Moving up the mobility food-chain from electric scooters and motorized luggage, Ampere Motors plans to launch its $9,900 electric vehicle around Christmas 2018 (according to its founder via an email message). With its 100-mile range (upgradable to 150-mile), 3.5 hour charging time and low-cost, it could be viewed as a practical commuter vehicle. It’s design (convertible with pushrod double wishbone suspension) and zip (0-60 in about 7 to 8 seconds) will allow it to double as a vehicle for fun weekend excursions.
In the above interview, Ampere Motors co-founder, Tony Chan suggests it drives like a racecar. Chan explains that the Ampere Roadster is about an integrated mobility experience that includes other forms of electric transport, including scooters and bikes. Proving his point, people who pre-order the Roadster receive an electric briefcase scooter with their order.
The implication of the type of integration he suggests is that the Roadster might serve the last 10 or 20 miles of a commute, parking at the edge of a city-center, (e.g. maybe in parking lots above or below a freeway, for instance). The electric briefcase would then serve as the last-mile transport in the car-free urban area.
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