Four new EV quadricycles from a UK start-up tap into clever tech to keep costs low
CHARLIE MARTIN
ABritish start-up has announced plans to produce a range of four quadricycles aimed at developing nations in Asia.
The quartet, produced by Oxford-based Helixx, use a shared platform engineered to L7e regulations – legally limited to 20bhp and a maximum kerb weight of 450kg (rising to 600kg for cargo vehicles).
Two commercial variants are planned: a van with 2100 litres of cargo space and a pick-up with a 1.64-square-metre bed. They will be joined by two passenger models: a minivan and an open-sided tuk-tuk. Top speed across the range is 50mph.
Arriving in May, they can accommodate up to six swappable 2kWh LFP battery modules for a combined 12kWh and a range of 124 miles. Support for additional packs, to further boost range, is currently being tested.
None of the vehicles will be sold directly to consumers, said CEO Steve Pegg, formerly a product boss at Arrival and, later, De Tomaso. Instead, they will be leased to fleets on a subscription basis. A price of $0.25 (£0.20) per hour of use is targeted.
By leasing through a subscription model, Helixx can take full control of what happens to a vehicle at the end of its life. The firm plans to either upcycle it into a different model – converting a pick-up used on a building site into a van for town use, for example – or exploit the “100%” recyclability of its materials.
Making sure the firm is profitable is another task, especially when exporting such low-cost vehicles. To do this, the firm will oversee small regional factories operated under licensed partnerships – in the same way a business might opt to become a fast food franchise.
“You can go anywhere in the world and build 95% of all the components in the local region,” said Pegg. “If there’s a press shop, a foundry, you can make anything.”
Some components, such as the batteries, have to be sourced by Helixx. However, the emphasis is on making use of local resources to reduce the vehicles’ financial and environmental cost.
To ensure consistency in the quality of vehicles potentially built all over the world, Helixx plans to use a new software framework – developed with technology giant Siemens – utilising a ‘digital twin’. Thi
