EVs: Create a new category

Is there a place in Europe for low speed, lightweight cars for urban use - at a lower price but with with less safety integrity than conventional cars?

I think the answer is yes - but the regulations need updating first.

Europe has around 300,000 micro-cars, or quadricycles. The heavy quadricycle (L7e category), such as the all-electric Reva G-Wiz, is limited to 400 kg in weight without batteries and a power output of 15 kW, which in practice means a top speed approaching 50 mph. there are those that would not allow quadricycles however, on the grounds that they are not as safe as conventional cars.

The European Quadricycle Manufacturers and Importers Association (Association Europeene des Fabricants et Importateurs de Quadricycles) estimate that the rate of accidents per '000 vehicles in conventional cars (M1 category) is more than three times that in quadricycles. This is because quadricycles are designed for and used as low speed vehicles not on fast roads, whereas most serious injuries occur as a result of driving at excessive speeds. The association claims that the accidentology record of quadricycles (the number of deaths and serious injuries expressed as a percentage of vehicles on the road) is twice as good as it is for conventional cars.

Both the G-Wiz and the Twizy are quadricycles capable of almost 50 mph. The G-Wiz has been driven for nearly 150 million miles with a single fatality and no serious injuries, an admirable safety record. (I understand that the fatality may have happened regardless of the vehicle, such was the nature of the accident). The Twizy will be launched next year.

The UK government and Top Gear both conducted the standard M1 category crash tests on the G-Wiz and not surprisingly it failed as it was not designed to pass them and is in any case limited by weight which restricts safety levels. The safety cage was subsequently strengthened within the regulations but remains unable to meet the standards required of conventional cars. Jeremy Clarkson called for the G-Wiz to be banned, the UK government has called for an EU review on quadricycles.

Nontheless, based on the evidence above there  appears to be a case for quadricycles rather than against. However, there are advantages and disadvantages with the current quadricycle regulations.

The disadvantages are that the weight limit without batteries of 400 kg means that manufacturers may have difficulty improving the level of safety. The Twizy will have a four point drivers harness and 3 point rear seat belt and a drivers airbag, it will not have other safety features typically found in M1 cars such as side airbags, disc brakes and ABS. It is questionable whether such features would make much difference to safety in practice in city driving, but regardless the weight limit impedes additional features (and the Twizy lacks decent doors, presumably as a result of something having to be omitted to meet the 400 kg weight limit). The Twizy has yet to be crash tested to M1 standard so we do not know how it would perform (and it is not a requirement that it is tested this way). If the weight limit was increased from 400 kg to 500 kg, then this would give manufacturers the opportunity to explore improved safety whilst adhering to the spirit of a low speed, low weight vehicle. There are some exciting developments in the use of lightweight composite materials that would add safety and charging efficiency at light weight eg the work being done by Gordon Murray Design, or Imperial College London's STORAGE Project.

If quadricycles were excluded from use on motorways then this would add another level of safety and emphasise the distinction between vehicles designed for low speed and high speed use.

Look at the advantages of such a decision and of electric quadricycles in general:

• lightweight means low energy requirements, a key driver for future vehicle design
• most city driving is with 1 or 2 people, quadricycles are ideal for this, particularly urban commuting
• electric drivetrain means emission free at the tailpipe and the opportunity to make cities pollution free
• as the percentage of electricity generated from renewables increases, so these vehicles become cleaner still
• 2 such vehicles can be parked in a single parking bay, freeing up much needed parking access
• quadricycles offer motorists low cost mobility. The Twizy will cost £6,995 plus around £40 per month to lease the batteries. Compare this price to the £30,000 charged for M1 electric cars currently.

One more point: these low cost, low speed, urban quads have the potential to ignite the market for electric cars and should be included in the subsidies. At £3,000 subsidy a Twizy will cost £4,000, everyone will want to drive one and the government will have a runaway success rather than a potential failure on its hands - and more EVs on the roads.

Some commentators raise the threat of a quadricycle being hit by a driver of a large vehicle such as a Range Rover. The solution though is not to discourage quadricycles, but to ensure that motorists are encouraged to drive low energy vehicles with adequate safety levels for their usage in cities and to discourage large, heavy, energy intense cars. This is the manufacturer's view - let's build bigger cars that offer very high safety levels (and profit margins) - rather than an approach which designs a mobility system around our energy, climate and built-up environment.

Electric cars are forcing us to rethink the one-size-fits-all nature of a car due to the limitations of range and the need to reduce emissions and energy consumption. But why should a car be designed for the 2% of journeys rather than the 98%? Car clubs with plug-in hybrids, fast charging and public transport offer a solution to the other 2% anyway.

Maybe it is time to review the quadricycle regulations to ensure that the best solution is reached for urban mobility.