Until Tesla came along, a lot of people believed that the place for electric propulsion, at least for the beginning, was going to be inside small vehicles that never have to leave the crowded streets of a city.
Given the low maximum range that EVs had back then, not venturing too far from home or civilization made perfect sense: stick to where the power sockets are aplenty. Since then, however, not that many companies seem to have followed the advice, with most of them focusing nowadays on SUVs and luxury sedans.
But Daimler's smart division didn't have much of a choice considering its bread-and-butter models was already a tiny two-seater that struggled with side winds once it got out of the urban environment and onto the highways.
The smart fortwo electric drive was far from a success, but it did sell well enough to warrant a second generation, this time convincing its larger brother, the forfour, to join in as well. But small as they might be, they still have starting prices of around $25,0000 in Europe, which is more than double that of a conventionally-powered model.
A new startup called e.GO Mobile AG looks to fix all that by marketing a car that's marginally larger than a smart fortwo but offers seating for four (we'll get back to that soon), improved electric range, and, most importantly, a price tag of just €15,900 (roughly $17,000).
The company is run by RWTH Aachen University professor Günther Schuh and has released a brochure enticing possible clients to make a mere €1,000 deposit for the e.GO Life, even though a production start date has not been settled yet.
The e.GO Life comes with a 130 km (80 miles) maximum range in its standard guise, and a 170 km (106 miles) one when equipped with the optional 19.2 kWh one. It claims to have four seats, but it looks like the room available in the back is going to be very limited. Besides, it will force its owner to choose between taking the kids along or leaving some space for the groceries, as both as the same time seem impossible.
Considering the price and the performance which is similar to that of the new smart (not to mention the design), the e.GO Life has a lot going for it. All that's left is for e.GO Mobile AG to successfully build it at the promised price, and Daimler might have to step up its game to remain relevant.
Fortunately, the design has gone a long way since this video was made.
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