The biggest issue is the price.... at £16,000 you could add a tiny bit and go for a 4 seater Citroën E-C3 or a Dacia Spring. I think the Microlino is a little less expensive, whilst offering a bit more style.

I would point out, as an owner of their 'mopeds' (actually 125 equivalent light motorcycles) that are fitted with exactly the same 5.6 KWh battery, they can't be fast charged. It takes about 5-8 hours to fully charge one (depending on the ambient temperature). Each battery has its own built in 600 watt charger, and a kettle lead inlet socket. It also has its own built in heater to bring it up to an ideal temperature before starting the charge, which is what accounts for the up to 3 hours difference in the charge time. The type 2 charge converter he showed you at 3:53 does not fast charge, each battery charger will still only draw 600 watts, even if 22KW is available. The plus side of the slow charge rate is that the battery will last incredibly long, studies on the ones used by the Spanish Post Office show them getting to 6 years old with around 100K Km, and still retaining more than 90% charge capacity. As I already own 2 of these batteries, I would consider the SO4 if I could buy it without the battery. New batteries are about £3K each retail.

Also a handy way to stop someone nicking your car overnight. Unless of course the thief brings their own batteries with them.

I think there is an additional big advantage of this micro car: Commercial use. A delivery team can own multiple sets of batteries per micro car, swap them around when needed to have the car constantly on the road and working around the clock. Total cost would be very little and system would be efficient.

Apartment charging and tight parking are this car’s two strongest suits. Highway legality is a big plus. A great niche option here.

Some years ago I shared a lift in a block of flats in Beijing with a complete moped which was being taken up to be parked outside of the owners apartment for over night charging , via a lead through the letter flap. The idea of a battery on wheels is so much more sensible.

It is a fact that in EV transportation the main problem is the battery. In price, useful life, power, recharge time, weight, charging points and safety. Making the battery easily removable solves all these problems in one go.

The fully charged show seems to love every single type of car

€ 17.000 in the Netherlands. I'd go for a used Renault Zoe. Bear in mind the battery weighs 41kg. So any doorstep or uneven sidewalk might pose a problem. And you need two for the full 150 km of range.

I have one on order. Yes its not a car for kind of car money but its also much more that a car in some ways. Also you have electric bicycles these days that come close to this price and selling well. We need more small easy to life with transport, this is a perfect example of what we should get more of!

I love the idea with small removable batteries that are also your "power-wall" when needed which you can actually take it into your flat. It's easy to charge an electric car if you live in a house with this batteries it is now accessible for city residents living apartments. I would love to see this design being implemented by Smart, Renault, Peugeot etc. in their city cars.

The removeable multifunction battery is a great idea - one that I've been doing for the last few years on a more DIY scale. I got a few kWh worth scooter batteries and can mount them on my ebike or on an escooter, with or without a 3-6kW inverter. At home I can use it to keep the fridge and computers running in a power cut, and still make coffee or run the microwave, or I can load up for really long range ebiking or escooting, and can even rescue stranded EVs. Portable batteries are fantastically useful, and getting cheaper all the time.

Genius! At last the perfect city car that anyone could use even if they live in a tower block. I also love the thought that you could use the battery to power your camp cooker and lighting.

I live in an apartment and cannot charge from home. There is a charging point nearby, but the kWh rate is rather on the pricey side. This is a very interesting concept to still be able to drive cheaply. Having a powerful powerpack is also very interesting.

The swappable batteries are a great idea, especially for people without off road parking.

I own the Seat Mo which equals the Silence S01. This car is basically two scooters with a roof. I love it! It reminds me of the original Smart. In Germany, scooters are not popular because it rains a lot and it is cold half the time of the year. This could be a scooter for rainy countries.

The removable batteries are an incredible idea for anyone who lives with on street parking. I hope this idea comes to market with some plugin hybrids I.e. the Prius. As the batteries in plugins are of a similar size to this car and it would unlock the convenience and cost savings to those with solar panels and no off street parking.

Worth £12k at most. Speed & range perfect for the city, the larger wheels with chunky tyres help softening the ride on rougher roads. Majority of car journeys have one or 2 occupants, a child seat fixed behind driver with passenger alongside - bigger families could buy 2 cars, which cope with a family shop, (or 2 trips with one), and take up the space of one normal car at home parking bay.

The A/C button and power windows has sold me.

Being able to bring the battery to the apartment and charge it there is a game-changer. Where I live, we have the option to add a charger to the garage spot but then, of course you need to sign a contract with a miimum monthly charge and then a price per kwh that is way beyond what I pay for my apartment electricity. Making it almosty as expensive as owning a petrol car. Landlords always find a way to profit!

Brilliant design. Love the swappable battery idea. My only challenge is driving one of these micro cars around cities such as London. No matter what car you have with the road works and constant upgrading of infrastructure, to travel 2 miles takes on average 17 minutes! I drove an EV for 9 years across London. After finding a working expensive fast charger (they were free in 2014), the second biggest difficulty was the time it takes to travel around. The third issue is paying to park your car in a safe space.

This is a great car, what the Ami should have been. Decent speed for a town car and better range too. The fact that you can use your batteries in your home too is brilliant. We have over 130kwh storage sat on the drive at night that I can’t access for the home, which is mad. That’s almost two weeks of power!

'Time I subscribed, Jack. I have watched a few of your videos now. I like your presentation, sensible comment, humour, and choice of vehicles you show us. Well done, and thanks !

I live in a terraced house without adjacent parking. Being able to charge at home would make this the first EV to meet my requirements. However, I’d be more likely to stick to my sustainable modes: cycling and public transport.

Love the removal battery. It mean u dont need a home to own this

Finally, a sensible vision of the future (which no doubt will be lost on most folk). Btw, that's essentially the concept of the Smart/Mini car. You know, the original ones, before we started magically growing.

The removable batteries seem like a really useful feature.

Brilliant. This would be great for a camping setup where you have a deployable solar array to recharge. With this kind of range it would be the perfect runabout.

Seems ideal for city centres. I live in the countryside and I would dread driving this around a rain swept country lane in the winter, but in Central London, all cars should be like this.

Finally removable batteries 😍 finally a car built for everyone and not just for a few people who have a house with a wallbox. Also love the idea of using it as home storage. You can have multiple batteries and let them charge in the sun while driving with the other ones. Also that thing is much more efficient, not only with space but also power. Much better than those grid wrecking SUVs.

It looks like a better looking smart for two, but I imagine it’s smaller. The swappable batteries in this size are pretty practical, and in fact, one thing that’s nice is that a vehicle like this in four years time, you’ll probably be able to buy Denser battery pack. If my electric power tools are any indicator, you’ll end up with the same amount of charge in half the space, which means that in a few years, this thing will be getting 200 miles of range. It is surprisingly decent amount of space in the back, but it could do with some kind of an organizer so you don’t actually have to try to get tall things to go back there.55 mph is fine, if they could just bump that up to 60 then it would be ideal.

Very clever. I like a battery that can be used for different purposes. Use it in the day for the car, while at work charge it, drive home then it can be used partially as a home battery. Energy storage will be the make or break of the next few years. Making every cell that's produced go as far as possible will be key.

Looks like the Old Smart ForTwo (which I used to have) it was awesome and it looks like something I would love to get!

Great review. Feels so much more useful than other micro cars! However price is also higher, plus would also be worried about support if it went wrong.

Those removable batteries are the one thing that makes this car actually practical in a city, where people don't have their own garage to charge their cars over night. Also this solves range anxiety. You can just take 1 or 2 extra batteries in the back if you have to go far. Combined with the high enough speed to go on a highway, this is actually useful for going between cities. Though to be honest I'd prefer it if the car was ~30cm longer and had twice the battery capacity while keeping the swapping feature. That would make it properly road trip capable. And it solves another problem, which is if you have solar panels, you can't usually charge your car from them, because during the day when they are producing power is usually when you are using your car rather than charging it at home. With a spare set of batteries you can just swap them in the morning when you are about to leave, and the ones that were in use the day before will charge during the day when you're away.

You are a great presenter, informative, witty and a lovely clear speaking voice. Go well, go far young man!

Per the video, renting the batteries drops the price by 40% to 9.6k. Really like the hot swapable batteries that can be leased. Basically offload the problems with having a battery long term.

This looks like a great idea. But I'd have like to see Jack lift one of those batteries, to put it in the boot or into an apartment/house. I think when you talk about such cars, we also want to know what the turning radius/circle is -- that's one of the biggest reasons for one, and see if it parks nicely in one half car space. I am of course struck by how expensive it is, compared to the new Kia Ray EV, which is $20k -- only a little more than this, and much, much more car (crash safety and highway speeds, more storage, battery, etc). It's not apples-to-apples, since this is a micro-car, but the Ray is very close to a micro-car.

This is super great innovative thinking esp. for urban dwellers who live without off street parking. Viva espania

I am not far from having enough of this channel. At this point is plain entertainment.

I drive a Suzuki Celerio (petrol); when my car needs to be replaced, I would consider buying one of these from what I'd seen. A car is to get you from one place to another - this would be enough for me

Yes! So nice to see this featured on the channel - I saw one 'in the flesh' first at the Bike Show @ NEC last September, when I was ordering my Silence scooter - so I could share the batteries between the two! They have a UK distributor, and it will be in their showroom in Solihull from the 27th of this month! They already have an app for your phone for the scooters - mine can show me battery status, track its location, set the alarm, unlock the seat, as well as allow starting the scooter, allowing sharing with a friend without having to hand over the key! Can't wait to see how this goes! 😊

It ticks lots of boxes: adequate storage, good enough top speed, nice trick with the removable battery and enough creature comforts. In a perfect world it would have only one battery that size/weight and a lower price. Thanks. Good review.

I wish you would review the Yoyo. We saw them in Italy and were captivated by them. Sadly, no one seems to review them

This is the type of electric car everyone should have been making from the start 90% of most car usage is within a 25 mile radius of our homes and being able to take the battery out with ease to take to you top floor tower block flat gives it a massive advantage over big electric cars.

The removable battery is so cool to see.

Since it fills the same niche as the SMART does, with roughly same dimensions, and yet has the advantage of electric drive and a good mileage, I believe this car may become commonplace in Europe and beyond.

This is the most though out mini electric car I've ever seen! Finally a car you can charge off street for all of us that don't have the ability to install a fixed charger.

If they get the 'powerwall' working this is exactly what I've been waiting for. We have an id3 that I love (despite the software) and could kind of do with a home battery and sometimes a second car but wouldn't be dependent on either. Lucky enough to have drive space and I love the idea of ticking both boxes with something like this.

Definitely going to check this car out. Ideal for a second car up here in the Lakes, with narrow roads etc.

Living in inner London this would be great for myself ,with no worry were I need to charge when I get home, such a clever design.

Another great review from JS. He really is a talent that a lot of big motoring TV shows would be lucky to have. But I am very happy he is on Fully Charged instead.

If someone can "just go around in a van at night and pop fresh batteries in" then someone will eventually "just go around in a van at night and pop batteries out" for the scrap value...

This seems like it could be an ideal solution for someone like myself who does in the region of 80 miles on a working day but doesn't have access to a home charger. With those removable batteries I could just have two pairs so that if I ran out of range I could just swap them out in a similar time frame to filling a tank of petrol. Also it looks to be somewhere between the size of a Smart ForTwo and a Renault Twizzy which makes it quite handy for jobs like fast food delivery where there is a constant battle for parking spaces. With the battery advantages, I could see one of these saving me a fair bit of money over the BMW i3 I am using at the moment because I won't be forced to use public fast-chargers which cost about twice as much per KWh as I would pay through my home electric bill.

This would suit some people perfectly. Lovely little option for someone like me in London to get around the congestion charge if I needed a car

I've been banging on about the need for removable batteries for years. With so many homes, here in the UK, without off road parking, and with the predatory pricing of public chargers (which can charge up to ten times the equivalent domestic cost), cars like these will be a game changer. Personally though, I think I'd want to install a fire proof charging cabinet in the garden, rather than risking charging huge lithium iron batteries in my kitchen while I sleep. Although I've used EVs for over ten years, as a member of community car hire schemes, Ive been holding off buying my own. But you know what? I think this EV will be on my shopping list, hopefully very soon.

Having an additional small removable battery like this could be a good idea for lots of EV's. Those without the ability to charge a car at home could top up the small battery ensuring they always had enough power for short trips and to get to charging infrastructure. Being an off grid power supply is also a bonus.

idea: make them linkable (at least two) for options on days that needed 4 seater

It looks like a Smart Car, which I like. Storage? It needs to be able to carry two people along with full groceries for a week or two sets of golf clubs. With that, it’ll meet the needs. And the removable batteries give it a special advantage. Very nice!

Portable, detachable, rolling battery is where I’m sold! Cuz most of us don’t own a house nor a drive way with outlet. This’s brilliant news to the apartment renting people.

Seems incredible for single people or childless couples who don't have a garage, or even driveway. That sounds quite specific, but it covers a pretty large segment of people right now. The non-car use cases for that battery really take it over the top. How awkward is it to wheel both batteries at once, though? Do they latch together easily?

Looks like a lot of fun! The trouble is that if you have a need to go places, none of these microcars are going to cut it, unfortunately. The biggest selling point as I see it is the ability to take the batteries into your home to recharge - excellent for those without driveways.

User-removable batteries are also key for the second hand market too. The second owner can buy a fresh battery and the car will have its original range.

That removable battery idea sounds awesome, get 4 or more batteries and solar, and you swap sets of batteries each night with the ones that were charged by the solar during the day :)

I largely detest EVs but, this little gem is so nice that I'm actually thinking of getting one. The removable batteries is a game changer for sure. 🤓🙌

Interesting anti-theft idea :-)

You can buy two Citroen Ami's for one of these. I got my Ami in June, just clocked 1600 miles, no issues, turns heads and gets me to work every morning come rain or shine, love it!!!

I love the fact that these cars leave enough space on the roads for safe cycle zones. It's still going to get stuck in the same traffic jams though. L-class city centers are the future. Make it so!

Hiding the batteries behind the doors was a stroke of genius. I don't have much of a use case for this, but it would fit perfectly in my oversized, but still single-full-sized-car underground parking spot.

My vision for the future is that we own micro EVs for commuting etc. and order an autonomous full size EV to our door when we need it.

Wow! The fact that changing the batteries is the easiest of all EVs is an amazing concept, a truly genius concept, just like you don’t need a technician to change batteries in your TVs remote control...

Swappable batteries means that, if you had 2 sets, you could keep a set I. The boot & have a range of almost 200 miles! Wow!

That battery system is what every single electric car should have...

So many comments from people who fail completely to understand what this car is for. It's not there to replace a family hatchback, estate or 4x4. It's there for two specific markets. 1. Single people, couples or families with more than one car that cannot have a home charger and need a city car. People who live in flats or terraced houses who cannot fit a home charger. Removable batteries than can be taken inside and charged are a brilliant idea. 2. Teenagers. Most 17-year-olds have driving experience delivered by a PlayStation. Hit a lamp post, it breaks, go off a cliff, reset. The real world is far away. Give a 15-year-old one of these and the road becomes all too real. That cliff will kill you, that lamp post won't bend and the artic won't see you or even notice if it crushes you. Ask any 17 or 18 year old if they'd drive one, they'd say no way. Ask a 12 year old if they'd rather drive one or stand in the rain and snow for the school bus, see what they say. It needs an attitude shift to stop stigmatising small low powered vehicles, and encourage teens to drive small cars and mopeds. Go abroad, see mopeds all over, here? No, they're not cool. Same with small cars. Stop with the Top Gear Clarkson attitude and accept that small low-powered cars are essential to teaching teenagers that driving safely is more important. My teenage daughter has applied for a McJob that's 5 minutes away. That's 5 minutes on a 60mph road. At average walking speed it takes nearly an hour through unlit woodland. Do I want my daughter walking through the woods at midnight or driving home in a tiny microcar? Hmm... tough choice. Walking is out, cycling is the same route, so out of the question too. It needs government intervention. Make these cars cheap to buy, cheap to insure and make insurance companies take no claims discounts from these cars on to "proper" cars. Ask a 17 year old if they'd drive one? No. Ask them if they'd drive one if it meant reducing their insurance by 30%, they'd happily go back in time and drive one. suitability

i think its pretty smart. u get this if ur a owner of their scooters. u mainly drive the scooter but when its rainy season u use the mini car.

It appears to be everything i hoped it would be. Might see if i can fit myself in it now I've seen it pass the Jack test.

The Vehicle 2 Load feature is excellent. Especially since the battery is removable.

This seems like a great idea for anyone living in a city.

Here in spain Domino's pizza (and burger king i believe) has started using these mopeds, and you can see them using the battery packs in-site for terrace heating and such. it is a very good implementation of the battery pack, and i cant wait to see them around more.

Been following the Silence S04 for a good while now - as others have mentioned the prices of microcars are getting a bit much when a low end EV can be bought for little more. I love these quirky vehicles but feel they are going to become a bit niche. Holding out to see what the price of the mobilize duo is gojng to be

Very interesting (perhaps the interior could be a bit slicker but the swappable batteries are great). I’m currently in Canada, but I live in Europe, too (and going there in few months). While the car may not get any serious interest in the big-ass, size-obsessed N. America, it should do rather well in Europe. I’m going to see where the nearest dealership is. Congrats.

Really great to see, marvellous…apart from the price. it would make a great tow-car for an RV owner but the price is a killer as for half the money there’s a 160 mile Renault Zoe. Drop the price to under £10k and away it will fly…assuming they can make them fast enough. Great for car sharing businesses, swappable batteries is a brilliant idea all without a swapping station too !. Love the car….hate the price ….then again give it a couple of years and a used one will be very affordable for any new driver

Dam that's clever! That could solve the on street parking charging problem!

Love it -- daughter goes to school 30km away - 70 round trip. Could probably fit 2 end to end on the longer side of the garage. Wonder how well it would do in the colder winter. You could keep batteries warm in the house but go out and let sit at work for the day in the cold, you will lose at least 30% of range in cold and no place to charge while, for like in my duaghters case, at school.

I have a silence s01 and it’s a great little scooter, but at just 5’ 9” I need a longer handle on the battery, must be a nightmare for someone of jacks size! The price of this is just simply too much for what it is, it needs to come down a long way to be a useful offering.

Another advantage - the portable battery could be used at home to provide electricity during a blackout.

Car looks excellent for down to the grocery store quick and easy around town. Nice.

This is fantastic, all the features with that in the body of the Mazda5 mini mini van,(maybe a little bigger like the ford transit connect passenger) plus stow and go flat cargo space like the Chrysler Town and country and you made the perfect car which i will go into debt buying new. Gladly

You said it could not run on just one battery pack, but then say that you could increase range by throwing in a third battery into the boot. Will the car run when one battery is completely depleted and another is fully charged, or are there balancing issues from that?

The price for this seems about 30 to 40% too high. It appears they will be making a very good profit margin on the price of those tiny batteries.

It occurs to me that these modular battery pack helps fix the fact that some batteries may degrade and as battery tech improves you can get new higher capacity lighter future battery replacements. Battery recycling would be so much easier...

I feel I have just seen the future and, thankfully, it is NOT in Stupidly Ungainly Vehicles !!! Superb idea which will probably even evolve with the kind of thinking Silence seem to to be applying. There are many advantages to vehicles as small as this, it just needs some promotion to combat the kind of car advertising which promotes vehicles which are too long, wide, tall, and heavy as some kind of fashion item with no thought to how much space they take up and unnecessary resources they devour. I really hope this takes off.

Wow! I love the portable battery solution! 😏 and I am pretty sure that some one some where, would stuff it with amps & basses and try to make it the loudest "silence" at a dB drag competition. Just for the dad joke value of it 😂 It's kinda asking for it, isn't it? "Seismic silence" 😅 a bluetooth speaker with wheels and a license plate 😆🤣

Most impressive to date. Would still like more range. Maybe a localised service provider to bring leasable or emergency roadside batteries. However it does seem future proof in that those removable batteries could be upgraded with better energy density ones in future. This hasn't been promoted as an adaptive feature in the hardware and software systems of the vehicle in this review.

The last one and a half minute uncut shot of you speaking was awesome😀

I love the ‘you can use it for power when you’re camping’ line. Where the **** does the tent go?

I remember seeing the scooter a couple of years back and thinking the interchangeable battery was a good idea. Other electric outfits do it as well like the super soco. As I have recently seen a brand-new Vauxhall Corsa, E GS, going for £19,000 as others have said, this looks pricey to me…

This is what electric cars _should_ be. Tiny little micro cars designed to get you across town and back. Maybe to work and home again if you don't live too far away. This would be perfect for whizzing around the town/city, going to the shops etc.

Fun fact, the Dutch ICE microcars aren't generally powered by petrol.. but diesel! The only 'upside' is that it would be pretty easy to run them on biodiesel, but they don't have filters on the exhaust so they're just horrible. Most microcars are electric though and the diesel ones generally look pretty bad so they're bound to simply disappear after a while.

tall dude has helped take this channel to another level , good recruitment by red dwarf.