She is the first baby in the news car brand Kilow. Baptized The Carthis 100% electric car quadricycle type was designed in Cluses, in the Arve valley. She weighs 415 kilos on the scale and, with her two seats plus her little Jeep face, she hopes to appeal to a wide audience. For the little one’s baptism of fire, the happy parents saw the big picture by choosing the Auto World in Paris (October 14 to 20). La Carnole will be officially presented on a 100 m² stand located, fortunately, right in front of the American giant Tesla.
With or without a license
The history of La Bagnole is the declared desire of the brand to “de-dramatize mobility by offering real virtuous, practical and fun solutions”. The small quadricycle stands out with its tipper which can transport up to 150 kg of load. It is also a extremely modular vehiclewith or without doors, a roof or no roof and the choice of colors and screen prints. It exists in two versions. The first, without a license (a single battery from 9,900 euros) offers a range of 70 km for a top speed of 45 km/h. The second, with a license (two batteries), allows you to drive at 80 km/h for 135 km of autonomy.
“With La Bagnole, you can do your shopping, organize a surf trip or a mountain bike ride, deliver to your customers or go to your fields”explains Kilow. “La Bagnole is aimed at a good number of people and of all ages”adds the manufacturer’s marketing director. “You can drive it from the age of 14 in its version without a license. We hope to have a community of users from 14 to 95 years old”continues Bertrand Brême. And the small electric car already has its fans. “Many local authorities have been attracted to use it, for example in their garden service or to deliver meals for the elderly. We have also been contacted by La Poste, the ONF and the army.”
Repairable batteries
On the technology side, no debauchery because the “less is more” insist those responsible for the Haut-Savoyard brand. “If we want to respond to climate issues, isn’t the future low-tech?”asks Bertrand Brême. In La Bagnole you will find neither heating nor car radio. Kilow, which is part of the Savoy Group (mechatronics), claims to want to invent “electric mobility objects that are simple, light, robust and fun on all terrains”.
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Less technology does not mean no technology. 80% of the parts are manufactured in Europe and one of La Bagnole’s main innovations is in the batteries. “We worked with a Parisian startup which developed the principle of the repairable battery. You can open it and change the cells, this gives a battery that can be repaired almost for life”specifies Bertrand Brême. If the battery components come from Asia, they are assembled in Cluses right next to the car assembly lines.
For the moment Kilow releases between two and three cars per week from its Cluses factory. “The objective is to quickly increase to several per day, assures the marketing director of the brand. The factory will expand (…) over the next three years it is a project that will hire quite a few people in production, sales and research and development.”
