Crazy EVs made by car firms that aren't cars

Car firms are rapidly expanding their line-ups of electric vehicles at the moment – and they're not stopping with cars. A growing number of car firms have started expanding their EV line-ups with a whole range of different vehicle types, from e-scooter to e-bikes and even tuk tuks. Click through the gallery to take a look at some of the most interesting.

Audi electric mountain bike

German brand Audi has a proud history of developing wild off-road machines: the legendary Quattro rally car was a game-charging machine that transformed perceptions of four-wheel-drive technology.

But here’s one off-road Audi that definitely won’t feature a Quattro four-wheel-drive system: an electric mountain bike.

Audi's electric mountain bike

The machine has been produced for Audi by Italian firm Fantic, and uses a lightweight aluminium frame intended for on- and off-road manners.

With 18mm of suspension travel off-road tyres and a 720Wh battery the machine packs plenty of punch when on the trails. In the UK it’s priced at £8499 (which is just over $10,000).

Audi e-rickshaw

Audi isn’t just branching out into electric bikes: it’s also created an e-rickshaw (or an e-tuk tuk, if you prefer). It’s for a good cause though: it was co-developed with German-Indian non-profit Nunam in a project to develop zero-emission vehicles for the Indian market. 

The German firm has produced three of the machines for testing in India, and is even looking if it can use ‘second-life’ batteries taken from our Audi e-tron electric cars to make them even more sustainable.

Citroen Ami

Citröen is the French manufacturer perhaps best known for making the 2CV, which was developed to offer affordable motoring in rural France. And the Ami looks just as unusual as that. 

But while it looks unusual, it still looks like a car. So what's it doing here? Well, the Ami might look like a car, have four wheels like a car and drive like a car, but... it’s not a car.

It’s technically a quadricycle, which is a class of light vehicle that has very different regulations. That means that in some countries (such as France) you can drive an Ami from the age of 16 without a licence. 

It’s certainly not really a car from the specs: it has a top speed of 28mph and the range is just over 40 miles. It’s really designed for short urban journeys, and for that it’s brilliant – and cheaper than any new car you could buy.

Honda electric mower

Japanese giant Honda makes a number of electric cars and motorbikes – but did you know it also make an autonomous electric lawn mower? Meet the HRM 3000 Live, which takes all the hassle of of maintaining your lawn. All you have to do is charge it up and let it rip, and you can even control it with your smartphone. 

The firm offers various types of electric mower, but the range-topping HRM 3000 Live offers up to 90 minutes of mowing time, and can be fully charged in just 45 minutes.

Hyundai room service robot

At some stage, robots might rise up and take over the world. At the very least, we’re probably not far off the stage where robots can take over many of the important tasks that humans do. But, for now, we’ll settle for one that can deliver us a late-night snack.

Hyundai Motor Group has invested heavily in developing a range of ‘plug and drive’ autonomous robot systems, developing units that can be applied to a wide range of purposes. And it’s putting early prototypes to the test by getting them to deliver room service in the Rolling Hills Hotel, which is located close to Hyundai’s massive test facility in Korea.
 

Hyundai room service robot

The machines use a single-wheel plug and drive system that has steering, braking, a drive unit and suspension built into it, mated to a range of LiDar and camera sensors so it can move autonomous and not hit anything. Mounted on top to that, crucially, is a storage unit where the food cab be loaded up for deliver. The system is being trialled elsewhere in Korea for outdoor deliveries.

Hyundai Supernal eVTOL

Hyundai has also invested in the development of electric Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVTOL) craft, setting up a new company called Supernal. It has developed its first machine, the SA-1, which is set to go into service in 2028.

Think of it a bit like a flying taxi or delivery van. The Supernal SA-1 can seat four or five passengers, and is designed to help transport people quickly and efficiently around built-up areas. Full technical details have yet to be disclosed.

Polestar Cake Makka e-motorbike

Here’s another Polestar collaboration: the firm has teamed up with Swedish motorbike manufacturer Cake on a special edition of the Cake’s Makka.

Okay, it’s basically a regular Cake Makka that’s been painted blue (to match the colour of the Polestar O2 concept car) and given some Polestar logos, but it’s still pretty cool.

Polestar Cake Makka

Polestar Cake Makka

If you’ve not heard of Cake it’s a really interesting firm, making a line of boldly styled and distinctive electric motorbikes for urban and off-road use. The Makka is one of the firm’s city bikes, with a 28mph top speed and a range of around 34 miles. And while there isn’t really much to separate this Polestar-branded version from the regular ones, it does look really good in that blue.

Candela C-8 powered by Polestar

Polestar, the fast-rising Volvo spin-off brand that is winning attention for its stylish cars, has been on the hunt for various other ways it can apply the electric technology that it’s been developing. 

It’s now teamed up with fast-rising Swedish electric boat firm Candela, which has been winning attention for its eye-catching C-8 hydrofoil. The electric boat users clever tech and aero to effectively lift the hull out of the water at speed, reducing the drag and making it far more efficient.

Candela C-8 powered by Polestar

Polestar and Candela have agreed a deal for the car firm to supply its electric batteries to Candela for use in the C-8 and other boats. The deal should help Candela scale top more quickly, and the paternership could be expanded into new areas in the future.

Porsche eBike Performance

While some car firms are content to partner up with an existing e-bike firm to have a bike painted in its colours, Porsche is taking the category far more seriously: it’s been buying up a number of e-bike firms, including leading manufacturer Fazua.

The firm has set up a new company called Porsche eBike Performance, which is set to produce a whole range of machines in the coming years. If they’re anything near as good as the Taycan EV, we’re in for a treat.
 

Bugatti e-scooter

Yes, the first electric vehicle from hypercar firm Bugatti, best known for machines such as the 304mph Chiron Super Sport 300+, is an 18mph electric scooter. No, it’s not what we were expecting either, but there you go. Predictably, the two-wheeled machine isn’t actually made by Bugatti: it’s manufactured under licence by New York-based e-scooter firm Bytech International. 

Bugatti e-scooter

The Bugatti-branded scooter is powered by a 700W motor, and draws power from a 10ah battery that gives it a range of 22 miles. It will then take four hours to charge up.

There are some special features to set it apart from other e-scooters: there are dual-turn signals, illuminated base lights on the side and a projection light that shines Bugatti’s ‘EB’ emblem onto the road. You also get a dual-braking system and E-ABS.

GMC Hummer EV AWD E-Bike

A 1000bhp electric ‘super truck’ needs a ‘super e-bike’ to go with it, and the new GMC Hummer EV AWD E-Bike is a suitably overblown creation. It has been developed in conjunction with GMC and rugged e-bike specialist Recon Power Bikes, and is designed for both on- and off-road use.

The styling cues to the reinvented Hummer EV are clear, and Recon has ensured that the machine’s performance is suitably potent.

GMC Hummer EV AWD E-Bike

It uses a pair of 750W Bafang hub motors to offer all-wheel-drive. Each motor has a peak output of 1200W, so the total system output can his 2400W.

There are three drive modes: Cruise, Traction and Adrenaline, and the machine has a top speed of “28mph plus”. But you can also fit a big battery that gives it a range of between 40 and 50 miles. It’s on sale now, priced at $3999.

Nissan e-4ORCE Ramen Counter

Want a bowl of piping hot ramen noodles, but don’t want to get off your feet? Well, Japanese car giant Nissan: the e-4ORCE Ramen Counter. It’s a one-off marketing gimmick designed to showcase the firm’s all-wheel-drive electric tech called e-4ORCE, but we think it could prove a hit in replacing those long conveyor belts in sushi restaurants.

Nissan hasn’t given out many technical details yet, but claims it “swiftly delivers ramen and maintains the integrity of noodle presentation by suppressing sloshing and movement.”

Sony Afeela electric car

Okay, here’s one that goes the other way round: electronic giant Sony, best know for its televisions, PlayStations and – for those of a certain age – the Walkman, is making a car. 

The Japanese giant has teamed up with Honda to found Afeela, which is due to launch an electric streamlined saloon as its first model by 2025. Obviously it’s pretty tech-heavy: there’s a ‘media bar’ at the front of the car that can ‘communicate’ with people outside and, predictably, a massive touchscreen the runs the length of the dashboard.