Air conditioning, integrated camera or ten-inch screen: the car without a license is making its way to a wider audience and is also moving to electric, a mandatory path while the sale of new thermal cars will be prohibited in 2035 in the European Union.
“A mobility object in its own right”
The French manufacturer Ligier, a historic car manufacturer, returns to the Paris Motor Show for the first time in eight years. The manufacturer came to present two new models of these cars with limited speed, including the latest version of its JS50, its renewed car without a permit.
The machine produced in France, with a sporty appearance and elegant paint to attract a younger audience, is available in thermal and electric versions. In the latter case, the car has a range of more than 190 km.
“The world of the stroller is being transformed, it is becoming a mobility object in its own right, among other solutions,” the brand’s general director, François Ligier, told AFP.
To adapt, far from the strollers that were so mocked a few decades ago, Ligier vehicles are full of options: “We offer numerous configurations, finishes, possibilities such as heated seats, choice of colors,” lists François Ligier, with prices starting of 11,500 euros. .
La Carnole, back to the World Cup
Others have opted for more frugal options in terms of equipment. The Bagnole, an electric quadricycle developed by the Savoyard company Kilow, has an eye-catching design, a mix of steel and wood with a voluminous trunk. The brand returned after presenting its concept in 2022, already at the Paris Motor Show.
A solid wood board with simple buttons and wheels that allow it to travel on rural roads, the machine presented by Kilow allows all types of uses, says Bertrand Breme, director of the brand. “It’s fun, easy to use and has a load capacity of 650 liters,” he says.
The batteries, which can be repaired, are manufactured at the car’s production center in Cluses, Haute-Savoie: “The battery cells are not soldered, so we can only change defective cells. This allows them to prolong their life. useful life”, emphasizes Bertrand Breme.
Help with the purchase
The Kilow model sells between 9,900 and 11,750 euros, from which an ecological bonus of up to 900 euros can be deducted, while electric cars can benefit from thousands of euros in purchase aid.
“New producers would appreciate a hand,” emphasizes Bertrand Breme of Kilow.
“The cost per kilometer is more advantageous for electric vehicles than for thermal vehicles, recalls François Ligier. But in reality, the consumer rarely makes this calculation: he looks mainly at the purchase price, which is still more expensive than that of thermals.” At the moment, electric carts are a minority in Ligier.
But the trend is there. At Aixam, another historic manufacturer of unlicensed microvehicles, the evolution towards electric is undeniable, underlines general director Olivier Pelletier:
“Currently we sell 20% electric and 80% thermal. We believe that in the next five years we will move to 50/50.”
The successor to the Twizy in Mobilize
The big manufacturers were not wrong and also launched their electric carts. Of course, we think of the Citroën AMI launched in 2020, with a redesigned version presented at the show. On the program, a new design and updated chevron logo. Enough to compete with the Fiat Topolino, its cousin from the more recently launched Stellantis group.
At the Mobilize stand, a Renault group brand, we discovered the successor to the Twizy. A two-seater vehicle, the Duo, available from 9,100 euros in a version without a license, limited to 45 km/h and a version with a license that can reach 80 km/h.
Ademe (Agency for Environment and Energy Management) has even launched a program, the eXtrême Défi, to work on small electric vehicles.
“The success of the electric bicycle is leading manufacturers to manufacture batteries that we did not have ten years ago. Potentially, these components can be reused in other types of vehicles,” explains Gabriel Plassat, who leads this program.
According to the Aveli association, dedicated to this type of mobility, between 20 and 25,000 new light intermediate vehicles are sold per year in France today.
“An annual growth rate of 50% would take us to a population of 22 million in 2038,” he indicates in a recent report. The result, he claims, is 25 million tons less CO2 than 22 million electric city cars.
Source: BFM TV
