The country whose big home retailer made flatpack furniture a worldwide thing is now preparing to launch what amounts to a flatpack electric car.
This time, it’s not IKEA, but a company called Luvly, which hopes to make a success of its Luvly O, a car about the size of a Smart car, about a fifth the weight of a standard electric car and with batteries that you can carry take out and charge at home or work—all for about $10,000.
The car is designed for city use, with a top speed of 55 mph and a range of about 60 miles between charges. First deliveries, other than prototypes, are at least a year away.
Unlike those IKEA bookcases, you won’t be taking this one home and assembling it yourself; the plan is to ship the cars, in their crates, to assembly points all over the world where they can be put together without investing in a huge car factory.
Although, Hakan Lutz, CEO and founder of Luvly, isn’t averse to the idea of home assembly: “If it were legally and technologically possible to assemble in your house, we would think that would be a good thing, but sadly on both of those counts, it is not.”
One of the most hideous vehicles ever created.