GoKawiilis transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State.
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While the auto industry wrings its hands over the electric vehicle market, sweating details like aerodynamic efficiency and range anxiety, a new EV startup based in Lisbon, Portugal, is zagging in a different direction. Amble’s new electric buggy won’t impress anyone with its 0–60 time or its self-driving features (it has none). Instead, it takes a stab at the belief that cars have gotten too big, too fast, and perhaps could use a bit of a downgrade in both departments.
The Amble One is a premium, street-legal buggy with a gorgeous neo-retro design that’s currently being marketed to locations where traditional cars are unnecessary or too large, like hotels or resorts. Developed by a team of alumni from Apple, Audi, and Cowboy, the compact EV is intended to be the solution for a society overrun by oversized, overpowered trucks and SUVs. And it could be coming to a neighborhood near you.
Rather than competing directly with conventional automobiles, Amble wanted to create an entirely new category of vehicle intended to become a household’s second vehicle rather than its primary car, CEO Adrien Roose told me.
Rather than competing directly with conventional automobiles, Amble wanted to create an entirely new category of vehicle
“If we look at the stats, most European and American families have, like, two cars on average,” Roose said. “The reality is that there is one car that brings the emotional freedom or the actual freedom that you need to go on a highway and to go on vacation or to go on long weekends. But the reality is that the second vehicle is mostly used for, like, school runs and grocery shoppings and neighborhoods.”
He added, “We want to be the ultimate solution for these short trips.”
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