The XBUS is to come onto the market from mid-2022, manufactured by ELECTRICBRANDS in Izehoe (Germany). It was just introduced in June. It belongs to the class of light four-wheeled vehicles with electric drive (L7e). Probably the best-known example is the Renault Twizy. This type of vehicle is excluded from the environmental bonus.

First question: How did a vehicle 3.96 m long, 1.64 m wide and 1.96 m high manage to stay below the required 550 kg curb weight? Of course, the basic equipment of 8 battery packs with a total of 10 kWh was not included, but still ...

Second question: How can you calculate a range of 'up to 200 km/day from these 10 kWh if the Twizy mentioned on Wikipedia is already given as 8 kWh per 100 km? After all, in contrast to the Twizy, the XBUS can take up to three people or 1,000 kg. One points out the solar roof, but the range cannot be relied on.

Three-phase recharging is possible, however, and two more battery packs as well, which can be extrapolated to 'over 600 km range', but with one and the same solar roof. Where the additional packs find accommodation remains unclear in the press release. Sometimes there is talk of the space between the axles (2.2 m) or about it in the case of the pickups, but not how it should be with the other versions, especially since these packs should be bought later and interchangeable at stations that are yet to be set up.

Certainly a novelty is the drive of the XBUS with four wheel hub motors in 48V technology, each 15 kW (20 hp), which, however, are specified with 'over 1,000 Nm torque'. However, one must take into account the multiplication of the torque with all other drives, because there is still a gear and final drive ratio. Let's assume the motors have around 200 Nm, and therewith it's good. The peak power is said to be an unbelievable 56 kW (76 hp), motors just from Schaeffler.

And then the very tall vehicle should be able to go up to 100 km/h. What is striking in the pictures is how much the wishbones protrude downwards at the front. This leads to the suspicion that the axle could be arranged higher towards the body, but that it would not lose any ground clearance. But maybe only the variant with the supposedly higher ground clearance can be seen in the pictures.

After all, the development time has been very short since 2018, even if important safety features such as an airbag are missing. The two rear doors of corresponding versions are also wrongly hinged, but you have to get used to the idea that only one person is allowed to sit there when two are sitting at the front. The basic version is to be offered for less than € 20,000. Even with crowdfunding, you hold back with a few million, while elsewhere you demand 50 million each for the development and buildup of a production.