Meet Luvly, an ‘IKEA-style’ flat-packed electric car

The idea of microcars as quirky, little curiosities driven by the likes of Mr. Bean could be about to change. Important automakers, such as Citroën or Mercedes-Benz, are focusing on developing smaller, more efficient vehicles.

Pictured: The Electric Car Renault Ami 8.

CNN reported that Swedish automaker start-up Luvly is designing “boxy but sleek” vehicles that “embody Scandi minimalism” we have learned to associate with IKEA.

Image: luvly_global / Unsplash

Why would these cars look like they belong in an IKEA showroom? Well, as CNN explains, that’s because they are designed to be flat-packed.

BBC’s Top Gear website explains that this “IKEA-style” electric vehicle has been thought out to come in a nice, light package that makes shipping more cost-effective and environmentally friendly.

Image: Luvly official website

However, before you think this car will be your next weekend project, Luvly CEO Hakan Lutz explains to CNN that the vehicle still needs to be assembled in a plant before reaching the customers.

Image: devsnice / Unsplash

According to Top Gear, the Luvly O, the company’s prototype model, weighs less than 400 kilograms (ca. 882 lb). This is not surprising, given that the name stands for Light Urban Vehicles.

Due to its dimensions, two seats, and trunk size, Top Gear compares it to the Smart ForTwo, a joint venture by Swatch and Mercedes-Benz.

Pictured: A Smart ForTwo on a London street

According to the Luvly company website, one of the biggest issues with electric vehicles is the size and weight of their batteries. Luvly has tried to address this problem with a light, swappable battery.

Indeed, the Top Gear website highlights that the Luvly O is meant for city life, with a top speed of 55mph (ca. 89 km/h) and able to reach 62 miles (ca. 100 km) with a single battery charge.

CNN highlights that microcars have been available for a mass audience since the 1950s. Indeed, they first became popular in Post-War Europe as an alternative to scarce materials and fuel shortages.

Nonetheless, microcars have a reputation of being unsafe due to their low height, light frames, and limited front crumple zones, as CNN points out.

The Luvly company website claims that their automobiles are built like “formula racing cars”, with energy absorbers and a safety shell to protect the passengers.

CNN informs that the Lovely O is expected to launch the car throughout 2024 with a price circa 10,000 euros, or what is the same, 10,500 US dollars.

With the ever-present concern about the impact of automobiles on the environment, electric vehicles have managed to reach an audience that was unthinkable a few decades ago.

Brands like Tesla have become respectable names in their own right, selling an image of coolness that moves on from the idea of electric cars as slow, impractical signifiers of a green conscience.

Will electric cars like the Luvly 0 become the next industrial revolution for the auto industry? Only time will tell.

Image: asfotosde1enorme / Unsplash