Daimler’s Smart has established itself as a popular city car in Europe, but the tiny two-door could soon face some competition from General Motors’ Vauxhall brand. GM’s British marque is reportedly readying an all-electric production version of its Trixx show car.
According to AutoExpress, Vauxhall is planning to launch an all-electric version of its Trixx show car — which first debuted in 2004 — for the 2012 model year. The production version will be roughly the size of the Toyota iQ, offering seating for 3+1.
In order to keep costs to a minimum, the production Trixx will borrow its electric drivetrain from the Chevy Volt. However, Volt’s 1.4L generator will not be part of the equation. That should help keep the car’s cost and weight down – the latter allowing the EV to travel 90 miles between charges.
However, the Trixx will likely share is pricing problems with the Volt. Due to the expense of batteries, the Trixx’ lithium-ion pack could run well over $10,000 by itself – not including any r&d, engineering and building costs. To get around that high price of entry, GM could offer a leasing system for the car’s batteries.
It remains unclear if GM’s current financial condition is slowing the development of the production Trixx, but Vauxhall hopes to launch the zero-emission Smart and iQ rival by 2012.
