So what is this thing? And who makes it? Okay, slow down! And let go of my arm! Thank you. Okay, so, it’s made by a German company calledNext.e.GO Mobile SE, and the sorta stupidly-named e.Wave X is a little electric city car hatchback that can seat four, has a 107 horsepower motor, has a range of about 155 miles in city driving or 101 miles city/highway combined in the WLTP cycle, a 30.4 kWh lithium-ion battery, weighs about 2,800 pounds, has a top speed of about 84 mph, and is RWD. You know what’s notable about all those figures? They’re all just fine. Those aren’t incredible numbers for any of those categories, but for a small city car that you can use for occasional highway trips, they’re all absolutely fine. No, it’s not a Tesla Model S that can melt your face off on on ramps and go 300 miles per charge, but who cares? You hardly ever need 1/3 of what a Model S gives you, in speed or range or size or weight. Besides, aren’t EV owners always reminding us that range isn’t as big a deal because so many EV owners charge at home? If that’s the case, then 100 to 150 miles should be just fine.
Even better, this thing looks pretty fun to me! I’m a big fan of the mildly cartoonish styling; it doesn’t take itself too seriously, but at the same time it’s not overly cute-ified. It’s got nice big wheels and those rally-style driving lights and what looks like a usable roof rack and just enough chunky looking black bits to feel a bit rugged, even.
Underneath everything is an aluminum space frame, and based on an image I saw in the video of the dash display, it appears the battery pack is floor mounted, like almost everyone’s is, and there’s what looks to be a motor on the rear axle:
On the inside, once again, all I can see is completely decent adequacy all around! That steering wheel even looks to have the skin of the Alacantar on it, and there’s Apple CarPlay on that plenty-big LCD screen:
All of this just fine! What are you, an emperor? This would get your ass to and from work and probably do like 80% of the things you use a car for, no problem. Honestly, this is the direction we need to be looking for mass adoption of EVs. Not every EV has to be able to do everything, all the time. You just don’t need a 5,500 pound luxury EV with a 350 mile range to drag your butt to and from work every day. The whole point of these things is efficiency, right? So why are we building massive juggernauts? Plus, we need cheap EVs, too, and right now, those don’t really exist on the market. If you had something like this for your day-to-day needs, you could have some big, fun V8 in your garage for occasional road trip or noise-enjoying use, and we’d still come out ahead eco-wise. This e.Wave X thing is also a good reminder that these things have potential to be appealing, too. I want to see more of this. I’m not holding my breath that this will come to the US, and I realize we’d have to have some sort of alternate, relaxed crash standards for this category, but I think it’s worth it. Not everything needs to be everything to everyone. There’s a place for small, fun, useful EVs, and it’s time we accepted that. Pro tip: You can recognize a sane and reasonable EV by the absence of stupid door handles. seems like you should own one to go with your Pao “Whoa, Jalopnik went nuts after Torch and Tracy left. And Buddhists can REALLY hold a grudge.” And the best thing about a manual is getting to fiddle with lots of controls that meaningfully affect the driving characteristics and experience. Careful clutch management, early shift, late shift, high revs, good range, etc. Let me tell you, fiddling with all the possible settings in my dad’s 2017 Volt scratches that itch. Whether it’s seeing how much you can beat the range estimate by, seeing how to plan out your errands to use the 53 miles pure electric only each day, changing to eco vs Sport, playing the Regen only braking game…. The future for people who like to fiddle is bright! I also got myself an ebike to go with my project car. Same thing. It’s a constant project (with 1-3 fewer zeros!) and has all the fun character of knowing when and how to shift what, set motor levels, etc. I was very anxious about the electric era, but living with one allows the same car to either be set-and-forget (those auto appliance drivers) AND infinite fiddlabilty (us manual folks). Rejoice! I would be in line for a manual EV, even if it made no sense efficiency wise. Yeah, some people live in the boondocks 50 miles from the nearest store. Some people need to drive 500 miles to grandma’s house every weekend. This car obviously isn’t for them. On the other hand, some people live in an urban area and rarely drive more than 20 miles at a shot. It’ll be fine for them even if they don’t own a second car. I really, really do want EVs to succeed and take over, as fast as possible. Yes, I fully understand the drawbacks compared to ICE vehicles, especially from an enthusiast perspective. The consequences of not decoupling transportation from fossil fuels are just so catastrophic that I strongly believe some sacrifices are worthwhile in order to mitigate the suffering and destruction that will be our legacy, and our children’s heritage. However, when it comes to expensive purchases (and contrary to what the automotive press would have you believe, $25,000 plus interest on a depreciating asset is an extremely expensive purchase for the average household) people have to think about the present, and what will work best for them right now. People are used to a certain lifestyle, and asking them to give up parts of it will always be a hard sell. Asking people to pay more for less will always be a hard sell. EVs need to offer people more of the kinds of things they care about than a similarly-expensive ICE vehicle. Otherwise, people are just not going to buy them. Unless you are lucky enough that five-figure purchases are just not a big deal for you, buying a car is a transaction where value for money really, really matters. I don’t see the value proposition in the absurdly-named Next.e.GO Mobile SE e.Wave X. Sure, a long as the vast majority of sacrifice is SILENTLY done by everyone else (God the WHINING! Shut up, eat your bowl ‘o bugs, then crawl back into your crappy little cage home already!) I did my part, I had a 10 oz steak instead of a 12 oz steak for dinner, I took my family of 7 on a cruise from a closer port (we still flew there though, we’re not animals!). I even scaled down my latest purchase from a 7.3L F350 to a 6.7L F250. I gotta have SOMETHING to move my family… AND my 28″ cigarette boat around! Sucks but it’s for the kids amIrite? Now when’s MY televised award ceremony? That said though (and I’m fully expecting Adrian to start howling for my blood here) it needs smaller diameter wheels. Maybe some kind of neo-dog-dish things or the chunky two-spoke retro-’80s-futurism things you see on French concept cars. I dunno. The black painted thin spokes aren’t working for me. https://carstyling1.blogspot.com/2006/12/2008-obvio-828.html Or 18 clowns. …aka, the socially-distant bar, post-COVID? DORA, huh? I looked it up but couldn’t figure out which of these meanings you were referencing. Help a brother out. Acronym Definition DoRA Division of Revenue Act (South Africa) DoRA San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (American Society for Cell Biology; San Francisco, CA) DoRA Dynamic Online Routing Algorithm DoRA Digital Operating Room Assistant (hospitals) DoRA Data Optimized Revision A DoRA Department of Regulatory Agencies (Colorado) DoRA Discover, Offer, Request, Acknowledge (Internet protocol assignment) DoRA District Office Research and Analysis DoRA Dallas Office Rapid Adjustment DoRA Directory Of Rare Analyses DoRA Digital Online Research Assistant DoRA Defence Of the Realm Act DoRA Definition Of Operations Report Analysis DoRA Development Organization for the Revival of Afghanistan DoRA Defence Of the Realm Act Our realm could really use some defending right about now.
