If a Toyota iQ and a mobility scooter were involved in a head-on collision and rebuilt Tan Ru-style into a single vehicle, chances are it’d look a lot like the oddly named ECOmove QBEAK. Obscure Star Trek references aside, the QBEAK is one odd looking neighbourhood electric vehicle. It looks like one of the cars from the Test Track attraction at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and that’s not a compliment.

It’s a sort of plastic-bodied convertible with three-abreast seating and a range pegged somewhere between 30 km and 300 km depending on your level of cynicism. It’s all readily recyclable and is obviously designed to fills its occupants with a sort of smug, “I’m more environmental than you,” satisfaction. The company’s website seems to be almost deliberately vague, as if it doesn’t want its competitors (or the motoring press) to judge its capabilities.

There’s even a video for those dying to see the future of motoring in some sort of Luddist, post-apocalyptic future where the maximum speed limit is 40 km/h (25 mph) and everyone’s idea of fun is watching paint dry. My only hope is that some dim bulb at the company gets the idea to take it to the Nurburgring for a race against the Peugeot EX1. At least that would pique my interest.

By Tristan Hankins

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