Major brand begins joint venture with IKEA-inspired firm to produce range of ‘super-cheap’ flat pack EVs
STELLANTIS has teamed up with Swedish firm Luvly with a view to producing flat-packed mini EVs.
The car-making giant, which already has a number of marques under its umbrella including Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen, Vauxhall/Opel and Jeep, sells a range of pint-sized quadricycles such as the Citroen Ami, Fiat Topolino and Opel Rocks Electric.
But now it seems they’re adding Luvly to their range – who build and deliver their cars in flat-pack form, much like Ikea’s famous furniture.
According to Autocar, Luvly’s chassis design uses a series of large composite panels joined with aluminium connectors, to which other key components – such as the suspension, motors and body panels – are mounted.
Speaking previously, Luvly boss Hakan Lutz said: “Doing that means the panels are super-cheap and we can ship them in pieces.”
By shipping the cars in an Ikea-style package, they’re able to make huge savings in transportation costs, with around 20 fully assembled examples of its O quadricycle able to fit in a standard 20ft container.
However, the same container can be used to ship 250 unassembled bodies.
Once the flat-pack modules arrive at their destination, they are assembled by professionals at local facilities before being delivered as fully built, road-ready vehicles to the buyer.
The O model, which has yet to go on sale, will boast a range of up to 62 miles with a swappable 6.4kWh battery pack that’s small enough to carry indoors and charge inside.
Much like other quadricycles – which are not quite cars and can in fact be legally driven under a motorcycle license – the top speed is a mere 56mph.
Priced from €10,000, or, roughly, £8,400, the O is mostly a champion of simplicity and convenience – even featuring 267 litres of trunk space.
Speaking to Zag Daily, Lutz added: “The aim of this partnership is to show that we can deliver on our promises.”
He added: “This is the first major commercial partnership with a player as pivotal as Stellantis.
“If we manage to prove the level of safety and the economics of our platform and Stellantis chooses to adopt it, that is a major thing – not only for us, but for the industry.”
This comes as Maserati, another Stellantis marque, recently confirmed they’ve axed the upcoming MC20 Folgore due to low demand.
The iconic Italian sports car manufacturer has reportedly been facing concerns over its future due to poor sales, and struggled to justify the release of an electric supercar.
The MC20 Folgore, which translates to ‘lightning’ in Italian, was intended to be the brand’s electric alternative to the stunning MC20 sports car.
However, the company determined that consumer demand for an electric model of the MC20’s calibre was too low to justify its release.
The MC20 Folgore – which promised a power output and performance characteristics similar to the existing V6-engined MC20 – was originally planned to be one of six Maserati EVs set for launch over the next year or so.
But last week, news broke that the brand’s global automaker and parent company Stellantis had decided against throwing them a £1.3billion investment.