Zoomi Life

A Norwegian upstart, ElBil Norge, has come up with an electric car they’re calling the Kewet (“Buddy”). Their website, which is in haltingly Babelfished English, explains the concept of the car and how it came about. After two or three reads and a cup of coffee, I think I have the idea down.

The car was in its 5^th generation of design in 2005 and the original concept was to build an electric vehicle that could withstand Norway’s cold temperatures, but operate just fine in hot places like Thailand. That concept evolved as observation of continual battery improvements were made in the market to include the idea that the car could run on any electric source, so it was no longer battery-design-dependent.

This means that the car not only does well in very low temperature environments, but it’s not chained to a single battery technology and can easily be upgraded with new batteries as technology improves. Safety and other concerns then became more of a priority as the car became more popular and widely accepted as something worth selling on the market.

Expanding even further, a convertible model, and soon a small mini-van/delivery van version will also be on the market. Continual improvements will push the range of the vehicle out to nearly 45 miles with its standard configuration as well.

The company has succeeded for two reasons: it started small and stayed small until it was ready to expand and it’s expanded slowly and steadily rather than taking on huge debt or investment ventures and exploding.

They currently build for the Norwegian market only, but have plans to begin selling to Europe within the next two or three years, depending on the market’s climate.

It’s nice to see an old-school strategy being used so well with a burgeoning technology. Check out the pics below of the Buddy rolling off the assembly line:

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Check out the video clip below, which features the Buddy:

Source: Elbil Norge