The Renault Twizy is currently in the running for the title of the lightest electric car in the universe.

It weighs a feather-light 474kg.

First, the good news is that death will most likely be instant if you get into a horrific road accident when driving it. No need for pain and being warded in the ICU. The Twizy is made out of plastic and doesn't even have windows. Imagine what would happen if it careened around the wet bend into, say, a tank-like BMW.

Although the driver is given the benefit of an airbag, it's hard to see how that might be helpful when the vehicle and all of its contents are lying on their side pinned under, say, a truck. Or wrapped around a tree.

Regardless, the real bad news is that it doesn't have air-conditioning -- a measure taken by its manufacturer to reduce its overall weight. Because that means your armpits will always be wet when you drive this around Singapore -- day or night. And you'd get lashed by rainwater when it pours.

Specifications

With a puny 6.1kWh battery to operate and a max speed of 80km/h -- this is the kind of vehicle that gets mocked on Top Gear -- one other uncertainty is if occupants of the Twizy are required to wear helmets like bike riders. Then it will look like a go-cart.

Requiring just 3.5 hours to charge for it to travel 100km -- more than enough to make it to Jurong and back if you happen to stay in Pasir Ris -- and being just 2.4m long and 1.3m wide, so that three can fit a parking lot, this could be the answer to urban travelling in the near future.

However, it is still not known how much it will cost eventually, or if and when it will ever make it onto Singapore's roads.

If classified as a bike, the Twizy could cost less than $30,000.

But under current legislation, a bike in Singapore cannot have more than three wheels and the rider must straddle it.

So, this means people who address one another formally in parliament will have to table some motions to change the rules.

And if it's considered a car, it will cost a staggering $100,000.

Which means this object will become another plaything for the rich.

Specs and estimated costs for Twizy gleaned from Batteries included by Christopher Tan, ST Life!, March 29, 2014.

Top photo from www.sgcarmart.com

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