School run SUV drivers are 'terrorists'

It's not the increased danger posed by heavy electric cars that will be the undoing of SUV EVs, according to Citroen CEO Vincent Cobée, it's inferior range that'll see them consigned to automotive history.

In an interview with Auto Express, Cobée explains candidly that despite sales of SUVs accounting for 50 per cent of all new car registrations in Europe over the last few years, their image is suffering: “If you live in a big city, five years ago if you drop off your kids with a big SUV you’re a man. Now, if you do this, you’re a ‘terrorist’…”

However, image problems aside, it's the reduction in range caused by boxy styling and the additional weight of batteries that will see sales of the SUV dwindle according to the Citroen boss: “On a battery EV, if your aerodnaymics are wrong, the penalty in terms of range is massive. You can lose 50 kilometres between good and bad aero, and between an SUV and a sedan you’re talking 60/70/80 kilometres very easily.”

France is considering legislation to tax EVs according to their weight, so Citroen aims to move towards smaller, lighter electric cars sooner rather than later. The French car making giant continues to sell SUV crossover designs such as the C5 above, but at the same time has launched the Ami EV, a small electric two-seater designed to minimise the impact of personal motorised transport in urban and suburban areas.

The Citroen Ami isn't classified as a car. Sometimes referred to as a micro car, a quadricycle is a four-wheeled vehicle with an unladen mass of not more than 400 kg (excluding batteries if it is an electric vehicle) and maximum continuous rated power limited to 15 kW.

There's a perception that a large car such as a 4X4 or SUV is safe, but heavier vehicles are more likely to kill or seriously injure pedestrians and cyclists in the event of a collision. Quadricycles on the other hand are designed to operate in urban areas at low speeds. The fact they're lighter than conventional cars makes them less of a risk to pedestrians and less damaging to the road surface. In fact, in areas where people live and work, there's a strong argument that any vehicle heavier and faster than a quadricycle poses an unacceptable risk.

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