Electric cars developed at a knowledge-based firm affiliated to the Islamic Azad University, Qazvin Branch, will soon hit the roads according to the university dean.
Morteza Moosakhani, said 100 electric cars will be given license plates soon and be ready for on-road testing.
Quality certifications are being obtained for the two-seater, IRNA reported.
Moosakhani added negotiations were underway with three major local investors and commercial production is expected to begin in the next fiscal year.
The electric vehicle is named ‘Quadro’ and has been developed by university-based firm Parax Co. However, the commercial name for the vehicle is ‘Yooz’ meaning cheetah, according to the news agency.
Yooz weighs 400 kilograms and charged for three hours can cruise for 200 km at 80 k/h. It is 1.3 meters wide and two meters long. Its small size should be an added advantage in the big urban areas with permanent parking problems.
The plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) is a copy of Renault’s Twizy launched in 2012. For comparison sakes, the Twizy weighs 474 kg and has a maximum driving range of 100 kilometers, according to the French company.
Financial Tribune contacted Renault’s Iran office to see if they had any role in developing the Twizy-like vehicle, they responded by saying that they were not involved in the Yooz, “Renault is ready to support universities and researchers for innovative items like PEV’s.”
The development of electric cars in Iran received a boost after the Presidential Office for Science and Technology lent support to the advancement of the projects like the Yooz, Moosakhani said.
On the occasion of National Clean Air Day in January, the micro-electric vehicle was test-driven by President Hassan Rouhani at the presidential complex in Tehran.
In the face of the grave dangers of air pollution that grips Tehran and other cities for almost the entire year, the Rouhani administration has been promoting the use of hybrids and PEVs.
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