when the Citroën Ami eats a Lamborghini

A branch that “tries things” to shake up our habits. Sometimes it doesn’t work, like a turnkey electric taxi solution for hire, or it works partially, like Zity, a self-service selection of Dacia Spring, which left the French capital for being treated too badly.

Today, we are talking to you about two new products presented during this 2024 Paris Motor Show in their final versions: the Bento and Duo. Two electric vehicles accessible from 14 years old, which want to change our urban travel. And we spoke with Benjamin Manceau and Anne-Cécile Bonneville from Mobilize to find out more.

The Twizy, the ancestor of the Mobilize Duo and Bento

To understand these machines, we have to go back to 2011, when a strange, fun and futuristic machine appeared: the Twizy. Small quadricycle limited to 45 km/h or 80 km/h depending on the version, which then carried 2 people or one person and a load. It was in 2012 that individuals were able to get their hands on it (there were almost 10,000 that year). The twisted charging cable is integrated and the battery is rental. Designed by the Renault Sport branch, it is an electric kart on wheels. It held up until 2023, the end of marketing date. And for good reason, it is replaced by the machines that interest us today: the famous Bento and Duo from Mobilize.

The Twizy was great, but suffered from crippling flaws: no doors, no heating, no air conditioning, no music. Moreover, this door problem will be partially solved by plastic windows attached to arms mounted in elytra, as on the Lamborghini Diablo (for example). If the system gave you an undeniable class, it was feverish and not very effective in terms of sound and thermal insulation. Riding a Twizy in winter then required the same equipment as that of a motorcyclist during the cold season.

The Duos and Bentos in detail

The Duo and Bento are two machines that are completely inspired by the Twizy. But everything has been improved.

Thus, the 10.3 kWh battery (double that of a Citroën Ami) promises 160 km (we covered 60 with the Ami, so 160 seems optimistic to us). The heating appears. The latter also acts in two key points: the windshield and your buttocks (depending on the finish level). Recharging is done from a mains socket and takes around 5 hours for 0-100%, and 3h30 for 20-80%.

The doors are real doors, which keep the elytra system, very practical in narrow places or for showing off when leaving school. More than your comrade in his Ami, but less than the other comrade in his Microlino. The future of high school student travel looks as bright as it is expensive.

The Duo is offered in two versions:

A version accessible from 14 years old with the AM license and limited to 45 km/h.
A version accessible to B license holders and limited to 80 km/h.
A utility version called Bento skips the rear seat in exchange for a huge double-door load bin, with a capacity of 649 liters (plus around 300 liters in the cabin). It is a little larger than the Duo (11 cm more for 254 cm long). Its range is reduced to 149 km.

Fairly well-stocked equipment and average pricing solutions

The Mobilize Duo en version AMnamed 45 NEO (accessible from 14 ans), costs 9,990 euros (900 euros are deductible as an ecological bonus). It is supplied with the following equipment:

• Keyless opening
• Driver’s airbag (and yes, the airbag is standard, a first on a heavy quadricycle)
• A USB-C port
• A smartphone holder integrated into the dashboard
• Heating from the windshield
• Secondary seat in the rear

Optionally, you have:

• Colorful stickers and hubcaps (600 euros)
• Air conditioning (1,000 euros)
• The reversing radar (300 euros)
• Le kit Bluetooth (200 euros)
• Replace the mains cable with a type 2 (200 euros)

The Mobilize Duo 80 EVO (the one requiring permit B) will relieve you of 11 600 euros. In exchange, it will reach 80 km/h (not enough to travel in time) and will carry additional equipment, namely:

• Le Bluetooth
• A heated seat
• Standard hubcaps and stickers

You then have options:

• Color (100 euros)
• Air conditioning (1,000 euros)
• The reversing radar (300 euros)
• Change of cable type (200 euros)

Finally, the Bentoversion utilityswaps the rear seat for the enormous 650 cm3 container with Kangoo-style asymmetrical doors (but which would have asymmetrical doors), and is sold 10 000 euros HT. It incorporates the equipment of the AM version of the Duo.

Inside the Mobilize Duo

We were able to get in (but not yet take a ride with it). The seats are comfortable. Sound insulation is non-existent, and only the sensation of being in a sort of cocoon with transparent windows generates an impression of insulation. Opening the door is elegant, but not so practical: the tilting is slow, the inertia is high, because, unlike the Twizy, this one is full and therefore heavy. It lacks some sort of intuitive handle to swing it.

The recycled plastics used make… recycled plastics. It’s hard, a little rough, a little austere in this gray shade.

The general appearance is successful, thanks to contained proportions. We truly have the epitome of space optimization.

The dashboard is inspired by a Ghetto-Blaster, which is funny because 100% of 14 year old drivers who ride in it won’t have the slightest idea what it is. However, the references to these large audio stations which released their watts at the edge of the pitch are numerous: the buttons, the indicators, the organization of the board, the screen and its digital display (literally, like the G-Shock watches) and its shape are a great idea. The only downside is the reflection in the windshield.

In front, the heating is quite crude but elegant. The seats are much more comfortable than those of the Ami (that was easy). As for the steering wheel, it is very classic.

We are excited to try these Duos and Bentos. Because they seem to have corrected everything that was lacking in the Twizy.

An LLD offer to compete with Ami, but…

We end with a downside, however. We asked how much the rental format cost. This LLD (long-term rental at the end of which you return the vehicle) which makes the Ami so popular. And indeed, the prices are attractive with:

The AM version (45 km/h) at 89 euros/month and a first rent of 900 euros which is absorbed by the ecological bonus.

The License B version (80 km/h) at 179 euros/month and a first rent of 900 euros which is absorbed by the ecological bonus.

All this for… 15 000 km and 3 ansor… 5,000 km per year. As with the BMW CE02, this mileage is too low for the use for which the machine is intended.

By looking at the problem in reverse, namely 5,000 km per yearpour 218 days workedthat gives 23 km round trip, i.e. journeys of only 11.5 km. A feasible distance by electric bike. And with that, we do not include weekends and public holidays. However, this information was passed on to Mobilize. We hope that the adjustment will be made accordingly, especially since increasing the kilometers on an electric vehicle of this type does not change the wear and tear.

There remains one last point which would be ideal: authorizing these vehicles to use the roads at 90 km/h. Because 80 km/h was already slightly exceedable on the Twizy and, in fact, would have no impact on traffic. But this is the responsibility of the government and not of Renault.

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