Skip to main content

Quebec-Based Business to Bring Electric Renault Twizy to Canada

Photo Credit: Renault



Spring brings a certain amount of electricity in the air. If you have attended or kept abreast of the North American auto show season, you will realize automobiles are also seeing the a futuristic light in regards to alternative energy.

Electric cars or vehicles featuring the propulsion assistance through electricity is becoming as common as alloy wheels. A new beginning where established automotive players have introduced like the Chevrolet Bolt EV, all-new Toyota Prius, Acura NSX and Hyundai IONIQ, the uncharted territory in the 21st century gives some newcomers a fighting chance to make a name. Tesla Motors comes to mind immediately as a disrupter to the traditional motoring landscape with the Model S and the Model X. One Canadian company in Terrebonne, Quebec ambitions to carve a niche in the electric car market passed through an important step earlier this month.

AZRA Canada, a business that touts operating Canada's largest private network of fast charging stations, wishes to distribute a unique electric vehicle. Instead of designing their own, AZRA has partnered with French auto maker Renault to import a microcar called the Twizy to the country. On March 19th, AZRA Canada announced certification for the all-electric Renault Twizy 40 by Transport Canada allowing the vehicle to be acknowledged as street legal.


Photo Credit: Renault



The Renault Twizy electric car make the Smart Fortwo look like a mid-sized sedan. Nimble and lightweight, the car is designed to make full use of a small electric powertrain for urban travel. Currently sold in Europe, the Renault Twizy measures 2,338 millimeters (92.05 inches) in total length and is only 1,381 millimeters (54.37 inches) wide between the edges of the side-mounted exterior mirrors. The size of the car allows Renault to boast an ability to park up to three Twizys in one standard vehicle parking spot. With tandem seating for a driver and passenger, a full range of safety equipment built into the ultra-compact (airbags, four-point safety harness and a tubular frame) provides a comforting riding experience in the pod-like, four-wheeled vehicle. Powered through a 17-horsepower electric motor, energy is stored in a 6.1 kWh lithium ion battery. In Europe, some Renault Twizy electric cars are deployed in a car-sharing manner. Ten have been most recently included within the Cumbria's Lake District region.


Photo Credit: Renault



One major differences Canadian customers of the AZRA-sourced Twizy electric vehicles will notice appears to be related to speed. While the European Renault is capable of speeds up to 50 miles per hour or 80 kilometers per hour, it seems the Twizy 40 products will be limited to 40 kilometers per hour. This seems to imply the Twizy 40 will be sold as a low speed vehicle in Canada. Low speed vehicle criteria often provide easier access to roads in Canada since those type of vehicles are not required to adhere to crash testing standards.

Deeper details of AZRA Canada's plans with their imported Renault Twizy 40 and their business is expected for April 15th. One early media report places the potential price of the Twizy 40 at $17,000 pre government incentives.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship: Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Review

Photo Credit: Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. untitled A companion to the NTT IndyCar Series finale weekend on the streets of Long Beach, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship staged a 26-car race on Saturday consisting of DPi, GTLM and GTD class machines. With the conclusion of the 1-hour, 40-minute Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach sports car event, the overall winner was the #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac shared by the driving duo of Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani. The victory was a decisive weekend for the Whelen Engineering Racing team that had scored the pole position and went on to take the checkered flag with a 10.95-second gap over the #01 Cadillac fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing with Kevin Magnussen and Renger van der Zande. Corvette Racing enjoyed a dominant outing in the GTLM category. Nick Tandy and Tommy Milner in the #4 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R beat the #3 car shared by Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor. Only three GTLM class vehicles ran at Long Be

Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton Quickest In Qatar Qualifying

Photo Credit: LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. Saturday’s qualifying for the inaugural Formula 1 race in the Arab nation of Qatar has assembled what is certain to be a dramatic opening lap showdown between this season’s title contenders Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. In setting the grid for Sunday’s 57-lap main event on the fast, high grip 5.380-kilometer Losail International Circuit, it was the driver of the #44 Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team race car that took honours. Lewis Hamilton’s pole-winning lap time of 1-minute, 20.827 seconds in the final Q3 session putting a cap on a time trial where the seven-time World Drivers’ Champion handily controlled through the three sessions. Joining Hamilton on the front row of the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix will be Max Verstappen’s Red Bull Racing machine. The Honda-powered entrant was 0.455 seconds slower than the rival Mercedes race car. With the race at Losail being the third-to-last event on the 2021 Form

Ignition for the Integra: Acura's New 2023 Sport Compact

Photo Credit: American Honda Motor Co., Inc. untitled In August, Honda’s luxury car brand Acura shared an intriguing teaser image accompanied by the revelation that a classic sport compact name would return. Included in a rather familiar close-up promotional shot capturing a headlamp and part of the Diamond Pentagon grille, the key focus was a nameplate reading “Integra”. A rear image of a five-door hatchback shape dropped in late September while a picture of a six-speed manual shifter released in mid-October clearly as a means to tantalize a modern premium sport compact crowd. After a 20-year hiatus, the Integra is once again part of the Acura lineup. A five-door hatchback touting a coupe-like shape, the 2023 Acura Integra will give entry-level luxury car buyers a strong taste of performance attitude. As was the case with the previous Integra models, the Honda Civic platform serves as the basis for this latest premium compact. While the new Civic hatchback’s silhouette i