In defence of the Twizy, it's basically a 4-wheel scooter with roof and safety cage (without sides, so it doesn't have problems with misting up). It has well engineered independent suspension and the handling is good. It's cold, noisy and bumpy, just like a motorbike, but feels very quick, controllable and is lots of fun to drive.
In terms of its capability and what you'd use it for (city and suburb driving) it is similar to the Citicar. But I think it's better at its job now than the C-Car was back then. On Sun, Jan 25, 2015 at 9:30 PM, EVDL Administrator via EV < ev@lists.evdl.org> wrote: > On 24 Jan 2015 at 23:46, brucedp5 via EV wrote: > > > Looking like nothing else on the road, Twizy is just 2,338mm long and > > 1,396mm wide ... has two seats ... powered by a 6.1kW/h Lithium ion > > battery powering a 3CG asynchronous induction electric motor through a > > single speed transmission... It will even hit 50mph on the open road > > ... Renault claims a full charge is good for up to 62 miles of range, > > though 50 is probably closer to the truth ... n the winter months ... > > the mid-30s. > > > > ... brakes are a little less inspiring ... does without side windows or > > a heater ... > > > > There is a fair bit of electric motor whine and, despite the light > > weight, the suspension can crash a bit over larger bumps. > > Sounds like an updated, more civilized version of the old Citicar. > > The original C-car was almost exactly the same size (2437mm long by 1397mm > wide). Although the Twizy is much curvier than the C-car, if you squint at > them just right, you can see some overall similarities in shape (tall, > short, narrow). > > The C-car had 35-40 miles of range, and with luck could hit 40mph on a good > day with a tailwind. Raising the voltage from the 48v to 72v would push > that close to 50mph. At that speed you were taking your life in your > hands, > IMO. The brakes were barely adequate for 35mph. > > It had side curtains instead of windows. The early ones had no standard > heater, though a propane-fired heater was an option (it was unvented, so it > fogged up all the windows when used). The later cars' heater, which tried > to harvest waste motor heat, was mostly useless. > > With solid axles front and rear, it banged and lurched over the smallest > bumps, probably much worse than the Twizy does. > > Finally, the C-car too had ample motor and gear whine. Consumer Reports > said "One might expect an electric car to be quiet. The Citicar is quiet > only when stopped." > > David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA > EVDL Administrator > > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > EVDL Information: http://www.evdl.org/help/ > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > Note: mail sent to "evpost" and "etpost" addresses will not > reach me. To send a private message, please obtain my > email address from the webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > > > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA ( > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20150126/6e1e8477/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
