More than 700 orders for German electric one-seater
Berlin - The makers of a new one-seat, electric runabout in Germany have received more than 700 pre-orders for the city car.
Innovative Mobility (IMA), the company behind the project, said roughly 50 per cent of the pre-orders for the Colibri have come from private motorists.
Fleet owners and local authorities accounted for the rest.
The Colibri - the name means hummingbird in German - was developed using more than 2.8 million euros (3.84 million dollars) in funding from the German Science Ministry.
It is designed to appeal to urban dwellers and business operators. "The enormously positive market response was achieved without a sophisticated marketing offensive and it shows the time is right for micro cars," said IMA managing director Thomas Delos Santos.
The Colibri features a 6.5-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion phosphate battery and can be charged from a household socket. The minicar manages a top speed of 120 kilometres per hour and accelerates briskly.
The featherweight electric car is due to sell for around 9,000 euros (12,300 dollars).
On top of that comes the monthly leasing fee of around 55 euros for the battery.//DPA
RELATED