Meet another Norwegian EV: The Buddy
Buddy is a Norwegian company that is building EVs. Their model, the Kewet Buddy is one of the cheapest EVs in the market, thanks to it's off-the shelf components with "little emphasis on additional equipment and fancy extras", as the website states. The bright side? Fewer components means fewer parts to break.
The current generation seats three adults and "two cases of beers or 6-8 bags of groceries" and is suitable for city use, thanks to its compact size. The company also claims that the model works both in cold and warm countries, although they state that it's only on sale in Norway. It's got regenerative braking. The range: from 50 to 100 km with lead-acid batteries or 100 to 150 with Lithium-ion. Full specs after the jump.
Specifications for the Kewet Buddy
Homologation: e11*2002/24*0153*00, category L7e
Seating capacity: 3 adults
Vehicle length / width / height: 244 x 143 x 144 cm
Wheelbase: 155 cm
Turning circle: 7.3 m
Unladen mass (without batteries): 400 kg
Curb weight (without driver, lead acid batteries): 785 kg
Maximum allowed weight: 1.020 kg
Luggage compartment capacity: 150 litre / base 920 x 470 cm
Motor: SepEx 72V DC, 13 kW
Transmission: Gear wheel transmission with differential rear-wheel drive and fully automatic electric gear shift system, gearing 1:7
Top speed: 80-90 km/h depending of battery technology
Acceleration: 0-50 km/h in ca 7 seconds
Maximum hill-starting ability: 20%
Suspension: Front – MacPherson struts. Rear – Independent
Wheels/Tyres standard: Alloy wheels 4Jx13 // 135(145)/80R13
Brakes: Regenerative braking to enhance the driving range. Disc brakes on all wheels with double circuit braking system. Parking brake on the rear wheels.
Body: Fibre-glass reinforced polyester and ABS
Safety cabin: Welded tubular steel space frame, optional hot dip galvanised
Heating: Electric heater 1600W, optional paraffin heater system
Batteries: Maintenance-free lead batteries, ca 8.4 kWh or optional ca 10.5 kWh available. Li-Ion technology, 10-15 kWh available.
Charging time: 0-100% in 6-8 hours, 30-100% in 3 hours
Range: Lead-acid batteries 50-100 km, depending on road conditions, temperature and the driver. Li-Ion batteries up to 100-150 km
Versions: Cabriolet
Left-hand drive with metric units for the speedometer.
Right-hand drive with imperial units for the speedometer.
Additional equipment: Paraffin heater 2.200 W, fan heater 550 W when charging, radio/CD player, coupling device (maximum towable mass 200 kg), sun roof, ski rack and bike rack.
[Source: Buddy (thanks to Kert for the tip)]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jeremie 10:47PM (4/03/2008)
I'm so tired of seeing these "Scooter" EV's. To make EV's interesting to people... build REAL cars. Then transition to smaller cars like this one is a good thing. But as we all know transition takes time....
Make a Hummer EV, then down to a Ford fusion EV, then down to a Mini EV, then make This type of EV.
Best of luck with this concept...
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ug 2:03PM (4/02/2008)
It's unrealistic to expect fully fledged cars coming from small companies. They just don't have the money for the R&D it takes to make a freeway-legal vehicle. If you want a REAL car as an EV you're better off converting an existing vehicle.
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Cervus 1:16PM (4/02/2008)
This is the very definition of a "punishment car". There might be a niche market for it, but most people will not take it seriously. We need EVs that look like real cars and are uncompromising when it comes to performance and styling.
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Byron Thomas 2:40PM (4/02/2008)
Price? Quality? Could this be the best electric car on the market? Consider this: "Everything is connected to everything else". USA is changing too...I feel bad for car companies that are marketing "big V8's", large trucks and SUV's, etc. There is no part of human DNA that requires a large V8 to run errands, nor a $60,000 electric car. The future of two car families? A RAV4, Mazda5, or a KiaRhondo for the family, and a $9,000 NEV to buzz around town at 25 to 35 mph to pick up groceries and visit the ladies for lunch at Olive Gardens.
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jeffzekas 2:50PM (4/02/2008)
You want "real" cars? Okay, remember the very first car? It was built by Daimler Benz, and it was a small carriage, with a one cylinder engine! So, the first "real" electric cars will be simple, just as the first internal combustion autos were simple. And besides, when I drive to Walmart (1.2 miles) I DON'T need my 5.8 liter monster V-8 Bronco to take me there! Same for the 10 mile drive to work (on a 55 mph county road). A small, simple commuter (such as the Buddy) would be acceptable. I mean, hey, not all of us need Cadillacs! My first car was a '58 Beetle-- talk about primitive! Yet, it was great for a high school student who puttered around town (and it got 25 mpg, over 30 years ago! Hey, folks, it isn't that hard to build fuel efficient vehicles!). The problem isnt' with electric cars, but with the perception of some buyers ("It's not big enough! It doesn't have a DVD player! Where are the leather seats!"), perceptions which have NOTHING to do with the FUNCTION of a vehicle-- namely, to get a person from here to there... NOT be an entertainment center, or a mobile living room, or an extension of macho power.
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Stephen 3:55PM (4/02/2008)
Byron Thomas: That's a beautiful dream, but in most families two people commute farther than an NEV is suitable for, or one person commutes and the other needs something larger for hauling kids to/from school, piano lessons, soccer, etc. If you scale that second car up a little to a Think Ox (four seats) it becomes more realistic. In my household we both commute 65 miles roundtrip at freeway speeds (although I only drive a few days a week). If I could find an EV capable of that for
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Stephen 4:29PM (4/02/2008)
... less than $30K I'd be a happy man.
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GenWaylaid 3:05AM (4/03/2008)
Style-wise, I prefer this Buddy over its direct competitors. It looks like a 1980s Lotus had a baby.
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jake 3:23AM (4/03/2008)
@Stephen
For $30k, I'd think you should try to find some way to get your hands on an Aptera.
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Andrew 6:12AM (4/03/2008)
Jeremie, this is not a concept. Kewet has been building EV for a long time. In fact they have a hard time producing enough to cover the demand. The cars are not pretty, but work well.
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Andrew 6:14AM (4/03/2008)
Hey Xavier Navarro! Why did you tag this article "European Union"? Norway is not a member of the EU - and does not want to be!
The European Union is NOT synonymous with Europe!
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Tormod Henne 9:25AM (4/03/2008)
Due to time difference I tend to arrive late to the party, but here are some more data from the norwegian text:
Prices: NOK139.000/ $27.500
New Batttery pack (lead-acid): NOK19.000+ VAT = $3725 + VAT. Expected life time up to 5 years depending on driving style.
Durability: One very happy owner has logged 100.000 km/60.000 miles. He has not purchased one drop of gasoline for 8 years!
Numbers made: 133 in -06.
I don't have breakout data for 07 but a a total of 315 new BEVs were purchased in Norway in 07 whereof Buddy probably is more than half, bringing the total number of BEVs to 1667 per 080101
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Ed 6:42AM (4/24/2009)
The "Maximum allowable weight" is 1.020 kg?
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