the new “people’s car” … doesn’t have to have the long range of traditional automobiles but ideally it should be close to 200 miles of range and just a no frills comfortable ride that does not feel cheap.
We just have to agree on what no frills is.
Outside of power windows and locks everything else can be manual with at most some control over wiper speed. heck to keep costs down no controls need to be replicated to the steering wheel and the screen provided can simply access Apple Car Play or Android Auto to provide anything more than current media playing and status of the car. There would likely be a simple cruise control option but given current safety kicks TACC is not out of the question
I put power windows and locks in there because its just cheaper to use them than not as it is such common hardware and saves packaging space as well.
options would cover all those other features people like to add on like power and heated seats, automatic climate control, and more.
You’re basically describing the E-Up/Mii/Citigo - only I think it’s more clever in that it doesn’t even have a screen, only a phone holder. It doesn’t have a heated steering wheel, but otherwise surprisingly well equipped with the most convenient stuff (heated front window, rain sensor, auto AC…). The Mii doesn’t even offer any steering wheel controls either - so simple.
If they made a Polo-sized E-Up, with the Fiat 500e’s battery and charging speed, it would be a slam dunk.
the new “people’s car” … doesn’t have to have the long range of traditional automobiles but ideally it should be close to 200 miles of range and just a no frills comfortable ride that does not feel cheap.
We just have to agree on what no frills is.
Outside of power windows and locks everything else can be manual with at most some control over wiper speed. heck to keep costs down no controls need to be replicated to the steering wheel and the screen provided can simply access Apple Car Play or Android Auto to provide anything more than current media playing and status of the car. There would likely be a simple cruise control option but given current safety kicks TACC is not out of the question
I put power windows and locks in there because its just cheaper to use them than not as it is such common hardware and saves packaging space as well.
options would cover all those other features people like to add on like power and heated seats, automatic climate control, and more.
It needs to compete with other ICE cars in the price range (eg. Nissan Versa, Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio, Subaru Impreza).
Take the most popular features from these car and use that as a starting point.
The reason for doing it this way, is people will be comparison shopping against these similarly priced cars.
You’re basically describing the E-Up/Mii/Citigo - only I think it’s more clever in that it doesn’t even have a screen, only a phone holder. It doesn’t have a heated steering wheel, but otherwise surprisingly well equipped with the most convenient stuff (heated front window, rain sensor, auto AC…). The Mii doesn’t even offer any steering wheel controls either - so simple.
If they made a Polo-sized E-Up, with the Fiat 500e’s battery and charging speed, it would be a slam dunk.