It's rival is actually the Dacia Spring, which is cheaper at £14,900, has rapid charging, more range. and can actually reach the motorway speed limit. It's also a 4 seater. Lease price is about £160 a month.
@@ziggarillo so what? The Dacia isn't a tiny 2 seater. People who buy these will also have a more practical car - this isn't an alternative to a proper car, it's an alternative to a scooter.
@@BlackheathTownhouseNo, they are both electric vehicles, and the Spring is cheaper. Obviously if you only had a motorcycle licence and couldn't be bothered to take a car test, you'd be stuck with a quadricycle as an alternative.
@@ziggarillo wasn’t necessarily talking about licensing, but sure… I was just saying I thought the product itself would have been better suited for it purposes if it were marketed and sold cheaper… OTR prices for these kind of products matter A LOT because they’re positioned in the unique gap between walking/biking/public transport use and full-size car ownership… if any one of the parameters is out of reach, it won’t work.
@@maxnewts There are no vehicles of this type available at the price you suggest. It is not possible to get anything more sophisticated than a citroen Ami in the 7- 8k price range The Dacia Spring sells for around £ 8k in China, badged as the Dongfeng Nano. With shipping and tax it costs £14,900 as the Dacia Spring in the UK.
It'll be second hand where it gets interesting (just like the Dacia Spring - I wouldn't buy it new, but second hand it might really shake things up quite quickly). Unlike the Spring though, there's advantages to this that you can't get in any other form - a Spring could be a second hand 4 seater EV that's probably still better than the Spring.
@@leejohnson3209hmmm if we talking second hand... Why would you buy this new for £15K when you can get a used Audi or BMW from 4, 5 years ago for £10K?
British Rail or whatever it is these days, that owns the station car parks, should offer cut price or free parking for these and promote the green benefits of the combination. Side benefit, the car parks will be able to hold nearly twice the amount of cars!
In italy we have this xev but the quality is very bad, some parts rust near the windows, also when the battery is under 20% a tortoise appear and the velocity is reduced, also this xev is design for battery swap and in italy some people steal the battery pack very easy. The inside door handel somerimes broke and some people claim the brakes are bad. The dacia spring is better for the money
I have been riding my bike around town for years to get to work, shop, exercise, explore... I have the range/usage envelope of about 50 miles dialed in to perfection. It's definitely an adjustment to live like that, but definitely doable. Having a covered/dry vehicle that does not need physical effort and can carry more stuff seems like a dream come true from that perspective. Transitioning from an SUV or big vehicle would be culture shock, so might be an impediment. If you could change the business model so that there is no upfront cost, then it would be a lot more appealing. Perhaps a "club" model, where you join and get to use a wider variety of vehicles, I see boat clubs structured that way.
Really like this 👍 Unfortunately we just recently bought a 2nd hand Smart ForTwo EQ which does the same and was actually 2/3rds the cost, otherwise I'd have one 😁
Yes, second hand Smarts are probably the better buy right now. But then the people who buy new are always sacrificing their wallets to help the rest of us so more power to them! The swappable battery is worth paying for if it gets you a car like vehicle (this isn't a car, unlike the smart, it's a quadricycle, not the same thing even remotely) and you live in a flat or other place where there's zero way to charge at home.
I read over 120 comments and the big issue is the price, while the battery was almost not discussed. One said it was too heavy to swap, but the best was someone who said take two spares for long trips. Looking at the part where a hand is on the battery, I would say weight is not a problem (yes, I am a man, and not a wimpy one at that). I am more intrigued by the second comment - that picture looks like at least one extra battery can be carried, and that would be enough to make the range viable if swapping schemes never eventuate. Most people would be fine with the range, and the few who need a little more would only need one extra battery; two seems over the top. If they need one more, it is most likely to be on rare occasions, so the best solution is for the distributors to have a few ready to rent out rather than a swap scheme. They could do both in time. All it needs is a 65mph speed and that price reduced a little. Great little car almost there.
This is the type of car that we really need for city driving. Still a bit to expensive for most people, but once battery tech changes and prices drop, it will be perfect.
We have a Twizy with aftermarket windows but it doesn't have heating, aircon, abs and getting in and out of the back seat is a pain. We love it but I would think it isn't as practical as the Yoyo.
No, it's not better value because it's a completely different vehicle. Show me a Spring Mini with only two seats, and I'll get interested quickly. You may as well be saying a plane is better value than a yacht.
Same range and price as the silence SO4, L7e but with the Silennce you can slide battery out the sides and trolley it into home or office to charge, although silence only has shuko charging but you can buy an adapter
Swappable on the fly battery stations could make fleets of these a great choice in cities if the cost was reasonable. I would expect most of us would agree that moving towards swappable batteries across the entire electric car sector would be a massive step forward.
I don't see any need for swappable batteries, as most of us don't drive far enough in a day for it to be an issue. Charge it overnight at home, never visit a fuel station, no waiting around for anything.
@@BlackheathTownhouse 1. It gives more freedom for longer journeys for all EVs if batteries are universal and hot swappable. 2. Not everyone in a town in particular has easy access from home to car for charging.
@@ciphermatrix it's only going to work if the batteries are leased, otherwise it's a cheap way of getting a new battery when yours is knackered. It's a niche idea that Tesla did try, and abandon early on, instead opting for Superchargers.
@@BlackheathTownhouse they didn't try it though, did they? They didn't actually install it. Also, you may have missed we already have this technology for scooters in Asia, and Silence has a quadricycle and scooters that use the same tech. Obviously the big advantage is, park outside your flat where you absolutely won't get a charger, and can't run a cable, wheel the battery/ies upstairs, and charge them. That's a huge advantage over most EVs.
@@BlackheathTownhouse Yeah I don't disagree here. We need quality assurance and renewal of battery technology. Much easier to do this and reduce reliance on difficult to source rare earth minerals and toxic lithium but only if it is standardised. Brave government who legislates but otherwise we are only tackling some aspects of ICE pollution when we can go further.
Rather than battery swapping, how about a home charger. Remove the battery and charge it inside your home, solving the problem for those who can't charge outside their houses.
Do you agree that the Yoyo is a direct competitor to the Microlino. From your review I gather that the Yoyo is a more compelling alternative to the Microlino as it comes RHD, A/C, infotainment and battery swapping technology at a similar price point.
All of that is better than the Microlino. However, if I want to be stared at and flaunt my bank balance, the Microlino is pretty cool too. It'd probably kill my back to climb in and out of it though.
Looks like a grown up Twizzy. Having driven 300 miles on a Sunday on French motorways at 50 mph with a spacesaver I understand how it might feel. I want one.
Honestly, there's no way I could justify that price tag, £1 for 23 miles, that's about 4.5miles per kw efficiency, not good at all seeing its soo small, dacia spring is better, even a second hand seat mii. Gives more room, faster and more efficiency, and you would get £4,000 in change,
Very niche and very useful in the larger cities but the price needs to be £10k given its up against the Spring. Residuals if they sell many could be problematic as the used market will decide its worth.
I was just in Amsterdam and they have loads is a similar car called the Biro, so there is obviously a market. Given the limited range and lack of DC fast charging I would say it's really only an inner city car and if you want to commute then you would be better off with the Dacia Spring or a second hand EV like the Seat Mii. Good luck to them though it's a great looking thing and more polished as a design than the Biro or the Ami.
Love it for what it is. But the price is crazy for what you get - will be a good 2nd hand buy at 3 years old for about £5/£6k based on what most EVs depreciate at.
Like it. It’d actually be perfect for me - I don’t live in a city so the Ami’s speed limit would be restrictive, but this would let me pop down to the beach for a swim, or to the Chinese for dinner, without starting up my (shameful) big, diesel 4x4…
I have a Smart for two, I love it dearly, it’s my 3rd one! I’m looking for a similar size to a Smart or a bit bigger if it has to be, but a practical electric car, simple no frills, but with near to 200 mile range! I’ll go on waiting I suppose! 😢
Love this thing!!! If I need a replacement for the Citroen Ami shaped hole on my drive when my college course ends this will be in the running... The problem is that the Dacia Spring will also be in that fight. Hell, the Spring would end up in the question of "should i just rent ANOTHER Ami" if it came to that. Great vid as always, what a fun car! I hope it finds its market
I think you made a serious gaff by mentioning the Honda E. If you look at their used car price, I would jump at the Honda E because if compared it to the Yoyo, it makes so much more sense. Higher speed, a little more range and 4 seats with a plethora of extras!
The competition to this is not the mini, or the Spring because those are "cars" that need a license. L7e can be driven with a moped licence from 16. Yes, competition is AMI but that is also half price. So what do you get for paying double ? Double the range (at AMI speed) Swap able Batteries, great if you can charge them outside the car, no need for a charging point. Is it going with one Battery only (more cargo) AC. Now, my AC in the AMI works but was 1900Euros plus 1200 Euros for the extra Battery to run off. I live in Spain and we are running right now between 33C to41C in the shade, WAY more in the sun. A car without AC right now, especially in a glass house as the AMI, is not usable. So, I estimate that the AC will take an easy third of that range but that's ok, I doubt you do cross country trips in this. So calculating the AC, another 5kWh Battery and the ability to swap them, is an easy 4000Euros worth, the Quality looks nice, the entertainment system looks nice, so yes, 5000, even 6000 Euro more then the AMI considering its a small outfit and not a world carmaker, is ok. That puts it at 14000. The actual competition however is the Microlino , same tech, same class same size but over 20000! Then this looks reasonable.
It looks like a nice enough car, and maybe rich city dwellers will get one as a runaround (as you suggested) - but despite having the higher top speed and air conditioning, it actually does away with the key benefit of the Ami - being a very, very cheap second/city car where you really don't need the higher speed most of the time, a screen or air con (although the latter would be nice). It's simply too expensive. You can currently lease a Nissan Leaf for £145 a month, and not that long ago you could lease a GWM Ora 03 for £170 a month. There are other cars all under £200 a month. In France, you can lease the Ami for around €25 a month and people have suggested as little as £20 here, although I'm yet to actually see anything remotely close to that. Small cars are perfect for cities but they need to be affordable. Having this more expensive than a Dacia Spring means I just can't see it selling well. A three year warranty also seems quite stingy.
Be very careful buying anything that does not have a dealership network. I have an 18 month old silence S01 connected. Has had many faults and silence has failed to fix them. Have reported them to trading standards. The odometer displays the wrong milage. The battery has a fault that stops the BLE from working. The paint is coming of the rear wheel. Rust on front forks. Rust on the frame and stands. Very poor build quality and very poor dealer service. Shame as it's a great bike to ride. 😢
I mean, you do know I can get an old double decker if I want, and that carries way more people than this! (exactly how all the people comparing this to four seater actual cars as opposed to quadricycles sound). You cannot compare chalk and cheese in a way that is useful. Two seats and short is a requirement for some of us. And new is a requirement for lots of people be it a Tesla, Dacia Spring or Land Rover. Which is good for the rest of us, because we overwhelmingly buy second hand. If you want the shorter range, and don't need swappable batteries you can take inside, the Smart is currently your best 2 seater EV. If you want a cheap 4 door EV, a second hand anything is likely to be better than the Dacia Spring at the price point it has, especially if your excited by a vehicle being bigger.
Yeah I totally agree with the sentiment here. My bike only has one seat, but it's still my weapon of choice most days in the city, because it gets me places in London quicker and cheaper than a car. If everybody bought a Minivan just in case they ever needed to take 8 passengers, then we'd be pretty screwed.
Have you test driven the Microlino yet. I’m in Bristol & that car really interests me. This is pretty sweet. Hopefully with battery technology developing so fast the cost will drop.
Not yet! Though I do want to. I've spent a lot of time in Bristol, and I wonder if the Microlino might be a bit terrifying along the dual carriageways and around parts of the city centre where there are multiple lanes and it can turn into a bit of a free for all.
£16,000 makes it a non-starter in my book. You can get a brand-new Toyota Aygo for just over £14,000, and that will do so much more, whilst still being cheap to run.
This is a cool little thing, but I wonder who would buy it when you can get a used WV e-up/Skoda Citigo/Seat Mii for about the same price, which are actual proper cars, with actual usable range and features while still being tiny and really pleasant and fun to drive. Still, don't mind people having alternatives that don't pollute the air around me, so if someone wants to spend that much on this, you won't see me complaining.
Good to see more quadricycles coming to market - the problem is still the costs however as you can buy a two year old Nissan leaf with significantly more range, space, safety etc for under £10k so why would you opt for one of these types of vehicles - obviously if the depreciation is similar and they are less than £5k after two years then it makes sense
😂 We do like you. I think it's quirky looking, it would make a good first car once they make it to the secondhand market. Or even food delivery drivers, being able to swap the battery's locally.
Can someone more technically minded please tell me why these little cars don't have rapid charging? I'm a big fan of the Silence SO4 L7e which is technically very similar to this, but it has a domestic socket charging time of 6-8 hours and I don't know what on a public charger. Is it drastically more expensive to have battery chemistry that can fast charge, or is it something else? What am I missing? If they could get these to charge in an hour that would be a game-changer. Thanks in advance.
I have to imagine if it didn't have that puffer fish mouth on the front, it would get a ton more range thanks to improved aerodynamics. That said, I love it, I wish I could afford a 2nd car. Maybe one day
A two year old Smart For Two EQ with under 10,000miles on the clock can be had for under £10k now and that has a range of 100 miles in Summer on 60 mph A roads and can easily reach 70mph and has an 80HP motor and is a far more solid piece of kit. The Smart For Four EQ is even cheaper for the same year and mileage so the Yo-yo can't compete against those.
Sorry guys but i think as a city car its amazing, i been watching thesr small evs and waiting for them to be available in the UK. There is another im waiting for but not sure it will arrive to our shores and thats the Wuling mini ev, in China they sell for less than $5000 but of cause being the golden isle we wont see that price. Id certainly like to at least have a test drive or even test week with one of these yoyo and see how it would fare with my work as an Uber Eats delivery driver..
Not that we will get this ”car” in Sweden but I could imagine myself driving one of those when the kids left the household. We ha ve to far to bike to the nearest shopping centre and commute on public transport to work. On long journeys I would take the train or rent a car (Volvo on demand). But as someone mentioned the Dacia Spring seems a more versatile car and probsbly car pooling would be better for me. Like the design though and if they could sell it for say 10000 £ it would be a better buy.
It's certainly the kind of car that should be encouraged for city driving but it's way too expensive when you can get a Dacia Spring for a few Bob more. If it were half the price I could see it being successful.
My work is 3 miles away. I try and cycle as often as I can, but a small, light, city car could be an ideal alternative. But not at this price. For such a small drive, the Ami makes more sense because of what it gets rid of to save money. For a long drive I want my climate control, cruise control, a big screen for SatNav and managing my music - but for 3 miles that takes about 5-6 minutes, no. Same for the school run and shopping trips.
16k is still a lot for this when you think the Dacia spring which is a small ev with four seats is coming out around that price, but it’s cheaper than the 20k micro are charging for the microlino. I think that grey plastic bar down the side ruins the look of this one a bit! Better if it colour matched the rest of the body but that’s just me. If these type of cars can get down to the 10k price bracket then they might be more of a viable option, I mean 10k or £100 a month lease would be quite attractive for city dwellers.
The Dacia has really caused a headache for LOTS of EV manufacturers, and should hopefully bring down the price of the whole sector over time. I think you could almost reply to every EV review on RU-vid now and say "but the Dacia Spring...", and that's exactly what we've needed for years now
They won't sell at that price. It will be interesting to see if they bring in the Wulin Mini and other small cars as they have a similar performance. I would have thought vehicles of this type would really challenge the Citroen Ami Not everyone needs an expensive tech laden monster. App 10k would do it.
That's a big no no and I would assume your house insurance company might have something to say about charging a largish ev battery in the house. Look at all the e bike fires that have happened and those batteries are small by comparison. If you did do it and it caused a fire I could see any insurance company not paying out.
@@ziggarillo Not yet but the advice for E bikes with removable batteries is to charge in a safe area. Ebikes are already on the insurance radar . So far I don't think there are any widely sold ev's with largish batteries . Personally I wouldn't charge in the house but if you have a concrete patio or garden building or even just a balcony then it would make sense to charge it outside the house given the damage that ebike batteries have caused. The fire service even recommend you don't charge them overnight. It's just common sense.
@@simonbean1264 Yes, the L7e category does not include the weight of the batteries. They're quoting that instead of the total weight of vehicle plus battery.
im mind blown to think that these youtube bloggers from America were saying they were importing these cars from China ok in big batches?? and they were getting these cars for say 2,000 squids and thats years ago.. how are things still in Britain so damn Expensive.. just sayin
