Renault Twizy Electric Vehicle

Will the Renault Electric Vehicle Twizy Make Its Presence Felt in the North American Market?

Many people want confirmation of the news about Renault’s plans to bring the Twizy car to North America.

The car was shipped by Renault to Canada – it is one of the cars on display at the 2015 Québec City International Auto Show. But, the question many want to ask is, will the auto maker actually sell the Twizy cars here?

Renault manufactures a good number of car brands

They include the all-electric ZOE and Twizy. Europeans consider Renault as one of their favourite car brands because it is known for its advanced features and style.

However, since Renault is a French company that wants to concentrate its business in its home turf, it is not fond of offering its cars in North America.

Still, the supposed entry of the one-of-a-kind electric car Renault into North America via Quebec, which is incidentally a French-speaking province, makes everyone hopeful.

John Voelcker said, “Renault’s Emmanuelle Desbrosse, who runs the company’s electric-vehicle unit, confirmed to Le Soleil by e-mail that it had submitted the Twizy for approval to Transport Canada, in response to what she termed many requests. The company would offer both the two-seat version–with its seats in tandem–and the one-seat version for deliveries, known as the Twizy Cargo.”

Kangoo ZE small van, another popular Renault electric vehicle, was not meant to meet North American safety standards, according to Daniel Bédard, an assistant director at the Québec office of automotive advisory services of the Canadian Auto Association.

But in order for Renault Twizy to be able to find a distributor in Quebec, it must satisfy a number of requirements as imposed by the city. It is not like in Europe where these cars needed only the standards like lights, brakes, wipers, and seat belts to be able to legally operate in towns and states.

Many own the Renault Twizy and have great experience driving it.

It’s a two-seater, which means that it cannot be operated as a family car. But it can be the ideal one to use for those who want to drive on slow-speed roads.

For those who have had experiences driving both Twizy and US-made or manufactured EV, many actually liked the Twizy electric vehicle more. So, it’s still a guessing game as far as the entry of Twizy to the Quebec car market is concerned.

Some drivers and local auto makers are indifferent. They believe that even if Renault does bring it in, it will hardly make a dent in the already growing EV market. Others are still positive that if the French car’s Quebec entry pushes through, it will shake up the market and keep its players on their toes.

But first, Renault should realize that if ever it brings Twizy, it is essentially marketing a car that’s doorless – the one feature that can potentially stop Quebec drivers from buying it, considering Canada’s merciless cold weather during the winter.

Having no doors is a rather unfortunate feature of the Renualt Twizy – it is enough reason for the company to think twice about introducing it to the North American market.

 

Photo Credit : EVObsession

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