When you think electric cars are boring, this one should actually change your mind.
It’s the most recent model from Latvia’s Dartz Motorz, which is best-known for constructing tanks and hulking armoured vehicles for celebrities but has more recently launched a dedicated EV department under the ‘Freze’ name.
The newest machine added to its line-up is the Froggy Beachstar, a roofless two-seat roadster that has a claimed range of 186 miles, a top speed of 65mph and a starting price of £17,000. And they’re going to construct right-hand-drive versions.
Dartz has identified tycoons as its goal customers and says the diminutive EV is deigned to sit down amongst probably the most desirable supercars driven around Monaco.
Craziest electric automobile yet: That is the brand new Dartz Freze Froggy Beachstar – a topless EV offering a spread of 186 miles and top speed of 65mph. With a starting price of £17,000, it’s targeted at tycoons who holiday in Monaco
It’s the open-top version of the brand’s Freze Nikrob, which is already sold on the continent from €13,000 (£11,000) and is described by the choice automobile maker because the ‘the most affordable EV in Europe’. A protracted-range version can also be available for €15,000 (around £12,725).
The Froggy Beachstar is a rebodied version of the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV Cabrio – the convertible version of China’s best-selling electric automobile that has turn into immensely popular because of its extremely inexpensive starting price of lower than £4,000 in its home market.
The oddball Froggy Beachstar name relies on two former models created by Dartz Motorz: the Volkswagen Froggy Beetle (left) and the Mercedes SLK Beachstar buggy (middle)
he Latvian maker says the wacky nameplate points to ‘a roadster automobile body made more fun’. On this tribute color combo, it actually stands out
In addition to removing – or as Dartz says, ‘annihilating’ – the roof, the automobile maker ‘threw out’ the 2 back seats, because ‘roadsters aren’t school buses’ and in order that additional space could possibly be made available to put in the biggest battery feasible
The name combines those of Dartz’s ‘most iconic’ cars from the last three a long time: the frog-inspired VW Beetle called the Froggy and the Beachstar buggy – a Mercedes SLK sports automobile turned monster truck. The Latvian maker says the nameplate points to ‘a roadster automobile body made more fun’.
Prices will start from €19,999 (£17,000), which is a big mark-up on the four-seat Nikrob city automobile, though it isn’t aimed toward the identical clientele.
‘The thought is to make the most affordable EV within the EU market visually inexpensive for tycoons,’ the brand says.
It adds that the design will ‘fit right amongst way more expensive cars, parked in Casino Square in Monaco’.
Designer, Aleksander Isaev, said creating the world’s first small roofless EV was ‘difficult’, describing the method as ‘converting an enormous lunchbox on wheels into an opulent roadster’.
The corporate confirmed to That is Money that the battery powering the Froggy Beachstar is 26.5kW and linked to a 40bhp electric motor
This provides a claimed range of as much as 186 miles (300km) and a top speed of 53mph in ‘economy’ mode. There may be also a ‘sport’ button – ‘yes, as it is a roadster’, the brand’s spokesperson says – which increases the highest speed to 65mph
Designer, Aleksander Isaev, said creating the world’s first small roofless EV was ‘difficult’, describing the method as ‘converting an enormous lunchbox on wheels into an opulent roadster’.
As well chopping off the highest – which Dartz Motorz calls ‘roof annihilation’ – the brand also ‘threw out’ the 2 back seats, because ‘roadsters aren’t school buses’ and in order that additional space could possibly be made available to put in the biggest battery feasible.
Dartz Freze Froggy Beachstar specs
Price: from €19,999 (£17,000)
Style: Roofless roadster
Seats: 2 Doors: 2
Battery: 26.5kW
Drive: Single electric motor
Maximum power: 40bhp
Charging time: 5 hours+
Range: 186 miles (300km)
Top speed: 65mph in sport mode (53mph in economy mode)
The corporate confirmed to That is Money that the battery powering the Froggy Beachstar is 26.5kW and linked to a 40bhp electric motor.
This provides a claimed range of as much as 186 miles (300 kilometres) and a top speed of 53mph in ‘economy’ mode.
There may be also a ‘sport’ button – ‘yes, as it is a roadster’, the brand’s spokesperson says – which increases the highest speed to 65mph, though will zap the available range more dramatically.
A full battery charge takes just a little over five hours, Dartz states.
And this would possibly not be the one version made available. By next summer it says there shall be three options to pick from.
The Froggy Beachstar roadster, seen here, will come first and is primarily aimed toward ‘wealthy people’ who can ‘allow themselves to have cars with no roof’.
The second variant shall be an open-top ‘buggy’ called the Free Mojo EV.
Completing the trio shall be a model – which is yet to be named – with a targa roof, meaning there shall be the choice to have a cover protecting the inside – and driver and passenger – from a sudden and unexpected downpour.
The spokesperson says the latter ‘is not going to be so naked, as an instance in a bra’ and ‘cost as much as an expensive roadster’.
A full battery charge takes just a little over five hours, Dartz states. Right-hand-drive versions shall be created, the brand told us
If it did make it onto the UK market, the £17,000 Freze Froggy Beachstar would easily turn into the most affordable electric automobile in Britain to supply open-top driving, undercutting the following most-affordable convertible EV by almost £8,000
Two other models will follow by next summer. An open-top ‘buggy’ called the Free Mojo EV and a variant with a targa roof. The spokesperson for the brand says the latter ‘is not going to be so naked, as an instance in a bra’ and ‘cost as much as an expensive roadster’
The brand adds that there shall be right-hand-drive versions available, though there is no such thing as a clarification if the Latvian company intends to launch its wacky EV to the UK market.
If it did, the £17,000 Freze Froggy Beachstar would easily turn into the most affordable open-top electric automobile in Britain, undercutting the following most-affordable plug-in convertible by almost £8,000.
Currently, there are only two cabriolet EVs on sale here – the Smart EQ ForTwo (£24,645) and Fiat 500C, which costs from £32,085.
At £17,000, the Froggy Beachstar could be almost £10,000 pricier than the two-seat Citroen Ami – the UK’s most inexpensive electric passenger vehicle at £7,695 (though it’s technically a quadricycle and never a automobile) – but offers a significantly longer range than the French model’s 46 miles.
While electric vehicles is an element of a latest enterprise for the brand, it’s arguably best known for producing armoured trucks. In 2013, Kanye West reportedly paid $2.4million for 2 Dartz Prombron Iron Diamond SUVs – one for him and a second for then-partner, Kim Kardashian.
On the time they were bought by Mr West, Dartz said the motor could prevent kidnapping, hijacking and ‘other problems which might meet wealthy and lonely lady on the road’.
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