Everyone knows electric cars have to be cheap to be accessible to become mainstream and to make the transition from gas faster and steadier. Karabag, a German startup specialized in electric vehicle conversions, is combined a 20 kW forklift motor with a Fiat 500E, and got the cheapest city electric vehicle on the market.
Karabag Fiat 500E’s lithium iron phosphate battery is only 11 kWh, but the company estimates it can travel up to 100 km (65 miles) on a single charge. The most amazing fact about this car is that it’s cheaper than the original Fiat 500E, so city dwellers could afford it easier.
Speed is not this car’s trump card, but is nevertheless enough for its needs: 105 kilometers per hour. That doesn’t mean, however, that the car will run at 65 mph for an hour. This is probably referring to city speeds, where the efficiency of electric vehicles is highly superior to that of a gasoline car. When going outside, on the other hand, the efficiency is likely to be reduced by wind drag, but not much, if the driver uses the gearbox properly.
So Karabag leases its Fiat 500E electric cheapo to German customers for 299 euros per month. Why only leasing is available, I don’t know. But what’s for sure is that the company makes a powerful statement by this car and a bit of rivalry to the auto manufacturing behemoths who’d take prices down in a decade. Electric conversions are the immediate future. Period.
We, at The Green Optimistic, also plan to convert a Fiat Barchetta to electric (we’ll call her Electretta). To make that dream happen, we need money. That’s why we set up a donation page, where you can help us with as little as $1 (or how much your wife allows you to – ;D ). Or, if you can’t donate, at least share the page with your friends, maybe someone will be able help us. Here’s Electretta’s page.
[via gas2]
