CityEl - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The CityEl is a 3-wheel light-weight electric car

Electric car

An electric car is an automobile which is propelled by electric motor, using electrical energy stored in batteries or another energy storage device. Electric cars were popular in the late-19th century and early 20th century, until advances in internal combustion engine technology and mass...

currently made in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

by Smilies AG (formerly known as Citycom AG)

The CityEl was originally developed as the Mini-El by Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

company El Trans A/S in Randers

Randers

Randers is a city in Randers municipality on the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 60,656 . Randers city is the main town of the municipality and the site of its municipal council.-Overview:Randers municipality has 94,750 inhabitants...

and was first brought onto the market by them in 1987. After El Trans A/S had to give up production in 1988 and two subsequent manufacturers (Eltrans1 A/S in 1991 and Eltrans89 A/S in 1995), Citycom Denmark A/S, a German

Germany

investor, took over and moved the company to Aub

Aub

Aub is a town in the district of Würzburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 29 km southeast of Würzburg, and 21 km northwest of Rothenburg ob der Tauber.It is on the Gollach River, not far from the border of Baden-Württemberg...

. The production is now in Aub-Baldersheim. In 2009 the company was renamed again, when it started to sell electric vehicles of other brands besides their own.

The vehicle is for one person, seated centrally. Rather than conventional doors, the whole top-half of the vehicle hinges upwards on gas-struts allowing access to the cockpit. An optional child seat allows the car to carry a child (up to 30kg), sitting behind the front seat on the engine compartment, facing backwards. The driver operates car-like controls (steering wheel

Steering wheel

A steering wheel is a type of steering control in vehicles and vessels ....

, brake

Brake

A brake is a mechanical device which inhibits motion. Its opposite component is a clutch. The rest of this article is dedicated to various types of vehicular brakes....

and throttle pedals

Automobile pedal

An automobile may have two to four foot pedals. The arrangement is the same for both right- and left-hand traffic. From left to right:* normally operated by the left foot:**clutch pedal, not in the case of automatic transmission...

) although the vehicle is classed as an electric motorcycle in some countries.

There have been three body styles since production started. The 'Basic' version has a completely solid roof. Some versions have plexiglass side-windows. The Convertible was a fully open version no-longer made by CityCom. In its place the 'Targa' version was constructed, with a removable centre soft top but solid rear windows. In America the City El was sold with a different roof, made out of fibreglass. http://www.evalbum.com/1160 This roof is slightly different from the factory-built City El roof.

Technical specifications

The older version had a 36-volt, 2.5 kW motor with three 80 Ah lead acid batteries, a 40 55 km/h (Series1) to 55 km/h (Series2 and up) top speed and a range from 40 to 50 km (Series1 up to 70km). The consumption from Series2 and up was 7 to 9 kW·h/100 km. However, the new version FactFour has four lead acid batteries, a much better 4 kW electric motor

Electric motor

An electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.Most electric motors operate through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors to generate force...

that provides a 63 km/h top speed and 70 to 90 km range. The consumption is 3.5 to 5 kW·h/100 km. When the FactFour was introduced, Smilies started to offer a Lithium-ion battery as an alternative, giving the vehicle a range of more than 120km. The City El is regularly modified by enthusiasts and it is common to see City Els powered by alternative batteries, such as the Nickel-cadmium battery

Nickel-cadmium battery

The nickel–cadmium battery ' is a type of rechargeable battery using nickel oxide hydroxide and metallic cadmium as electrodes....

or a different Lithium-ion battery.

The improved performance and range given to the City El by using such batteries make them a viable town commuting vehicle with enough acceleration to keep up with city traffic.

A City El weighs only 280 Kilograms and the front end can be lifted quite easily. When the batteries are removed it is possible for three people to lift a City El clean off the ground. When a City El is retrofitted with 100 AH Thunder-sky Lithium Ion batteries the car becomes approximately 70 kilograms lighter, bringing the weight of the City El well under that of some motorbikes. At this point the driver has to take extreme care driving at 30mph or more in moderate cross-winds to prevent the City El from being blown about.

External links

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