I would point out, as an owner of their 'mopeds' (actually 125 equivalent light motorcycles) that are fitted with exactly the same 5.6 KWh battery, they can't be fast charged. It takes about 5-8 hours to fully charge one (depending on the ambient temperature). Each battery has its own built in 600 watt charger, and a kettle lead inlet socket. It also has its own built in heater to bring it up to an ideal temperature before starting the charge, which is what accounts for the up to 3 hours difference in the charge time. The type 2 charge converter he showed you at 3:53 does not fast charge, each battery charger will still only draw 600 watts, even if 22KW is available. The plus side of the slow charge rate is that the battery will last incredibly long, studies on the ones used by the Spanish Post Office show them getting to 6 years old with around 100K Km, and still retaining more than 90% charge capacity. As I already own 2 of these batteries, I would consider the SO4 if I could buy it without the battery. New batteries are about £3K each retail.
Maybe if you call up Silence, they'd make an exception for you. As a small startup, I'm sure they'd love your business. Go to their dealership in person, ask for a manager and tell them: "This would be profitable for both of us. Make it happen."
I think there is an additional big advantage of this micro car: Commercial use. A delivery team can own multiple sets of batteries per micro car, swap them around when needed to have the car constantly on the road and working around the clock. Total cost would be very little and system would be efficient.
@@johnnichol9412 a second set of batteries is cheaper than having to have a whole second vehicle so one can be on charge. Although the battery costs double it also lasts twice as long as a single battery so in the long run it works out the same, plus battery swapping means you don't need to fast charge which significantly increases battery life. For high usage applications fuel costs are very high so it's worth paying more for an EV
You might be late to that suggestion. I believe that Japan's _Kei_ class carmakers are already looking at really small EV vans for delivery purposes, something that Yamato Transport and Sagawa in Japan are likely keenly interested in.
The biggest issue is the price.... at £16,000 you could add a tiny bit and go for a 4 seater Citroën E-C3 or a Dacia Spring. I think the Microlino is a little less expensive, whilst offering a bit more style.
Yes, but (sorry) this car will work so so well for folks that can't have off street parking and charging. Take the batteries in at night, charge up, job done. Take it into the office. Charge up under your desk without the boss seeing...better 😅
£12k seems like a realisticly reachable price for something like this. Can get a brand new petrol Citreon C3 for £14k apparently and thats twice the size. I get that this comes with 5kwh worth of batteries though but even still £16k... But it's also a small company which doesn't have the mass production cost savings
I'm getting tired of these videos on this channel being 100% positive about any new electric car. It's getting ridiculous. Almost like a parody of itself. Ignoring the price vs what is on offer second hand or new. And just the fact that his car cannot be the only car for the majority of people. Obviously. Or you need at least two and a bigger one for hauling or family trips. And it's also telling how he brings up Amsterdam using micro cars. It's one of the most expensive places to live in the country. Complete disconnect with reality.
I would probably stay away from highways. The short wheelbase would make this car a bit scary at high speeds I guess. I feel its a great car for teenagers here. In Sweden they can drive a car that must be limited to 45km/h (~28mph), since the low cost of running this car, it fits into a teenagers economy :)
@@AndrewTSqThat's heavy! You don't want to carry this upstairs. And there are two of them. *Edit* I just checked and there is contradictory information on the website. It shows 82 kg for 2x5,6kWh in the 85khm version and 41kg for 2x5,6kWh in the 45khm version.
Let's be honest, no self respecting teenage chav car thief or boy racer is going to nick one of these even if the doors were left open and the keys were in it.
Finally removable batteries 😍 finally a car built for everyone and not just for a few people who have a house with a wallbox. Also love the idea of using it as home storage. You can have multiple batteries and let them charge in the sun while driving with the other ones. Also that thing is much more efficient, not only with space but also power. Much better than those grid wrecking SUVs.
Some years ago I shared a lift in a block of flats in Beijing with a complete moped which was being taken up to be parked outside of the owners apartment for over night charging , via a lead through the letter flap. The idea of a battery on wheels is so much more sensible.
It is a fact that in EV transportation the main problem is the battery. In price, useful life, power, recharge time, weight, charging points and safety. Making the battery easily removable solves all these problems in one go.
€ 17.000 in the Netherlands. I'd go for a used Renault Zoe. Bear in mind the battery weighs 41kg. So any doorstep or uneven sidewalk might pose a problem. And you need two for the full 150 km of range.
The Zoe has a 50kwh battery, so you can either take the Silence 5kwh battery (41kg) home everyday, or just put the Zoe on a public charger once every 10 days.
I love the idea with small removable batteries that are also your "power-wall" when needed which you can actually take it into your flat. It's easy to charge an electric car if you live in a house with this batteries it is now accessible for city residents living apartments. I would love to see this design being implemented by Smart, Renault, Peugeot etc. in their city cars.
I do love the concept as I live in an apartment and would have to drive a minimum of 45 minutes round-trip just to get to a public charger. 20% bigger would be nice though - he looked awfully cramped in there.
Definitely. If battery density was bigger, I think that'd be a massive game changer. Or if say if other manufacturers made their batteries modular too. That's so much cheaper than my own way of bringing EVs to the masses (which would cost billions) My own idea is this : Install chargers outside every single terraced house. Companies like green mole EV already do similar Then you could connect that to your energy provider via an API that hooks into your energy provider that you then login to on the charger. That means you only pay for what you're using. Parking on a terraced street means you don't necessarily get a space outside your own house Then I'd want them to all be upgraded to a three phase supply, purely because it means that you could be half way down the country and you could charge your car on a street, relatively quickly without annoying the residents too much. This would cost billions, and we honestly could have done this a lot easier when interest rates were near zero, and it wouldn't really matter if we borrowed that money as a country given the obvious net benefit.
The removeable multifunction battery is a great idea - one that I've been doing for the last few years on a more DIY scale. I got a few kWh worth scooter batteries and can mount them on my ebike or on an escooter, with or without a 3-6kW inverter. At home I can use it to keep the fridge and computers running in a power cut, and still make coffee or run the microwave, or I can load up for really long range ebiking or escooting, and can even rescue stranded EVs. Portable batteries are fantastically useful, and getting cheaper all the time.
I live in an apartment and cannot charge from home. There is a charging point nearby, but the kWh rate is rather on the pricey side. This is a very interesting concept to still be able to drive cheaply. Having a powerful powerpack is also very interesting.
Finally, a sensible vision of the future (which no doubt will be lost on most folk). Btw, that's essentially the concept of the Smart/Mini car. You know, the original ones, before we started magically growing.
Worth £12k at most. Speed & range perfect for the city, the larger wheels with chunky tyres help softening the ride on rougher roads. Majority of car journeys have one or 2 occupants, a child seat fixed behind driver with passenger alongside - bigger families could buy 2 cars, which cope with a family shop, (or 2 trips with one), and take up the space of one normal car at home parking bay.
Put doors on a reanult Twizzy and save a packet, you can even hack te OBD2 socket so that it will do 50mph. I wonder how much battery the heater will use?
For 12k I can get a 5 year old family car that satisfies 99% of my family's needs. Or I can get this nonsense that is not good for shopping trips, not good for a trip with toddler, not good even for a modest road trip. It is only good for maybe 90% of all my trips. What about the other 10%? It is only 10%, but they are still there: getting a week of groceries, taking kid to a doctor, going to a big city that is two hours away.
This is a great car, what the Ami should have been. Decent speed for a town car and better range too. The fact that you can use your batteries in your home too is brilliant. We have over 130kwh storage sat on the drive at night that I can’t access for the home, which is mad. That’s almost two weeks of power!
It's also... 3 times ? the cost of Ami ? I really like the removeable battery though, it's indeed VERY useful and I hope not just to see it on more cars, but to become a standard.
Does your vehicle not have V2L (Vehicle to Load) allowing it to output power? Ours supposedly can output 2kW, but people have tested and got up to around 6.25kW.
It's supposed to have this functionality in the future via a promised software update. But no-one is holding their breath. There is also no way of using a CCS to export power yet. Some MG's, Hyundai's and Kia's have V2L but sadly not VW's. To be honest an extension cord back into the house would have little appeal. I'd prefer it to feed into our existing house inverters or to the grid, so I could be paid for export at peak times.@@stephenwalker6823
It looks like a better looking smart for two, but I imagine it’s smaller. The swappable batteries in this size are pretty practical, and in fact, one thing that’s nice is that a vehicle like this in four years time, you’ll probably be able to buy Denser battery pack. If my electric power tools are any indicator, you’ll end up with the same amount of charge in half the space, which means that in a few years, this thing will be getting 200 miles of range. It is surprisingly decent amount of space in the back, but it could do with some kind of an organizer so you don’t actually have to try to get tall things to go back there.55 mph is fine, if they could just bump that up to 60 then it would be ideal.
Brilliant design. Love the swappable battery idea. My only challenge is driving one of these micro cars around cities such as London. No matter what car you have with the road works and constant upgrading of infrastructure, to travel 2 miles takes on average 17 minutes! I drove an EV for 9 years across London. After finding a working expensive fast charger (they were free in 2014), the second biggest difficulty was the time it takes to travel around. The third issue is paying to park your car in a safe space.
Per the video, renting the batteries drops the price by 40% to 9.6k. Really like the hot swapable batteries that can be leased. Basically offload the problems with having a battery long term.
The removable batteries are an incredible idea for anyone who lives with on street parking. I hope this idea comes to market with some plugin hybrids I.e. the Prius. As the batteries in plugins are of a similar size to this car and it would unlock the convenience and cost savings to those with solar panels and no off street parking.
Agreed. A pain though. I can't help but think a robot which follows you with the batteries or pulls the batteries and pops them into a charger is needed here. Seems crazy, but just a few of those could serve a whole parking garage/lot.
Those removable batteries are the one thing that makes this car actually practical in a city, where people don't have their own garage to charge their cars over night. Also this solves range anxiety. You can just take 1 or 2 extra batteries in the back if you have to go far. Combined with the high enough speed to go on a highway, this is actually useful for going between cities. Though to be honest I'd prefer it if the car was ~30cm longer and had twice the battery capacity while keeping the swapping feature. That would make it properly road trip capable. And it solves another problem, which is if you have solar panels, you can't usually charge your car from them, because during the day when they are producing power is usually when you are using your car rather than charging it at home. With a spare set of batteries you can just swap them in the morning when you are about to leave, and the ones that were in use the day before will charge during the day when you're away.
Being able to bring the battery to the apartment and charge it there is a game-changer. Where I live, we have the option to add a charger to the garage spot but then, of course you need to sign a contract with a miimum monthly charge and then a price per kwh that is way beyond what I pay for my apartment electricity. Making it almosty as expensive as owning a petrol car. Landlords always find a way to profit!
I think these cars would be right for 99% of city dwellers without kids (since a lot of people just refuse to use public transport). But this car in particular is just much too expensive for what it is.
Brilliant. This would be great for a camping setup where you have a deployable solar array to recharge. With this kind of range it would be the perfect runabout.
I live in a terraced house without adjacent parking. Being able to charge at home would make this the first EV to meet my requirements. However, I’d be more likely to stick to my sustainable modes: cycling and public transport.
I have one on order. Yes its not a car for kind of car money but its also much more that a car in some ways. Also you have electric bicycles these days that come close to this price and selling well. We need more small easy to life with transport, this is a perfect example of what we should get more of!
Still not delivered, so I don't speak of month's of experience. Tested it for a week and sure we drove it to the max a few times, but you sure feel it's not ment to that all the time. On the airbag story I can be short, 20 years ago everyone drove well over a 100kmh without all of those safety devices and even today I often drive electric scooters and a electric motorcycle at 130kmh without an airbag. Is that more dangerous for sure. My reasoning, you have to take the safety specifications of your vehicle in consideration when you use it, don't take any risks in a microcar!
@@bartpues Thank you for the reply! It just that the battery removal is such an attractive feature, i was really into that buying that vehicle too and was kinda disappointed that other micro cars atleast have airbags and this one don't. Because if i buy a vehicle i wanted to atleast being able to move from city to city without too big of a risk you know.
Genius! At last the perfect city car that anyone could use even if they live in a tower block. I also love the thought that you could use the battery to power your camp cooker and lighting.
Seems ideal for city centres. I live in the countryside and I would dread driving this around a rain swept country lane in the winter, but in Central London, all cars should be like this.
Obviously true for this product. But the theory on it could be ideal for what you want. In the US we love our (shudder) ATVs. If you look around you'll find enclosed ones. With the proper tires, ground-clearance, and power control (all trivial changes to this design) you could have a silent, super-reliable mud/snow handler with a battery-eating but instant heater. When the weather/conditions get bad, you're not going to drive far, but you want to be able to reliably get to the store, your neighbor, etc. Such a ATV version of this makes huge sense in that situation, and it's easy to store, provides battery help, etc. But this current "nice" configuration seems inferior to cheaper ones because price is key and a used leaf is cheaper and safer.
Yes! So nice to see this featured on the channel - I saw one 'in the flesh' first at the Bike Show @ NEC last September, when I was ordering my Silence scooter - so I could share the batteries between the two! They have a UK distributor, and it will be in their showroom in Solihull from the 27th of this month! They already have an app for your phone for the scooters - mine can show me battery status, track its location, set the alarm, unlock the seat, as well as allow starting the scooter, allowing sharing with a friend without having to hand over the key! Can't wait to see how this goes! 😊
Yeah, the battery sharing is such an ace selling point. The bike for quick jobs, the car for that slightly longer job, but one set of batteries. That's the future.
This seems like it could be an ideal solution for someone like myself who does in the region of 80 miles on a working day but doesn't have access to a home charger. With those removable batteries I could just have two pairs so that if I ran out of range I could just swap them out in a similar time frame to filling a tank of petrol. Also it looks to be somewhere between the size of a Smart ForTwo and a Renault Twizzy which makes it quite handy for jobs like fast food delivery where there is a constant battle for parking spaces. With the battery advantages, I could see one of these saving me a fair bit of money over the BMW i3 I am using at the moment because I won't be forced to use public fast-chargers which cost about twice as much per KWh as I would pay through my home electric bill.
I also reckon there will be some sort of duds created by enthusiasts that can take place of the second battery. Cuts your range in half, but reduces the price a lot as well. And you only need to charge one battery. Or replace one battery with a non-replaceable OEM one that is way cheaper but you only charge at an outside charger for example, and charge the second one at home. Also you can probably install a couple of solar panels and get more free range - one at home, one on the car roof.
If they get the 'powerwall' working this is exactly what I've been waiting for. We have an id3 that I love (despite the software) and could kind of do with a home battery and sometimes a second car but wouldn't be dependent on either. Lucky enough to have drive space and I love the idea of ticking both boxes with something like this.
Very clever. I like a battery that can be used for different purposes. Use it in the day for the car, while at work charge it, drive home then it can be used partially as a home battery. Energy storage will be the make or break of the next few years. Making every cell that's produced go as far as possible will be key.
This is the type of electric car everyone should have been making from the start 90% of most car usage is within a 25 mile radius of our homes and being able to take the battery out with ease to take to you top floor tower block flat gives it a massive advantage over big electric cars.
Fully agree. While EV technology is still maturing it’s crazy that manufacturers and buyers are "investing" in full size EVs. Much better to buy a micro EV to complement your existing car.
I love the fact that these cars leave enough space on the roads for safe cycle zones. It's still going to get stuck in the same traffic jams though. L-class city centers are the future. Make it so!
This looks like a great idea. But I'd have like to see Jack lift one of those batteries, to put it in the boot or into an apartment/house. I think when you talk about such cars, we also want to know what the turning radius/circle is -- that's one of the biggest reasons for one, and see if it parks nicely in one half car space. I am of course struck by how expensive it is, compared to the new Kia Ray EV, which is $20k -- only a little more than this, and much, much more car (crash safety and highway speeds, more storage, battery, etc). It's not apples-to-apples, since this is a micro-car, but the Ray is very close to a micro-car.
I drive a Suzuki Celerio (petrol); when my car needs to be replaced, I would consider buying one of these from what I'd seen. A car is to get you from one place to another - this would be enough for me
Hiding the batteries behind the doors was a stroke of genius. I don't have much of a use case for this, but it would fit perfectly in my oversized, but still single-full-sized-car underground parking spot.
Cars like this make a lot of sense for someone living in a city. The reduced size while keeping creature comforts of a proper (almost 😉) car offers significant benefits with congestion and space being huge problems nowadays. But that £16K is a big pill to swallow when I can get something like an almost new Corsa e for the same price. It needs our city planners/councils to get on board with some serious incentives, like free parking for example. I did note that the silence website says it can drive on 1 or 2 batteries. So if you're only doing short commutes in a city centre you don't necessarily need to load both batteries. And if you are using both you can alternate which one you take indoors to charge.
I have a silence s01 and it’s a great little scooter, but at just 5’ 9” I need a longer handle on the battery, must be a nightmare for someone of jacks size! The price of this is just simply too much for what it is, it needs to come down a long way to be a useful offering.
Since it fills the same niche as the SMART does, with roughly same dimensions, and yet has the advantage of electric drive and a good mileage, I believe this car may become commonplace in Europe and beyond.
It looks like a Smart Car, which I like. Storage? It needs to be able to carry two people along with full groceries for a week or two sets of golf clubs. With that, it’ll meet the needs. And the removable batteries give it a special advantage. Very nice!
Looks like a lot of fun! The trouble is that if you have a need to go places, none of these microcars are going to cut it, unfortunately. The biggest selling point as I see it is the ability to take the batteries into your home to recharge - excellent for those without driveways.
Most trips are short, but yes. If you drive to the other end of the country this wont cut it, but thats not what its for. Its for short commutes where your 2 tonne 4 seater is clearly not required.
@@puffinjuice Yes, I know. But between getting a new one of these and a second hand more typical EV... I think most people would opt for the more typical EV for its level of practicality.
Seems incredible for single people or childless couples who don't have a garage, or even driveway. That sounds quite specific, but it covers a pretty large segment of people right now. The non-car use cases for that battery really take it over the top. How awkward is it to wheel both batteries at once, though? Do they latch together easily?
I doubt they'll latch together, the battery was originally developed for the S01 scooter which only has one battery. This setup would be perfect for delivery, you can constantly have batteries on charge at the base so range isn't an issue.
I've been banging on about the need for removable batteries for years. With so many homes, here in the UK, without off road parking, and with the predatory pricing of public chargers (which can charge up to ten times the equivalent domestic cost), cars like these will be a game changer. Personally though, I think I'd want to install a fire proof charging cabinet in the garden, rather than risking charging huge lithium iron batteries in my kitchen while I sleep. Although I've used EVs for over ten years, as a member of community car hire schemes, Ive been holding off buying my own. But you know what? I think this EV will be on my shopping list, hopefully very soon.
would be great if these batteries were 48volt, then you could use them for a lot of offgrid all in one solar inverters I did something like this with my diy e-bike, make the pack 48volt and use it also as a offgrid battery storage
You can buy two Citroen Ami's for one of these. I got my Ami in June, just clocked 1600 miles, no issues, turns heads and gets me to work every morning come rain or shine, love it!!!
To be fair, this is a class higher than an Ami. Faster and more range. You can even drive it on the highway. To be unfair, it's not worth the premium over the Ami. Still I think the Ami should do at least 50km/h otherwise you'll always be slightly slower than the rest of traffic.
Higher class and you pay for that. I charge my Ami on economy 7 electric and costs pennies to charge. My Amy does almost 50KM/H. 50KM/H is 31MP/H and my Ami does 28MP/H. If you meant the Ami should do 50MP/H, that wouldn't be safe in an Ami. I've heard of people mapping the Ami. This would be dangerous in my opinion as they are driving way too fast than the Ami was designed for.
Been following the Silence S04 for a good while now - as others have mentioned the prices of microcars are getting a bit much when a low end EV can be bought for little more. I love these quirky vehicles but feel they are going to become a bit niche. Holding out to see what the price of the mobilize duo is gojng to be
Well, the other thing is if the Mobilize even happens. Until we see it, it's not real and can't be counted as such. Not to mention that I haven't even heard if it'll be L7E yet which is one reason this is more expensive than a Citroen Ami of course - substantially more powerful vehicle.
Amazing car....the swappable batteries make it practical for charging at home...only issue is see is the hosts head bobbing and him being tossed around....but the review is that its great. You dont need to give a positive spin on everything electric coming your way....
We need a micro EV like this in the US! I’d like to see something slightly larger; big enough for two people along with a dog or two grocery or travel bags.
It occurs to me that these modular battery pack helps fix the fact that some batteries may degrade and as battery tech improves you can get new higher capacity lighter future battery replacements. Battery recycling would be so much easier...
It ticks lots of boxes: adequate storage, good enough top speed, nice trick with the removable battery and enough creature comforts. In a perfect world it would have only one battery that size/weight and a lower price. Thanks. Good review.
Very interesting (perhaps the interior could be a bit slicker but the swappable batteries are great). I’m currently in Canada, but I live in Europe, too (and going there in few months). While the car may not get any serious interest in the big-ass, size-obsessed N. America, it should do rather well in Europe. I’m going to see where the nearest dealership is. Congrats.
This is what electric cars _should_ be. Tiny little micro cars designed to get you across town and back. Maybe to work and home again if you don't live too far away. This would be perfect for whizzing around the town/city, going to the shops etc.
I drive a 2008 Smart fortwo convertible as my run-around, a design that goes back to 1998 (26 years) Where is the innovation in design? Removable batteries makes a lot of sense though.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!! I own an iMiev -- the only Kei car in the US. It's fantastic. We should have a bunch of Kei cars available, but don't. Have you looked at the Kia Ray EV? That's one I would love to have.
If someone can "just go around in a van at night and pop fresh batteries in" then someone will eventually "just go around in a van at night and pop batteries out" for the scrap value...
don't they have to first bust open the door to get to the battery. plus, won't it better for the van to hook the small car and take the whole vehicle,lol
Yep - I reckon theft / crime is going to be the big problem. A £3k battery with great second hand value is a lot to have on the street. Thieves will crawl under a car to pop a tank for the fuel and to take out a catalytic converter - £6k worth of batteries behind the door…..
User-removable batteries are also key for the second hand market too. The second owner can buy a fresh battery and the car will have its original range.
Really great to see, marvellous…apart from the price. it would make a great tow-car for an RV owner but the price is a killer as for half the money there’s a 160 mile Renault Zoe. Drop the price to under £10k and away it will fly…assuming they can make them fast enough. Great for car sharing businesses, swappable batteries is a brilliant idea all without a swapping station too !. Love the car….hate the price ….then again give it a couple of years and a used one will be very affordable for any new driver
Great review. Feels so much more useful than other micro cars! However price is also higher, plus would also be worried about support if it went wrong.
I have a 24kWh Leaf with about the same range as this, but I live in a flat and having to use public charging is the one thing I don't love about it. So I'm *seriously* tempted.
In the US having an EV and no garage is a nightmare. I am amazed you're able to live with the Leaf. People in the US talk about charging speeds and lack of enough (there's never enough to satisfy them) public chargers, but I think think what we should really be focusing on is just having ubiquitous metered 240v everywhere you might park. Until we have that, EVs are cheap and convenient for people with garages and expensive and painful for people without.
@@tomp4944 I'm lucky that I have a few lamppost chargers within walking distance of my home, but sometimes they're all busy (or ICEd) when I want to use them and I have to go and spend 40mins sat at a rapid charger instead. So it's do-able for me, but sometimes a hassle and I do covet my neighbours' driveways 😄 As you say, if every parking space had a charger, that would be wonderful.
Having an additional small removable battery like this could be a good idea for lots of EV's. Those without the ability to charge a car at home could top up the small battery ensuring they always had enough power for short trips and to get to charging infrastructure. Being an off grid power supply is also a bonus.
This is the most though out mini electric car I've ever seen! Finally a car you can charge off street for all of us that don't have the ability to install a fixed charger.
Most impressive to date. Would still like more range. Maybe a localised service provider to bring leasable or emergency roadside batteries. However it does seem future proof in that those removable batteries could be upgraded with better energy density ones in future. This hasn't been promoted as an adaptive feature in the hardware and software systems of the vehicle in this review.
Interesting point that it's batteries are far more likely to be upgradeable in the future than other vehicles. I wonder if that would necessarily entail replacing other parts of the system or if it wouldn't matter? Presumably you'd be using the same voltage etc as output - it's not like you'd be trying to supercharge the motor or something. Absent new chemistry though, I don't think we should expect to see massive range increases in quadricycles that are small. Technically the batteries are not included in their kerb weight limits if I understand the classifications properly (and I might not, they're a little weird). Which might mean you could produce the same thing, slightly longer, with twice the battery space and more boot space. However, the power limit is still there so you'd have a heavier and slower vehicle I think. Then again, there's nothing stopping us having an L8E category in the future which allows for a similar vehicle, with a 600Kg, 4 passenger layout also limited to the same speed (but with more power available for acceleration to that speed). We might have to ask MPs and MEPs nicely though *shudders*
This was my favourite for a long time until I came across the Nimbus One EV. But Silence does have the advantage of their experience and success of their mopeds.
@@jonevansauthor I believe new battery technology should be a drop in replacement as long as you say the voltage is the same. The most likely difference might be the charger but then I believe these batteries have the charger built into them and take a mains input.
It's companies like this that will make a difference in the market. The battery technology here is so obvious it's unreal! Evs have been screaming out for removable batteries. It being able to be a battery to hold excess renewable energy as well is very innovative. I genuinely love it. I would happily own one.
I remember seeing the scooter a couple of years back and thinking the interchangeable battery was a good idea. Other electric outfits do it as well like the super soco. As I have recently seen a brand-new Vauxhall Corsa, E GS, going for £19,000 as others have said, this looks pricey to me…
You said it could not run on just one battery pack, but then say that you could increase range by throwing in a third battery into the boot. Will the car run when one battery is completely depleted and another is fully charged, or are there balancing issues from that?
This is actually easy. Use the first set of batteries to 50%. Swap one of the batteries with the full one. When the lowest battery is nearly empty, the fuller battery should be around 50%. Swap the depleted battery for the 50% one from earlier, and now you have 50% batteries in both sides. Easy peasy with a little pre-planning.
Considering the gauge cluster showed the battery levels independently I would assume they don't need to be balanced in charge. Maybe need to have both installed for weight distribution?
Love it -- daughter goes to school 30km away - 70 round trip. Could probably fit 2 end to end on the longer side of the garage. Wonder how well it would do in the colder winter. You could keep batteries warm in the house but go out and let sit at work for the day in the cold, you will lose at least 30% of range in cold and no place to charge while, for like in my duaghters case, at school.
So many comments from people who fail completely to understand what this car is for. It's not there to replace a family hatchback, estate or 4x4. It's there for two specific markets. 1. Single people, couples or families with more than one car that cannot have a home charger and need a city car. People who live in flats or terraced houses who cannot fit a home charger. Removable batteries than can be taken inside and charged are a brilliant idea. 2. Teenagers. Most 17-year-olds have driving experience delivered by a PlayStation. Hit a lamp post, it breaks, go off a cliff, reset. The real world is far away. Give a 15-year-old one of these and the road becomes all too real. That cliff will kill you, that lamp post won't bend and the artic won't see you or even notice if it crushes you. Ask any 17 or 18 year old if they'd drive one, they'd say no way. Ask a 12 year old if they'd rather drive one or stand in the rain and snow for the school bus, see what they say. It needs an attitude shift to stop stigmatising small low powered vehicles, and encourage teens to drive small cars and mopeds. Go abroad, see mopeds all over, here? No, they're not cool. Same with small cars. Stop with the Top Gear Clarkson attitude and accept that small low-powered cars are essential to teaching teenagers that driving safely is more important. My teenage daughter has applied for a McJob that's 5 minutes away. That's 5 minutes on a 60mph road. At average walking speed it takes nearly an hour through unlit woodland. Do I want my daughter walking through the woods at midnight or driving home in a tiny microcar? Hmm... tough choice. Walking is out, cycling is the same route, so out of the question too. It needs government intervention. Make these cars cheap to buy, cheap to insure and make insurance companies take no claims discounts from these cars on to "proper" cars. Ask a 17 year old if they'd drive one? No. Ask them if they'd drive one if it meant reducing their insurance by 30%, they'd happily go back in time and drive one. suitability
That removable battery idea sounds awesome, get 4 or more batteries and solar, and you swap sets of batteries each night with the ones that were charged by the solar during the day :)
Wow! I love the portable battery solution! 😏 and I am pretty sure that some one some where, would stuff it with amps & basses and try to make it the loudest "silence" at a dB drag competition. Just for the dad joke value of it 😂 It's kinda asking for it, isn't it? "Seismic silence" 😅 a bluetooth speaker with wheels and a license plate 😆🤣
'Time I subscribed, Jack. I have watched a few of your videos now. I like your presentation, sensible comment, humour, and choice of vehicles you show us. Well done, and thanks !
Wow! The fact that changing the batteries is the easiest of all EVs is an amazing concept, a truly genius concept, just like you don’t need a technician to change batteries in your TVs remote control...
They could have such a battery system but batteries are hundreds of kg for bigger cars and it would be hard to do. Hard to do doesn't mean impossible and Nio actually has battery swapping. Other manufacturers are just not interested in this.
what if they would use a few small swappable batteries like these and combine them? This thing has two. A bigger car could have four or six. Ok, there may be a few issues with weight distribution and space, but the advantages would be enormous.@@mforce2
Fun fact, the Dutch ICE microcars aren't generally powered by petrol.. but diesel! The only 'upside' is that it would be pretty easy to run them on biodiesel, but they don't have filters on the exhaust so they're just horrible. Most microcars are electric though and the diesel ones generally look pretty bad so they're bound to simply disappear after a while.
I would point out, as an owner of their 'mopeds' (actually 125 equivalent light motorcycles) that are fitted with exactly the same 5.6 KWh battery, they can't be fast charged. It takes about 5-8 hours to fully charge one (depending on the ambient temperature). Each battery has its own built in 600 watt charger, and a kettle lead inlet socket. It also has its own built in heater to bring it up to an ideal temperature before starting the charge, which is what accounts for the up to 3 hours difference in the charge time. The type 2 charge converter he showed you at 3:53 does not fast charge, each battery charger will still only draw 600 watts, even if 22KW is available. The plus side of the slow charge rate is that the battery will last incredibly long, studies on the ones used by the Spanish Post Office show them getting to 6 years old with around 100K Km, and still retaining more than 90% charge capacity. As I already own 2 of these batteries, I would consider the SO4 if I could buy it without the battery. New batteries are about £3K each retail.
Sounds good
Maybe if you call up Silence, they'd make an exception for you.
As a small startup, I'm sure they'd love your business. Go to their dealership in person, ask for a manager and tell them: "This would be profitable for both of us. Make it happen."
I think there is an additional big advantage of this micro car: Commercial use. A delivery team can own multiple sets of batteries per micro car, swap them around when needed to have the car constantly on the road and working around the clock. Total cost would be very little and system would be efficient.
Take out the 2nd seat and have lots of cargo capacity.
Our local dominoes pizza already uses electric bicycles to great effect. So I don’t see why this would not also be very successful in this regard.
@@johnnichol9412 a second set of batteries is cheaper than having to have a whole second vehicle so one can be on charge. Although the battery costs double it also lasts twice as long as a single battery so in the long run it works out the same, plus battery swapping means you don't need to fast charge which significantly increases battery life.
For high usage applications fuel costs are very high so it's worth paying more for an EV
@@johnnichol9412 the OP was talking about using it for deliveries with a team of drivers providing round the clock service.
You might be late to that suggestion. I believe that Japan's _Kei_ class carmakers are already looking at really small EV vans for delivery purposes, something that Yamato Transport and Sagawa in Japan are likely keenly interested in.
The biggest issue is the price.... at £16,000 you could add a tiny bit and go for a 4 seater Citroën E-C3 or a Dacia Spring. I think the Microlino is a little less expensive, whilst offering a bit more style.
Either that or any of the many Fiat500-sized cars they sell in China for USD10000.
Yes, but (sorry) this car will work so so well for folks that can't have off street parking and charging. Take the batteries in at night, charge up, job done. Take it into the office. Charge up under your desk without the boss seeing...better 😅
£12k seems like a realisticly reachable price for something like this. Can get a brand new petrol Citreon C3 for £14k apparently and thats twice the size. I get that this comes with 5kwh worth of batteries though but even still £16k... But it's also a small company which doesn't have the mass production cost savings
In Spain where it is built it is €14000 less €2000 government subsidy, no such luck in the UK!
I'm getting tired of these videos on this channel being 100% positive about any new electric car. It's getting ridiculous. Almost like a parody of itself.
Ignoring the price vs what is on offer second hand or new. And just the fact that his car cannot be the only car for the majority of people. Obviously. Or you need at least two and a bigger one for hauling or family trips. And it's also telling how he brings up Amsterdam using micro cars. It's one of the most expensive places to live in the country. Complete disconnect with reality.
Apartment charging and tight parking are this car’s two strongest suits. Highway legality is a big plus. A great niche option here.
Wonder what the weight of the battery is, for those who live in top storey flats without lifts...
I would probably stay away from highways. The short wheelbase would make this car a bit scary at high speeds I guess. I feel its a great car for teenagers here. In Sweden they can drive a car that must be limited to 45km/h (~28mph), since the low cost of running this car, it fits into a teenagers economy :)
@@BenThorp 41kg each according to the specs.
@@AndrewTSqThat's heavy! You don't want to carry this upstairs. And there are two of them.
*Edit*
I just checked and there is contradictory information on the website. It shows 82 kg for 2x5,6kWh in the 85khm version and 41kg for 2x5,6kWh in the 45khm version.
@@benjaminhanke79 I guess the 45 version can drive with only battery getting charged, while the "fast" version needs both charged equally.
Also a handy way to stop someone nicking your car overnight. Unless of course the thief brings their own batteries with them.
Let's be honest, no self respecting teenage chav car thief or boy racer is going to nick one of these even if the doors were left open and the keys were in it.
@@kevinh96 The batteries look pretty stealable though, and they are worth a lot. Hope they are secure.
Who would want to nick that?
@@SocialDownclimber Exactly my thought. In China people nick the batteries out of e-bikes so most have a bar with a big lock on it to stop this
No batteries and they could probably lift it up in one hand
Finally removable batteries 😍 finally a car built for everyone and not just for a few people who have a house with a wallbox. Also love the idea of using it as home storage. You can have multiple batteries and let them charge in the sun while driving with the other ones.
Also that thing is much more efficient, not only with space but also power. Much better than those grid wrecking SUVs.
Some years ago I shared a lift in a block of flats in Beijing with a complete moped which was being taken up to be parked outside of the owners apartment for over night charging , via a lead through the letter flap. The idea of a battery on wheels is so much more sensible.
Hmmmmm! Does it say how heavy they are??
Friend is asking as he lives on a second floor flat,....No Lift! :-(
@@kenhickford6581 according to the website 42kgs each pack. Your friend will need a lift!
TWO of those batteries, imagine that
You gotta admit, these 'EV' guys don't give up do they! Lol!....Much like those '8 Track Tape Player' Die-Hards! Lol!@@stevendegreef93
unfortunately that will block fire exit routes unless flats are re-designed for them
It is a fact that in EV transportation the main problem is the battery. In price, useful life, power, recharge time, weight, charging points and safety. Making the battery easily removable solves all these problems in one go.
It also means that replacing the batteries with newer battery tech becomes easy.
Only one small issue(huge..) is that they forgot to add freaking airbags for a vehicle that goes up to 90 km/h...
€ 17.000 in the Netherlands. I'd go for a used Renault Zoe. Bear in mind the battery weighs 41kg. So any doorstep or uneven sidewalk might pose a problem. And you need two for the full 150 km of range.
Bearing in mind, you couldn't take the battery out of the Zoe and contently charge it up at home at night. Horses for courses...
The Zoe has a 50kwh battery, so you can either take the Silence 5kwh battery (41kg) home everyday, or just put the Zoe on a public charger once every 10 days.
Each battery weighs 41Kg????
I didn't hear the presenter mention the weight - that is insane to manoeuvre around...
I love the idea with small removable batteries that are also your "power-wall" when needed which you can actually take it into your flat. It's easy to charge an electric car if you live in a house with this batteries it is now accessible for city residents living apartments. I would love to see this design being implemented by Smart, Renault, Peugeot etc. in their city cars.
They haven't actually implemented that facility as YET?
The swappable batteries are a great idea, especially for people without off road parking.
I do love the concept as I live in an apartment and would have to drive a minimum of 45 minutes round-trip just to get to a public charger. 20% bigger would be nice though - he looked awfully cramped in there.
@@jimwavectWell he is about 2 metres tall...
Great idea with the swappable batteries 👍🏻
Definitely. If battery density was bigger, I think that'd be a massive game changer.
Or if say if other manufacturers made their batteries modular too. That's so much cheaper than my own way of bringing EVs to the masses (which would cost billions)
My own idea is this :
Install chargers outside every single terraced house. Companies like green mole EV already do similar
Then you could connect that to your energy provider via an API that hooks into your energy provider that you then login to on the charger. That means you only pay for what you're using. Parking on a terraced street means you don't necessarily get a space outside your own house
Then I'd want them to all be upgraded to a three phase supply, purely because it means that you could be half way down the country and you could charge your car on a street, relatively quickly without annoying the residents too much.
This would cost billions, and we honestly could have done this a lot easier when interest rates were near zero, and it wouldn't really matter if we borrowed that money as a country given the obvious net benefit.
@@johnnichol9412 ………more the concept rather than the price !
The removeable multifunction battery is a great idea - one that I've been doing for the last few years on a more DIY scale.
I got a few kWh worth scooter batteries and can mount them on my ebike or on an escooter, with or without a 3-6kW inverter.
At home I can use it to keep the fridge and computers running in a power cut, and still make coffee or run the microwave, or I can load up for really long range ebiking or escooting, and can even rescue stranded EVs. Portable batteries are fantastically useful, and getting cheaper all the time.
I live in an apartment and cannot charge from home. There is a charging point nearby, but the kWh rate is rather on the pricey side. This is a very interesting concept to still be able to drive cheaply. Having a powerful powerpack is also very interesting.
Finally, a sensible vision of the future (which no doubt will be lost on most folk). Btw, that's essentially the concept of the Smart/Mini car. You know, the original ones, before we started magically growing.
Unfortunately the price will make it an instant failure.
Worth £12k at most. Speed & range perfect for the city, the larger wheels with chunky tyres help softening the ride on rougher roads. Majority of car journeys have one or 2 occupants, a child seat fixed behind driver with passenger alongside - bigger families could buy 2 cars, which cope with a family shop, (or 2 trips with one), and take up the space of one normal car at home parking bay.
Put doors on a reanult Twizzy and save a packet, you can even hack te OBD2 socket so that it will do 50mph. I wonder how much battery the heater will use?
You could buy 2 cars.... 1 for each foot.
Looking at it... I wouldnt give them £5,000 for it.
For 12k I can get a 5 year old family car that satisfies 99% of my family's needs. Or I can get this nonsense that is not good for shopping trips, not good for a trip with toddler, not good even for a modest road trip. It is only good for maybe 90% of all my trips. What about the other 10%? It is only 10%, but they are still there: getting a week of groceries, taking kid to a doctor, going to a big city that is two hours away.
@@artirm1979 Yes, this car is not for you. Which is fine. There are people who it would serve well though.
It's dearer than a new Kia Picanto.
This is a great car, what the Ami should have been. Decent speed for a town car and better range too. The fact that you can use your batteries in your home too is brilliant. We have over 130kwh storage sat on the drive at night that I can’t access for the home, which is mad. That’s almost two weeks of power!
Any Minor Insured (AMI)
It's also... 3 times ? the cost of Ami ? I really like the removeable battery though, it's indeed VERY useful and I hope not just to see it on more cars, but to become a standard.
Does your vehicle not have V2L (Vehicle to Load) allowing it to output power? Ours supposedly can output 2kW, but people have tested and got up to around 6.25kW.
It's supposed to have this functionality in the future via a promised software update. But no-one is holding their breath. There is also no way of using a CCS to export power yet. Some MG's, Hyundai's and Kia's have V2L but sadly not VW's. To be honest an extension cord back into the house would have little appeal. I'd prefer it to feed into our existing house inverters or to the grid, so I could be paid for export at peak times.@@stephenwalker6823
It looks like a better looking smart for two, but I imagine it’s smaller. The swappable batteries in this size are pretty practical, and in fact, one thing that’s nice is that a vehicle like this in four years time, you’ll probably be able to buy Denser battery pack. If my electric power tools are any indicator, you’ll end up with the same amount of charge in half the space, which means that in a few years, this thing will be getting 200 miles of range.
It is surprisingly decent amount of space in the back, but it could do with some kind of an organizer so you don’t actually have to try to get tall things to go back there.55 mph is fine, if they could just bump that up to 60 then it would be ideal.
200 miles in a few years is a very very wet dream. Still, the removable battery is excellent and I hope it becomes a standard.
It wasnt mentioned if regen braking . I suppose that is standard now. 90 miles seems optimistic fully laden going up hill
Brilliant design. Love the swappable battery idea. My only challenge is driving one of these micro cars around cities such as London. No matter what car you have with the road works and constant upgrading of infrastructure, to travel 2 miles takes on average 17 minutes! I drove an EV for 9 years across London. After finding a working expensive fast charger (they were free in 2014), the second biggest difficulty was the time it takes to travel around. The third issue is paying to park your car in a safe space.
I suppose I could fit two of them in my garage so we could rent out space for one for someone else !
Get a bicycle.
London = hell
Per the video, renting the batteries drops the price by 40% to 9.6k. Really like the hot swapable batteries that can be leased. Basically offload the problems with having a battery long term.
The removable batteries are an incredible idea for anyone who lives with on street parking. I hope this idea comes to market with some plugin hybrids I.e. the Prius. As the batteries in plugins are of a similar size to this car and it would unlock the convenience and cost savings to those with solar panels and no off street parking.
Agreed. A pain though. I can't help but think a robot which follows you with the batteries or pulls the batteries and pops them into a charger is needed here. Seems crazy, but just a few of those could serve a whole parking garage/lot.
Tesla had designed this swappable battery 10 years ago. It didn't take off
Those removable batteries are the one thing that makes this car actually practical in a city, where people don't have their own garage to charge their cars over night.
Also this solves range anxiety. You can just take 1 or 2 extra batteries in the back if you have to go far. Combined with the high enough speed to go on a highway, this is actually useful for going between cities. Though to be honest I'd prefer it if the car was ~30cm longer and had twice the battery capacity while keeping the swapping feature. That would make it properly road trip capable.
And it solves another problem, which is if you have solar panels, you can't usually charge your car from them, because during the day when they are producing power is usually when you are using your car rather than charging it at home. With a spare set of batteries you can just swap them in the morning when you are about to leave, and the ones that were in use the day before will charge during the day when you're away.
Being able to bring the battery to the apartment and charge it there is a game-changer. Where I live, we have the option to add a charger to the garage spot but then, of course you need to sign a contract with a miimum monthly charge and then a price per kwh that is way beyond what I pay for my apartment electricity. Making it almosty as expensive as owning a petrol car. Landlords always find a way to profit!
The fully charged show seems to love every single type of car
As long as its electric :P.
As long as it's electric 😉
I think these cars would be right for 99% of city dwellers without kids (since a lot of people just refuse to use public transport). But this car in particular is just much too expensive for what it is.
As a front for the EV industry you’d hope so.
This is why it's called the Fully Charged Show, instead of Partly Charged Show 🙂
Brilliant. This would be great for a camping setup where you have a deployable solar array to recharge. With this kind of range it would be the perfect runabout.
I live in a terraced house without adjacent parking. Being able to charge at home would make this the first EV to meet my requirements. However, I’d be more likely to stick to my sustainable modes: cycling and public transport.
Aptera will change that.
@@keelferm although Aptera USA model is as wide as a London Bus. .
@@brackcycle9056it’s roughly the same width as a model 3
Agreed. I live in an apartment that doesnt have a power socket near the carpark.
@@chidorirasenganz 15 cm wider than Model 3.
I have one on order. Yes its not a car for kind of car money but its also much more that a car in some ways. Also you have electric bicycles these days that come close to this price and selling well. We need more small easy to life with transport, this is a perfect example of what we should get more of!
How do you feel about it not having any airbags at all? Would you drive it near 90km/h? Or only in slower in the city?
Still not delivered, so I don't speak of month's of experience. Tested it for a week and sure we drove it to the max a few times, but you sure feel it's not ment to that all the time. On the airbag story I can be short, 20 years ago everyone drove well over a 100kmh without all of those safety devices and even today I often drive electric scooters and a electric motorcycle at 130kmh without an airbag. Is that more dangerous for sure. My reasoning, you have to take the safety specifications of your vehicle in consideration when you use it, don't take any risks in a microcar!
@@bartpues Thank you for the reply! It just that the battery removal is such an attractive feature, i was really into that buying that vehicle too and was kinda disappointed that other micro cars atleast have airbags and this one don't.
Because if i buy a vehicle i wanted to atleast being able to move from city to city without too big of a risk you know.
@@cnnhean sure completely understand, for my interest with microcars have an airbag that you know?
Genius! At last the perfect city car that anyone could use even if they live in a tower block. I also love the thought that you could use the battery to power your camp cooker and lighting.
If it was about 6000€ cheaper, maybe. Ideally, for what it is, it would be 10.000€ cheaper.
Seems ideal for city centres. I live in the countryside and I would dread driving this around a rain swept country lane in the winter, but in Central London, all cars should be like this.
Obviously true for this product. But the theory on it could be ideal for what you want. In the US we love our (shudder) ATVs. If you look around you'll find enclosed ones. With the proper tires, ground-clearance, and power control (all trivial changes to this design) you could have a silent, super-reliable mud/snow handler with a battery-eating but instant heater. When the weather/conditions get bad, you're not going to drive far, but you want to be able to reliably get to the store, your neighbor, etc. Such a ATV version of this makes huge sense in that situation, and it's easy to store, provides battery help, etc. But this current "nice" configuration seems inferior to cheaper ones because price is key and a used leaf is cheaper and safer.
Yes! So nice to see this featured on the channel - I saw one 'in the flesh' first at the Bike Show @ NEC last September, when I was ordering my Silence scooter - so I could share the batteries between the two! They have a UK distributor, and it will be in their showroom in Solihull from the 27th of this month! They already have an app for your phone for the scooters - mine can show me battery status, track its location, set the alarm, unlock the seat, as well as allow starting the scooter, allowing sharing with a friend without having to hand over the key! Can't wait to see how this goes! 😊
Yeah, the battery sharing is such an ace selling point. The bike for quick jobs, the car for that slightly longer job, but one set of batteries. That's the future.
Looks like the Old Smart ForTwo (which I used to have) it was awesome and it looks like something I would love to get!
In the usa, no surprise, there is Silence for any reporting on this car.
This seems like it could be an ideal solution for someone like myself who does in the region of 80 miles on a working day but doesn't have access to a home charger. With those removable batteries I could just have two pairs so that if I ran out of range I could just swap them out in a similar time frame to filling a tank of petrol. Also it looks to be somewhere between the size of a Smart ForTwo and a Renault Twizzy which makes it quite handy for jobs like fast food delivery where there is a constant battle for parking spaces. With the battery advantages, I could see one of these saving me a fair bit of money over the BMW i3 I am using at the moment because I won't be forced to use public fast-chargers which cost about twice as much per KWh as I would pay through my home electric bill.
16 grand though, for those of us that can't afford an i3. Or 16 grand.
I also reckon there will be some sort of duds created by enthusiasts that can take place of the second battery. Cuts your range in half, but reduces the price a lot as well. And you only need to charge one battery.
Or replace one battery with a non-replaceable OEM one that is way cheaper but you only charge at an outside charger for example, and charge the second one at home. Also you can probably install a couple of solar panels and get more free range - one at home, one on the car roof.
If they get the 'powerwall' working this is exactly what I've been waiting for. We have an id3 that I love (despite the software) and could kind of do with a home battery and sometimes a second car but wouldn't be dependent on either. Lucky enough to have drive space and I love the idea of ticking both boxes with something like this.
Very clever. I like a battery that can be used for different purposes. Use it in the day for the car, while at work charge it, drive home then it can be used partially as a home battery. Energy storage will be the make or break of the next few years. Making every cell that's produced go as far as possible will be key.
I largely detest EVs but, this little gem is so nice that I'm actually thinking of getting one. The removable batteries is a game changer for sure. 🤓🙌
The removable batteries seem like a really useful feature.
This is the type of electric car everyone should have been making from the start 90% of most car usage is within a 25 mile radius of our homes and being able to take the battery out with ease to take to you top floor tower block flat gives it a massive advantage over big electric cars.
Fully agree. While EV technology is still maturing it’s crazy that manufacturers and buyers are "investing" in full size EVs. Much better to buy a micro EV to complement your existing car.
40kg
@@stjohnssoup What is?
I love the fact that these cars leave enough space on the roads for safe cycle zones. It's still going to get stuck in the same traffic jams though.
L-class city centers are the future. Make it so!
This looks like a great idea. But I'd have like to see Jack lift one of those batteries, to put it in the boot or into an apartment/house. I think when you talk about such cars, we also want to know what the turning radius/circle is -- that's one of the biggest reasons for one, and see if it parks nicely in one half car space. I am of course struck by how expensive it is, compared to the new Kia Ray EV, which is $20k -- only a little more than this, and much, much more car (crash safety and highway speeds, more storage, battery, etc). It's not apples-to-apples, since this is a micro-car, but the Ray is very close to a micro-car.
I wish you would review the Yoyo.
We saw them in Italy and were captivated by them.
Sadly, no one seems to review them
I drive a Suzuki Celerio (petrol); when my car needs to be replaced, I would consider buying one of these from what I'd seen. A car is to get you from one place to another - this would be enough for me
Hiding the batteries behind the doors was a stroke of genius.
I don't have much of a use case for this, but it would fit perfectly in my oversized, but still single-full-sized-car underground parking spot.
The A/C button and power windows has sold me.
Cars like this make a lot of sense for someone living in a city. The reduced size while keeping creature comforts of a proper (almost 😉) car offers significant benefits with congestion and space being huge problems nowadays. But that £16K is a big pill to swallow when I can get something like an almost new Corsa e for the same price. It needs our city planners/councils to get on board with some serious incentives, like free parking for example.
I did note that the silence website says it can drive on 1 or 2 batteries. So if you're only doing short commutes in a city centre you don't necessarily need to load both batteries. And if you are using both you can alternate which one you take indoors to charge.
I have a silence s01 and it’s a great little scooter, but at just 5’ 9” I need a longer handle on the battery, must be a nightmare for someone of jacks size!
The price of this is just simply too much for what it is, it needs to come down a long way to be a useful offering.
Since it fills the same niche as the SMART does, with roughly same dimensions, and yet has the advantage of electric drive and a good mileage, I believe this car may become commonplace in Europe and beyond.
Love the removal battery. It mean u dont need a home to own this
It looks like a Smart Car, which I like. Storage? It needs to be able to carry two people along with full groceries for a week or two sets of golf clubs. With that, it’ll meet the needs. And the removable batteries give it a special advantage. Very nice!
Looks like a lot of fun! The trouble is that if you have a need to go places, none of these microcars are going to cut it, unfortunately. The biggest selling point as I see it is the ability to take the batteries into your home to recharge - excellent for those without driveways.
Most trips are short, but yes. If you drive to the other end of the country this wont cut it, but thats not what its for. Its for short commutes where your 2 tonne 4 seater is clearly not required.
@@puffinjuice Yes, I know. But between getting a new one of these and a second hand more typical EV... I think most people would opt for the more typical EV for its level of practicality.
Seems incredible for single people or childless couples who don't have a garage, or even driveway. That sounds quite specific, but it covers a pretty large segment of people right now. The non-car use cases for that battery really take it over the top.
How awkward is it to wheel both batteries at once, though? Do they latch together easily?
I doubt they'll latch together, the battery was originally developed for the S01 scooter which only has one battery. This setup would be perfect for delivery, you can constantly have batteries on charge at the base so range isn't an issue.
Probably use one hand on each to pull the two behind you - much like when you drag your own and your neighbour's wheelie bin back in lol.
I've been banging on about the need for removable batteries for years.
With so many homes, here in the UK, without off road parking, and with the predatory pricing of public chargers (which can charge up to ten times the equivalent domestic cost), cars like these will be a game changer.
Personally though, I think I'd want to install a fire proof charging cabinet in the garden, rather than risking charging huge lithium iron batteries in my kitchen while I sleep.
Although I've used EVs for over ten years, as a member of community car hire schemes, Ive been holding off buying my own. But you know what? I think this EV will be on my shopping list, hopefully very soon.
Fully agree with an outdoor charging solution. These batteries weigh a lot, so it’s probably not a trivial matter getting them over a threshold step.
would be great if these batteries were 48volt, then you could use them for a lot of offgrid all in one solar inverters
I did something like this with my diy e-bike, make the pack 48volt and use it also as a offgrid battery storage
You can buy two Citroen Ami's for one of these. I got my Ami in June, just clocked 1600 miles, no issues, turns heads and gets me to work every morning come rain or shine, love it!!!
To be fair, this is a class higher than an Ami. Faster and more range. You can even drive it on the highway.
To be unfair, it's not worth the premium over the Ami.
Still I think the Ami should do at least 50km/h otherwise you'll always be slightly slower than the rest of traffic.
Higher class and you pay for that. I charge my Ami on economy 7 electric and costs pennies to charge. My Amy does almost 50KM/H. 50KM/H is 31MP/H and my Ami does 28MP/H. If you meant the Ami should do 50MP/H, that wouldn't be safe in an Ami. I've heard of people mapping the Ami. This would be dangerous in my opinion as they are driving way too fast than the Ami was designed for.
Been following the Silence S04 for a good while now - as others have mentioned the prices of microcars are getting a bit much when a low end EV can be bought for little more. I love these quirky vehicles but feel they are going to become a bit niche. Holding out to see what the price of the mobilize duo is gojng to be
Well, the other thing is if the Mobilize even happens. Until we see it, it's not real and can't be counted as such. Not to mention that I haven't even heard if it'll be L7E yet which is one reason this is more expensive than a Citroen Ami of course - substantially more powerful vehicle.
Amazing car....the swappable batteries make it practical for charging at home...only issue is see is the hosts head bobbing and him being tossed around....but the review is that its great. You dont need to give a positive spin on everything electric coming your way....
We need a micro EV like this in the US! I’d like to see something slightly larger; big enough for two people along with a dog or two grocery or travel bags.
Yeah the closest thing is the Fiat 500e, still not in this category.
Since the beginning I was wondering about the price, and after finding it out, I realized why he never mentioned it in the video - crazy price!
The price for this seems about 30 to 40% too high. It appears they will be making a very good profit margin on the price of those tiny batteries.
It occurs to me that these modular battery pack helps fix the fact that some batteries may degrade and as battery tech improves you can get new higher capacity lighter future battery replacements. Battery recycling would be so much easier...
Definitely going to check this car out. Ideal for a second car up here in the Lakes, with narrow roads etc.
It ticks lots of boxes: adequate storage, good enough top speed, nice trick with the removable battery and enough creature comforts. In a perfect world it would have only one battery that size/weight and a lower price. Thanks. Good review.
Very interesting (perhaps the interior could be a bit slicker but the swappable batteries are great). I’m currently in Canada, but I live in Europe, too (and going there in few months). While the car may not get any serious interest in the big-ass, size-obsessed N. America, it should do rather well in Europe. I’m going to see where the nearest dealership is. Congrats.
This is super great innovative thinking esp. for urban dwellers who live without off street parking. Viva espania
This seems like a great idea for anyone living in a city.
This would suit some people perfectly. Lovely little option for someone like me in London to get around the congestion charge if I needed a car
idea: make them linkable (at least two) for options on days that needed 4 seater
Swappable batteries means that, if you had 2 sets, you could keep a set I. The boot & have a range of almost 200 miles! Wow!
My vision for the future is that we own micro EVs for commuting etc. and order an autonomous full size EV to our door when we need it.
Car looks excellent for down to the grocery store quick and easy around town. Nice.
The removable battery is so cool to see.
Living in inner London this would be great for myself ,with no worry were I need to charge when I get home, such a clever design.
This is what electric cars _should_ be. Tiny little micro cars designed to get you across town and back. Maybe to work and home again if you don't live too far away. This would be perfect for whizzing around the town/city, going to the shops etc.
This makes real sense for every electric car - the problem is getting manufacturer conformity for batteries. Still needs WAY more range though!
I drive a 2008 Smart fortwo convertible as my run-around, a design that goes back to 1998 (26 years) Where is the innovation in design? Removable batteries makes a lot of sense though.
You featured the Nissan Sakura earlier, more car for less money. The EU should really make effort to get Kei cars into Europe.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!! I own an iMiev -- the only Kei car in the US. It's fantastic. We should have a bunch of Kei cars available, but don't. Have you looked at the Kia Ray EV? That's one I would love to have.
If someone can "just go around in a van at night and pop fresh batteries in" then someone will eventually "just go around in a van at night and pop batteries out" for the scrap value...
don't they have to first bust open the door to get to the battery. plus, won't it better for the van to hook the small car and take the whole vehicle,lol
Yep - I reckon theft / crime is going to be the big problem. A £3k battery with great second hand value is a lot to have on the street. Thieves will crawl under a car to pop a tank for the fuel and to take out a catalytic converter - £6k worth of batteries behind the door…..
User-removable batteries are also key for the second hand market too. The second owner can buy a fresh battery and the car will have its original range.
Really great to see, marvellous…apart from the price. it would make a great tow-car for an RV owner but the price is a killer as for half the money there’s a 160 mile Renault Zoe. Drop the price to under £10k and away it will fly…assuming they can make them fast enough. Great for car sharing businesses, swappable batteries is a brilliant idea all without a swapping station too !. Love the car….hate the price ….then again give it a couple of years and a used one will be very affordable for any new driver
I am not far from having enough of this channel. At this point is plain entertainment.
Great review. Feels so much more useful than other micro cars! However price is also higher, plus would also be worried about support if it went wrong.
I have a 24kWh Leaf with about the same range as this, but I live in a flat and having to use public charging is the one thing I don't love about it. So I'm *seriously* tempted.
In the US having an EV and no garage is a nightmare. I am amazed you're able to live with the Leaf. People in the US talk about charging speeds and lack of enough (there's never enough to satisfy them) public chargers, but I think think what we should really be focusing on is just having ubiquitous metered 240v everywhere you might park. Until we have that, EVs are cheap and convenient for people with garages and expensive and painful for people without.
@@tomp4944 I'm lucky that I have a few lamppost chargers within walking distance of my home, but sometimes they're all busy (or ICEd) when I want to use them and I have to go and spend 40mins sat at a rapid charger instead. So it's do-able for me, but sometimes a hassle and I do covet my neighbours' driveways 😄 As you say, if every parking space had a charger, that would be wonderful.
Having an additional small removable battery like this could be a good idea for lots of EV's. Those without the ability to charge a car at home could top up the small battery ensuring they always had enough power for short trips and to get to charging infrastructure. Being an off grid power supply is also a bonus.
This is the most though out mini electric car I've ever seen! Finally a car you can charge off street for all of us that don't have the ability to install a fixed charger.
Most impressive to date. Would still like more range. Maybe a localised service provider to bring leasable or emergency roadside batteries. However it does seem future proof in that those removable batteries could be upgraded with better energy density ones in future. This hasn't been promoted as an adaptive feature in the hardware and software systems of the vehicle in this review.
Interesting point that it's batteries are far more likely to be upgradeable in the future than other vehicles. I wonder if that would necessarily entail replacing other parts of the system or if it wouldn't matter? Presumably you'd be using the same voltage etc as output - it's not like you'd be trying to supercharge the motor or something. Absent new chemistry though, I don't think we should expect to see massive range increases in quadricycles that are small. Technically the batteries are not included in their kerb weight limits if I understand the classifications properly (and I might not, they're a little weird). Which might mean you could produce the same thing, slightly longer, with twice the battery space and more boot space. However, the power limit is still there so you'd have a heavier and slower vehicle I think. Then again, there's nothing stopping us having an L8E category in the future which allows for a similar vehicle, with a 600Kg, 4 passenger layout also limited to the same speed (but with more power available for acceleration to that speed). We might have to ask MPs and MEPs nicely though *shudders*
This was my favourite for a long time until I came across the Nimbus One EV. But Silence does have the advantage of their experience and success of their mopeds.
@@jonevansauthor I believe new battery technology should be a drop in replacement as long as you say the voltage is the same. The most likely difference might be the charger but then I believe these batteries have the charger built into them and take a mains input.
It's companies like this that will make a difference in the market. The battery technology here is so obvious it's unreal! Evs have been screaming out for removable batteries. It being able to be a battery to hold excess renewable energy as well is very innovative. I genuinely love it. I would happily own one.
I remember seeing the scooter a couple of years back and thinking the interchangeable battery was a good idea. Other electric outfits do it as well like the super soco. As I have recently seen a brand-new Vauxhall Corsa, E GS, going for £19,000 as others have said, this looks pricey to me…
It appears to be everything i hoped it would be. Might see if i can fit myself in it now I've seen it pass the Jack test.
You said it could not run on just one battery pack, but then say that you could increase range by throwing in a third battery into the boot. Will the car run when one battery is completely depleted and another is fully charged, or are there balancing issues from that?
my thoughts exactly, makes no sense at all what he said.
This is actually easy. Use the first set of batteries to 50%. Swap one of the batteries with the full one. When the lowest battery is nearly empty, the fuller battery should be around 50%. Swap the depleted battery for the 50% one from earlier, and now you have 50% batteries in both sides. Easy peasy with a little pre-planning.
Considering the gauge cluster showed the battery levels independently I would assume they don't need to be balanced in charge. Maybe need to have both installed for weight distribution?
There are more battery options than is suggested.
Uses them independently so run one down and swap it out. Just need two in place for circuits to function
Love it -- daughter goes to school 30km away - 70 round trip. Could probably fit 2 end to end on the longer side of the garage. Wonder how well it would do in the colder winter. You could keep batteries warm in the house but go out and let sit at work for the day in the cold, you will lose at least 30% of range in cold and no place to charge while, for like in my duaghters case, at school.
So many comments from people who fail completely to understand what this car is for. It's not there to replace a family hatchback, estate or 4x4. It's there for two specific markets.
1. Single people, couples or families with more than one car that cannot have a home charger and need a city car. People who live in flats or terraced houses who cannot fit a home charger. Removable batteries than can be taken inside and charged are a brilliant idea.
2. Teenagers. Most 17-year-olds have driving experience delivered by a PlayStation. Hit a lamp post, it breaks, go off a cliff, reset. The real world is far away. Give a 15-year-old one of these and the road becomes all too real. That cliff will kill you, that lamp post won't bend and the artic won't see you or even notice if it crushes you.
Ask any 17 or 18 year old if they'd drive one, they'd say no way. Ask a 12 year old if they'd rather drive one or stand in the rain and snow for the school bus, see what they say. It needs an attitude shift to stop stigmatising small low powered vehicles, and encourage teens to drive small cars and mopeds. Go abroad, see mopeds all over, here? No, they're not cool. Same with small cars. Stop with the Top Gear Clarkson attitude and accept that small low-powered cars are essential to teaching teenagers that driving safely is more important.
My teenage daughter has applied for a McJob that's 5 minutes away. That's 5 minutes on a 60mph road. At average walking speed it takes nearly an hour through unlit woodland. Do I want my daughter walking through the woods at midnight or driving home in a tiny microcar? Hmm... tough choice. Walking is out, cycling is the same route, so out of the question too.
It needs government intervention. Make these cars cheap to buy, cheap to insure and make insurance companies take no claims discounts from these cars on to "proper" cars. Ask a 17 year old if they'd drive one? No. Ask them if they'd drive one if it meant reducing their insurance by 30%, they'd happily go back in time and drive one.
suitability
Dam that's clever! That could solve the on street parking charging problem!
Interesting anti-theft idea :-)
That removable battery idea sounds awesome, get 4 or more batteries and solar, and you swap sets of batteries each night with the ones that were charged by the solar during the day :)
Wow! I love the portable battery solution! 😏 and I am pretty sure that some one some where, would stuff it with amps & basses and try to make it the loudest "silence" at a dB drag competition. Just for the dad joke value of it 😂 It's kinda asking for it, isn't it? "Seismic silence" 😅 a bluetooth speaker with wheels and a license plate 😆🤣
You are a great presenter, informative, witty and a lovely clear speaking voice. Go well, go far young man!
The Vehicle 2 Load feature is excellent. Especially since the battery is removable.
'Time I subscribed, Jack. I have watched a few of your videos now. I like your presentation, sensible comment, humour, and choice of vehicles you show us. Well done, and thanks !
Another advantage - the portable battery could be used at home to provide electricity during a blackout.
Wow! The fact that changing the batteries is the easiest of all EVs is an amazing concept, a truly genius concept, just like you don’t need a technician to change batteries in your TVs remote control...
That battery system is what every single electric car should have...
They could have such a battery system but batteries are hundreds of kg for bigger cars and it would be hard to do. Hard to do doesn't mean impossible and Nio actually has battery swapping.
Other manufacturers are just not interested in this.
what if they would use a few small swappable batteries like these and combine them? This thing has two. A bigger car could have four or six. Ok, there may be a few issues with weight distribution and space, but the advantages would be enormous.@@mforce2
Fun fact, the Dutch ICE microcars aren't generally powered by petrol.. but diesel! The only 'upside' is that it would be pretty easy to run them on biodiesel, but they don't have filters on the exhaust so they're just horrible. Most microcars are electric though and the diesel ones generally look pretty bad so they're bound to simply disappear after a while.