Peugeot Jumps on the Tiny-e-Car Bandwagon
Tiny short-range electric cars with room for one or two were not uncommon at the IAA 2011 – VW brought the Nils, Audi had the Urban Concept, and Opel showed the Rak e. Peugeot missed the auto show, but has announced its own tiny electric car anyway – the Velv.
Velv is short for “Véhicule électrique léger de ville,” which the dictionary tells me is something like “city light electric vehicle.” Weighing only 1,433 lbs, the prototype is designed to have a range of about 60 miles and a top speed of 65 mph. So far, these numbers seem to be on paper only.
Space for three passengers is the Velv’s way of standing out. The seats are arranged in a sort of triangle, with the driver’s seat front and center. The passengers are to the rear. All three seats are accessible by gull-wing glass windows (above), and standard doors (below).
The gull-wing “doors” are powered by the 20kW electric engine (produced by Valeo), which draws its power from a lithium ion battery pack with a capacity of 8.5 kWh (produced by Johnson Controls). However, whether production of the Velv will maintain the same components as the prototype is still in question.
Rounding out the Velv’s striking and not particularly Peugeot-like appearance are the twin tires and narrow brake lights in the rear, below the small storage space nestled behind the passenger seats.
For photos, check out the gallery below.
Source | Gallery: Auto Motor Und Sport
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