Leonard Yankelovich promised he would share news about the FreZe as soon as it was ready. Call him a man of his word: the DARTZ founder and CEO sent us exclusive images of the FreZe Froggy EV BeachStar The Winners Edition – the EV brand’s new roadster – still in construction. However, what is for sale is not only the car but also the brand.
Yankelovich said he was tired of turning down investors willing to buy DARTZ. That was when he had the idea to revive Frese & Co, a coachbuilder that was years later acquired by RBVZ, the brand he revived as DARTZ. If anyone was willing to have a piece of his company, they could purchase FreZe instead.
“I had many proposals to sell DARTZ – but I am still young to sell my soul. That was one of the reasons why FreZe was reborn. It has the DARTZ DNA. In this roadster is also part of my heart and soul.”
Photo: DARTZ
There is also part of the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV, but not of the Cabrio version. DARTZ’s engineers used the hatchback to create the electric roadster. Yankelovich wants to charge €15,000 ($14,862 at the current exchange rate) for each of these tiny electric roadsters. According to him, that is a dirty cheap price tag for his new creation.
“Roadsters are cars for uber-rich people who don't even need a cabrio, but Froggy’s philosophy is ‘Affordable Opulence.’ From now on, everyone can afford a personal roadster. This car has several options, such as Bang & Olufsen audio, leather interior, 15-inch wheels (the entry-level version uses 13-inch wheels), a picnic set in the backpacks (which are standard), front splitter, rear spoiler, fender flares, and side steps.”
Just like DARTZ vehicles, leather is not just leather. The Froggy Beachstar (it should be roadster, but Yankelovich said that “roadster is boring”) can have leather from alligators, ostriches, or ponies. It also presents the “two-trunk system, successfully used on DARTZ big cars, and creatively changed for small.”
That is just the beginning for the brand: it will also have a targa, a cabrio, and hatchback derivatives. They will be sold to “big corporative clients, especially hotels, as who else will buy roadsters in bulk?”
Photo: DARTZ
What is still up for debate is who will supply the structure for these vehicles. If you think it is Wuling, you are wrong. Yankelovich said FreZe is a carrossiére (a coachbuilder) and can work with any car platform.
Even the Beachstar can be built with other underpinnings. Regardless of who provides them, the Froggy Beachstar will have a 50 kW (67 hp) and an estimated range of 300 kilometers (186 miles).
“That's achieved not by increasing battery capacity but by making the car lighter, with air ventilation of the battery (pack). Increasing battery capacity, we increase car weight. Increasing car weight, we need more power to move the car. That story is endless."
Photo: DARTZ
Keeping Wuling as a supplier or finding a new one will largely depend on who will purchase FreZe. Yankelovich already has people interested in the brand.
“We are now in talks with investors who want to buy the full project and set manufacturing with our design and technologies. And their plans are huge.”
The reason for FreZe to work on tiny electric cars has to do with the Latvian entrepreneur’s opinion about where electrification will drive us.
“My strong vision is that EVs have no big and bright future by definition, for many objective reasons. Complicated EV cars with ‘updates by air’ are just dangerous. But for such small, simple, cheap cars, the future is more or less bright.”
FreZe’s buyer does not necessarily have to share that vision, but it is what they will start working with when and if they buy the brand.
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