The purpose-built full-electric Duo can meet a growing need for car-sharing and urban deliveries, Renault says.
The Moblize Duo will be launched in late 2023. The electric quadricycle has a top speed of either 45 kph or 80 kph, depending on the version, and a range of 140 km.
PARIS -- Renault has installed production capacity of 17,000 units annually for the Mobilize Duo, the automaker’s second attempt at building an electric quadricycle after the Twizy.
Executives at Mobilize, Renault Group's mobility services unit, say the market has changed since the Twizy's launch in 2012, with more needs for car-sharing and urban deliveries, as well as for vehicles that can be driven without a car license.
The Duo, which will be built in Tanger, Morocco, shares about 10 percent of its components with the Twizy, mainly its tube frame and front-and-back motocycle-style seating, but the rest of the design has been significantly improved, Renault says. Unlike the Twizy, the Duo has proper doors, an airbag, seat cushions and air conditioning.
It will be available through car-sharing companies and leased to fleets or private customers, but retail sales are not planned for now. There will be a cargo version called the Bento with a 1-cubic-meter box at the rear.
Read more: Renault Twizy successor adds range, speed and comfort
The quirky Twizy turned heads when it was launched in 2012, with annual sales topping 9,000 that year. But after years of declining sales, the Twizy was largely relegated to the sidelines of Renault’s electrification push. Recently it has been assembled in Renault Group’s factory in Busan, South Korea.
Now, with the rise of car-sharing, stricter emissions standards and the rising cost of new cars, electric quadricycles may be having a revival.
Stellantis introduced the Citroen Ami in 2020 and already has more than doubled capacity to 50,000 and launched an Opel version, the Rocks-e, with a Fiat version potentially called the Topolino in the works.
