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Comment by zihotki | Hacker News Reader

There is a simple solution - use a small electric car/microcar with small battery for driving in the city.

the BMW i3 fits that, as did the Fiat 500e?

(i had a 2014 BMW i3, and it was super weird and super useful for just such situations, including suburbia in my case)

We have a VW e-UP, that fits the bill perfectly, and I honestly like it more than our 400bhp Volvo. It fits everywhere, goes 150 miles on a charge, fits us both and a child seat, Costco shopping.......honestly that's the perfect city/mixed use EV. And if only weighs 1200kg.

The e-UP is a nice little vehicle. We had an ICE one (the cheapest version) as a company runabout and it was ridiculously fuel efficient and light, the e- version wasn't for sale yet then but if it had been I'm pretty sure we would have bought one. And likely then we'd still have it today.

A Renault Twizy would be better. Or much better, an electric bike. Paris bike infrastructure is getting very good.

Yes ! I worked on the Mobilize Duo (the Twizy successor, will be available soon) and it's revolutionary. I think it may be too much for French people, It's about establishing a new way of thinking.

The car can't be purchased, only rented. It's very light and ONLY designed for urban trip. There is also a version for light local service !

In traffic the Twizy isn't all that much better than a motorcycle, I would go for a car chassis based EV before even considering a Twizy. I also think they are way too expensive for what they offer.

To each his own. As a motorcyclist, I feel a motorcycle is better than a Twizy, but in Paris a Twizy is a lot better than a small car for navigating traffic and parking.

As a parent I wouldn't go near a motorcycle let alone ride one in traffic. When I was a kid that was different but the responsibility towards my family precludes me from taking excessive risk. The Twizy embodies excessive risk for me to a degree that I would not drive one.

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