Colibri One-Seater EV Coming In 2015, For Less Than €10,000

The Colibri, a one-seater EV for under €10,000, will be hitting the market in 2015. The tiny and economical electric vehicle was unveiled by Innovative Mobility Automobile GmbH (IMA) at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show that is occurring this week. Small EVs such as this have the significant advantage of having a long battery life-cycle and being very fast to charge.

“The Colibri, which means ‘hummingbird,’ seats one and has a top speed of 120 kilometers an hour (75 miles per hour),” Autoblog Green writes. “A range of 110 km (68 miles) from a 6.5-kWh lithium-ion phosphate battery. Zero-to-100 kmh (62 mph) time is apparently 9.9 seconds and you can get extras like air conditioning or bump the car up to the ‘sport version.'”

Preorders for the vehicles are expected to start in 2014 for under 10,000 euros, with delivery in 2015. IMA is expecting to be able to produce about 17,000 a year to start with. According to the company, there is a market potential of about 500,000 for compact one-seater EVs. The company thinks that its vehicles are very well suited for carsharing programs, government use, and delivery and mobile nursing services. Since its development began, the car has received over €2.8 million in funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.