haven’t talked about but — the value. Lutz says the Luvly 0 will value €10,000 ($11,000) when and if it ever goes into manufacturing. That brings to thoughts one other small electrical automotive launched lately, the BYD Seagull, which begins at below $11,000 in China. Little question that automotive would value extra in Europe, however is a “actual” automotive with considerably extra energy and vary.
The nice unanswered query is, how a lot of a market is there for a naked bones electrical automotive that’s appropriate for driving in congested city environments, however little else?
Join every day information updates from CleanTechnica on e-mail. Or comply with us on Google Information!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, need to promote, or need to counsel a visitor for our CleanTech Discuss podcast? Contact us right here.
Photo voltaic PV & Farming — Developments In Agrivoltaics
I do not like paywalls. You do not like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Right here at CleanTechnica, we carried out a restricted paywall for some time, but it surely at all times felt fallacious — and it was at all times powerful to determine what we must always put behind there. In concept, your most unique and finest content material goes behind a paywall. However then fewer individuals learn it! We simply don’t love paywalls, and so we have determined to ditch ours.
Sadly, the media enterprise remains to be a tricky, cut-throat enterprise with tiny margins. It is a unending Olympic problem to remain above water and even maybe — gasp — develop. So …
When you like what we do and need to assist us, please chip in a bit month-to-month by way of PayPal or Patreon to assist our group do what we do!
Thanks!
