Another 4-wheeled scooter concept

Renault photo

Still recovering from the road trip, when I first saw this I thought my eyes were playing tricks. But no, it’s one of Renault’s electric concept cars going on display at the Frankfurt Auto Show in Germany.

Renault says the Twizy (not such an unusual name from a company that sells vehicles with names like “Twingo” and “Kangoo”) offers performance equaling that of a 125cc scooter. And seating like a scooter, with the passenger sitting directly behind the driver.

At this point, it’s still a concept, one of four electric vehicles on the Renault stand. Autoblog.com seems to have the best coverage of the show, in English at least.

Plug-in electric vehicle concepts are all the rage at Frankfurt this year, Audi creating the most buzz with its electric e-Tron supercar. Every other carmaker has something electric to show. Germany has an ambitious solar-energy program, which not only pays farmers to install solar cells on fallow fields, but buys the electricity those panels produce at premium prices. Don’t hold your breath about anything like that happening in the U.S.

The Frankfurt Auto Show is a bi-annual event held at the Frankfurt Messe, which is approximately the size of Rhode Island. It appears they’ve pared the exhibits down to cars only; the time I went it was cars, trucks, buses, heavy equipment and anything else on wheels, spread throughout the many exhibit halls. Definitely, go if you have the chance.