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Bee.One Electric Car to be Tiny, Cheap, and Cute

Posted April 21, 2009 3:33 PM

From Engadget:

British start-up Bee has just dropped some details on its forthcoming uber-affordable electric car, the One. This five-door affair will have a top speed of around 80 miles per hour, with a maximum range of 200 miles before needing a recharge.

The car will run on two battery packs stowed under the floor, and will be easily swappable in case charging stations start popping up all over the U.K. The One will also have a constant 3G connection for management and performance system software monitoring and updates.

The most exciting detail about the car, however (besides its adorable attitude) is likely to be its pricepoint: £12,000 ($17,700) plus the recent government subsidy of £5000 ($7400) for electric car purchases will bring this puppy down to about £7,000 -- or just over $10,000. Sure -- it's not Tata-cheap... but this one's electric! The One is scheduled to go into production during 2011 with an initial run of about 12,000 vehicles. One more render of the car after the break.

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Guru
Engineering Fields - Electrical Engineering - New Member

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#1

Re: Bee.One Electric Car to be Tiny, Cheap, and Cute

04/21/2009 5:12 PM

sigh - if only it wasn't British.

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Guru
United Kingdom - Member - Indeterminate Engineering Fields - Control Engineering - New Member

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#2
In reply to #1

Re: Bee.One Electric Car to be Tiny, Cheap, and Cute

04/22/2009 6:35 AM

Well, what else would one do with all this offshore wind energy?

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Power-User

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#3

Re: Bee.One Electric Car to be Tiny, Cheap, and Cute

04/22/2009 8:25 AM

I'd buy one but I would like to see the true performance specs. A lot of these proposals sound good until you try and run the vehicle at top speed for rated range. As a commuter vehicle that would be a requirement.

With a 321 km range and 128 km/hr I could drive to work, go for lunch, go shopping after work and plug it in when I got home. (My commute is 100 km at 120km/hr each way.)

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Anonymous Poster
#4

Re: Bee.One Electric Car to be Tiny, Cheap, and Cute

04/22/2009 11:16 AM

Great idea, but a death trap on wheels. It's way too small to compete with most of today's vehicles in a crash, especially with a potential speed of 80mph.

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Guru

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#5
In reply to #4

Re: Bee.One Electric Car to be Tiny, Cheap, and Cute

04/22/2009 11:20 AM

I'm assuming you live in the US. If you have been over to Europe you would know that the streets are filled with Smart cars that are all about that size.

Pretty much replace all the SUVs and Pickups in the States with tiny Smart cars and thats about the balance over there.

That being said, yes, if you get into an accident with a truck you are royally screwed.

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Guru
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#7
In reply to #4

Re: Bee.One Electric Car to be Tiny, Cheap, and Cute

04/22/2009 7:25 PM

Just make them so they bounce.

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Anonymous Poster
#6

Re: Bee.One Electric Car to be Tiny, Cheap, and Cute

04/22/2009 1:24 PM

Hm-m-m-m?? Wonder what the grill looks like.

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