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Peugeot Exhibits Two EVs at the Paris Auto Show

November 28, 2000 by Jeff Shepard

Over a month after the end of the Mondial de l'Automobile, better known as the Paris Auto Show, reports are trickling out about some of the more unusual and fantastic cars which were exhibited. The show, which lasted from 30 September to 15 October 2000, included four tiny new cars from Peugeot (Paris). Peugeot CEO Frédéric Saint-Geours called these cars the City Toyz, recreational concept cars which, he emphasized, illustrate his company's three essential objectives: innovation, the environment and fun.

Two of the four City Toyz, it turns out, are electric! The first, named the Bobslid, has three seats arranged longitudinally along a common cushion -- as in a bobsled. The car has four wheel drive and is all-electric. Four drive wheels, each fitted with ten little 500W motors to create 27 horsepower, powers and drives the Bobslid, which has no steering wheel or handlebars. Instead, the car is steered by varying the speed of the wheels from two joysticks located on a column between the driver's legs.

The second electric vehicle from the City Toyz quartet is called the "E-doll". This car measures only a little over 8 feet long (2.5 meters) and is capable of carrying three people side-by-side in McLaren F1 seating, in which the driver sits in the middle, slightly ahead of each of two passengers. The driver steers using a scooter handlebar fitted with ignition, throttle and brake controls as well as a two-dial instrument panel. The car is powered by two battery-powered electric motors on the rear swing-arm suspended axle.

Peugeot says that the City Toyz quartet, which includes two non-electric cars, the Vroomster and Kart Up, are strictly one-offs, destined never to be mass-produced. However, it is hoped that they will inspire other urban-driving solutions as the price of gasoline climbs still higher.