Paris electrifies (a little)
02/10/2019
Naturally, cars and motorcycles with combustion engines dominate the Rétromobile in Paris. But even a classic car fair can't seem to get by without electric cars. And these appear in completely different guises.
The Devinci Classic DB 718 (pictured above), for example, is modeled on the pre-war cars of the 1920s and has a 15 kW electric motor. It should reach 100 km/h and have a range of around 150 km (with the smaller battery). For around EUR 50,000, you can become the owner of this car, the production of which is limited to 200 units for 2019.
The Peugeot VLV Electrique from 1941 is completely different. The small convertible, which was built by Peugeot between 1941 and 1945 to remain autonomous despite the lack of petrol, weighed 350 kg.
The city car (VLV stood for véhicule léger de ville) ran at a speed of 36 km/h and had a range of around 75 to 80 km. A total of 377 examples were built at the time and were mainly used by the post office and the medical service. There was no successor until 1995, when the Peugeot 106 Electric was introduced, which was then produced in 3542 units by 2004.
Citroën recently presented a new interpretation of the Méhari with an electric motor, but the car doesn't quite match the charm of the old Méhari. The company "Eden Cassis" probably thought so too and therefore electrified the old Méhari without it being visible from the outside.
The electric Méhari offers roughly the driving performance of a 602 cc equivalent and has a range of 100 km. The lithium-LiFe batteries can be recharged from the normal domestic power grid in three hours. However, you will of course miss the pleasant two-cylinder rattle of the electric Méhari. In return, you will be able to purr your way through city centers in the future. And you can polish the original drivetrain and put it up in the office. The price starts at 24,000 euros and there is a range of bright colors to choose from, just like back in the seventies.
Our detailed report on the Rétromobile will follow soon ...
