Audi urban concept – wasn’t that a miniature two-seater from 2011? The streamlined caterpillar recently turned out to be a colossal zeppelin: the Urbansphere Concept is 5.5 meters long and weighs 3.5 tons. Audi praises the luxury trumpet as a visionary solution for the city.
Smart has also written off the idea of the small city runabout. In 1972, a team led by Johann Tomforde at Daimler-Benz began designing urban miniature vehicles. In the early 1990s they teamed up with Swatch inventor Nicolas Hayek under the name Smart. Lots and lots of colorful Smarties were supposed to solve the traffic and environmental problems in congested cities. But the masses would not even think of cramming themselves into such a phone booth on wheels: no space, no prestige and the price was beyond good and evil compared to the comfort.
The “new era of micromobility” – repeatedly called for by environmental organizations – never really got off the ground. After a quarter of a century of losses, Daimler pulled the plug in 2019: With a circulation of 100,000 units per year, an S-Class is worthwhile, but not a parking miracle with a micro-margin. Now BMW and Mercedes have also buried the corresponding car sharing project. The French car company Stellantis is to take over Share Now. BMW boss Oliver Zipse announced that the future focus would be on digital services related to charging: “We see potential for growth here.” In other words, the auto parts business isn’t really worth it.
The CT1 in sleep and wake mode: For more stable driving, the wheels can be pushed apart by 40 centimeters at the push of a button.
(Photo: City Transformers)
While the German manufacturers say goodbye to the three-meter class, Johann Tomforde does not want to give up the idea of the little electric bikes. When asked whether the small City Transformer is the better Smart, he replies: “In a way, yes. The CT1 combines everything that an individual city vehicle needs today: comfort, safety for the driver, enough power for urban speeds, minimal space requirement and a small ecological footprint during production.” Tomforde, who now works as a strategy consultant for the Israeli start-up, adds: “We have already achieved a lot with the Smart 1997, and with the City Transformer we are on an even smarter path.”
Lots of advance praise. The first test drive with the 2.50 meter short micromobile in Munich dampens the euphoria sensitively. Of course, a rickety prototype is not yet a sophisticated series product. But the seating position in a row in the skin-tight cabin is definitely not for the claustrophobic. The comfort is also wood class, if you have to thread in behind the driver, you should not be older than ten years to protect your knees. You don’t necessarily want to imagine a traffic jam under the blazing sun in the glass bell. Just as little as the collision with a larger vehicle, because the Tom Thumb has hardly more safety reserves than a single-track vehicle. The CT1 may be a little friend in the traffic-calmed cycling city. In the aggressive urban crowds, where the law of the strongest often applies, it doesn’t exactly convey a superior driving experience.
The City Transformer with 15 kW of power does not work exuberantly enough for that. It cannot offer the comfort of a car with the exhilarating feel of a motorcycle when sprinting and cornering. The technology of the CT1 is quite sophisticated. At the push of a button, the track width increases by 40 centimeters beyond the basic width of one meter. With the wheels extended, the automotive greyhound doesn’t fall over as quickly. However, the one-and-a-half-seater cannot lean elegantly into the curves like the Toyota i-Road with tilting technology (another vision that never became reality). Above all, the question remains whether the wheels can be extended and retracted reliably not only in Tel Aviv, but also in wintry Munich in snow and ice.
The interior of the prototype doesn’t look cheap – but neither is the CT1 at a price of 16,000 euros.
(Photo: City Transformers)
The advantages for the transport system are undeniable: The electric cabin scooter combines zero local emissions with a low noise level and the parking space required for a larger two-wheeler. With such micromobiles, the search for a parking space, which accounts for about a third of traffic in large cities, could be shortened. It remains to be seen how customers can be persuaded to switch to such covered electric tandems with quad approval. Renault celebrates extremely modest successes with the comparable Twizy. Only 111 units were sold in Germany last year, and since the market launch a decade ago there have only been 5,819 micro-electric vehicles. This may also be due to the price, which has almost doubled to at least 11,450 euros during this time.
The Israeli small car with the child scheme will cost at least 12,500 euros for pre-orders, later it will cost 16,000 euros. With such prices, the CT1 flies just as out of the curve as the Twizy, at least in Germany. Because the government purchase premium for electric cars only applies to regular passenger cars, but not to light vehicles or quads. In other words, a fully-fledged electric car like the Dacia Spring is even cheaper than the narrow-gauge vehicles, including the subsidy. Even when it comes to fleet consumption, by which manufacturers in Europe are measured, the models are useless: the legislator considers a large electric SUV to be just as environmentally friendly as an electric mini.
Asaf Formoza, the 48-year-old founder of Israeli startup City Transformer.
(Photo: City Transformers)
That can upset Asaf Formoza: “Just because it drives electrically doesn’t make a huge SUV a reasonable city car,” says the Israeli inventor and mechanical engineer. In 2014 he founded City Transformer and now he has found a production partner for the CT1 in Europe, which he does not want to name yet. “In the end, it’s mostly about transporting a single person over a short distance in the city,” says the 48-year-old lecturer. But common sense has never done much in the urban jungle. “If we really want to make a difference, the cities have to go along with it,” emphasizes Formoza. He dreams of his own lanes and parking zones for narrow-gauge vehicles – just like the Smart founders, who were once unable to enforce perpendicular parking with the knob.
Is there a rethinking in the municipalities? Paris wants to introduce a traffic-calmed zone in the city center soon. Parking in the French capital is an extreme game of patience anyway. Because the few free parking spaces are usually small, “bumper kissing” is part of everyday life. In other words, the Parisians do not hesitate to forcefully squeeze their car into the “breathing” parking space. Up to four City Transformers fit in a conventional car parking space. However, there are no special parking spaces or narrow lanes for light vehicles in traffic-calmed Paris. Like the Twizy, the CT1 will also lose out when looking for a parking space compared to two-wheelers. And the legislator grants them no privileges over conventional cars. The urban clean-up doesn’t stop at micromobiles (at least in Europe).