KiWi hatches a baby battery buggy

Electric four-seater runabout looks just the thing for a Green trip to the beach.

KIWI can-do created an off-roader looking car called the Trekka – squint a little and maybe some of the 1960s’-born model’s DNA shows in the KiWi, a new electric micro-class crossover out of China.

 The pert four-seater just revealed in China’s automotive media and subsequently reported on for a Western audience by the GM Authority is out of Baojun, the youngest General Motors brand in China, managed by a joint venture involving MG parent Shanghai Automotive, GM and Wuling, a specialist in small cars.

Actually the second KiWi out of the nest, following a minicar that went into production three years ago, the chunky new model was previewed by a near lookalike concept called the “City Fun Trendy Product.”

Sized to conform to the kei car regulations that enact in Japan, the model features a diminutive two-door body and an off-road look that introduces a new brand design language, with a mix of retro and modern styling elements giving it a striking appearance. More importantly, as a full electric model, is aims to be the first zero-emission off-roader in its class.

The two-tone body with a front end features a horizontal acrylic panel with rounded edges that integrates eight individual LED headlamps and the KiWi name illuminated in the centre.  

The side profiles include straight lines, trapezoidal wheel arches and good-diameter wheels enhancing its elevated stance, while the flat rear boasts O-shaped headlights. Trekka-like, yes, but also not too dissimilar to a vehicle far more likely to have been considered by Boajun’s designers, the Suzuki Jimny.

GM Authority expects the car will be officially revealed in the coming weeks and will make its world debut during the 2022 Guangzhou Auto Show in late November.

It also believes KiWi is set to hatch more small zero-emission products.