Major automotive maker companions with Swedish flat-pack EV model – and no, it is not Ikea
Need a small, affordable car for whizzing around town? How does £8,500 sound for a brand new one? The only catch is you might need to build it yourself…
Well, not exactly.
Swedish flat-pack electric vehicle firm Luvly has already showcased its radical – and patented – ‘O’ quadricycle design, which offers a budget-busting low price because it can be cheaply shipped flat-packed and bolted together before being handed to customers.
Given its national background and built-on-delivery ethos, you might expect the start-up to have struck a deal with Ikea. But instead, it has partnered with one of the world’s biggest car makers.
Stellantis, the parent group of giant brands including Citroen, Peugeot and Vauxhall, has signed a year-long commercial agreement to evaluate the feasibility of using Luvly’s design to expand its own quadricycle business, having already launched the quirky Citroen Ami in Britain.
It will tap into the Stokholm company’s revolutionary chassis, which comprises a series of large composite panels to which other key components – such as the suspension, e-motor and bodywork – can be attached.
Luvly boss Håkan Lutz revealed to mobility publication Zag Daily that the technology has the ‘potential to revolutionise the way vehicles are designed and built’.
He added: ‘If we manage to prove the level of safety and the economics of our platform and Stellantis chooses to adopt it, that is a major thing – not only for us, but for the industry.’
Stellantis, the parent group of giant car brands including Citroen, Peugeot and Vauxhall, has signed a year-long commercial agreement to evaluate the feasibility of using Swedish start-up Luvly’s flat-pack EV design
Unlike an Ikea chest of drawers, the Luvly O isn’t designed to be delivered in a box to your front door.
Instead, it is is shipped to microfactories worldwide where they are pieced together before being sent to customers.
While approximately 20 fully built O quadricycles would fit into a standard 20-foot container, unassembled and transported in parts, a typical 20ft cargo unit can carry 250 flat-packed examples.
This reduced the shipping and distribution costs of conventional EVs by a claimed 80 per cent.
Lutz told The Telegraph back in 2023: ‘If it were legally and technologically possible to assemble in your house, we would think that would be a good thing, but sadly on both of those counts, it is not.’
Stellantis plans to tap into the Stokholm company’s revolutionary chassis design, which comprises a series of large composite panels to which other key components – such as the suspension, e-motor and bodywork – can be attached
The Luvly O’s composite safety shell is designed to absorb the energy from impacts to protect passengers if they are involved in a collision
Luvly boss Håkan Lutz revealed to mobility publication Zag Daily that the technology has the ‘potential to revolutionise the way vehicles are designed and built’
The Luvly O – which is not yet on sale – is powered by a 6.4kWh battery and electric motor setup that provides a maximum range of 62 miles. The battery is removable and can be split in two so you can charge it using a domestic three-pin plug in your home or office
The compact vehicle – which is not yet on sale but would technically qualify as a quadricycle in Britain, like the £7,695 Ami and £17.990 Microlino – has only two seats and is powered by a 6.4kWh battery and electric motor setup that provides a maximum range of 62 miles.
While this doesn’t sound much, in the urban environment for which it is intended, it would likely only need to be charged once a week.
And you won’t need to locate a public EV charging point; instead, you can detach the battery from the vehicle and then carry it into your home or office to charge it – or substitute it for a fully charged spare unit.
The battery can be divided into two removable pieces that each can be charged using a domestic three-pin socket.
It means owners living in flats and terraced houses in major cities woudn’t be reliant on the local public EV charging infrastructure, which has come under fire from electric car drivers and industry experts in recent years for growing too slowly and not being reliable and costing far more to access compared to domestic charging costs.
Stellantis is considering expanding its own quadricycle business off the back of the success of compact electric mobility solutions, such as the Citroen Ami. It’s been available in the UK since 2022 and costs from £7,695
The O has a claimed top speed of 56mph, which is double that of the Ami.
Luvly has previously estimated a starting price in Europe of around €10,000 (£8,400), which would put it on par with the Citroen.
It weighs just 400kg, making it lighter than the original 1959 Mini and less than half the bulk of the Dacia Spring, currently Britain’s cheapest new EV.
And the Swedish manufacturer claims it has 267 litres of ‘trunk’ space – that’s more than the boot capacity of the new Mini Cooper hatchback (210 litre).
Despite its flat-pack construction, diminutive stature and lack of engine up front to cushion a blow, its creators claim it has a composite safety shell sharing several similarities with Formula One cars, with energy absorbers around the chassis similar to those used on the racing cars to ensure maximum protection in a collision.
Stellantis uses the Citroen Ami’s platform for other models from sister brands, including the Fiat Topolino (pictured) and the Opel Rocks EV
Mr Lutz has previously stated: ‘I think these would suit the UK absolutely perfectly.
‘The bigger the city, the more sense one of these cars makes.’
His company is currently process of raising €5million in equity to scale up its R&D and testing of the O.
Stellantis has been selling the Citroen Ami in Britain since 2022 and has also launched sister models from Fiat (Topolino) and Opel (Opel Rocks Electric) in Europe.
The vehicle making giant also recently signed a joint venture with Chinese EV brand Leapmotor – the maker of the smallest new car sold in Britain.
The T03 EV – which is 362cm long and just 165cm wide – is on sale in Britain now priced from £15,995.
It is sold – alongside the larger C10 SUV priced from £36,500 – in Stellantis showrooms across the country from this week.
