Opel RAD-e
goes back to its roots. In 1886, the German company launched its first two (high) wheel vehicle. It’s now 2012, and 126 years later Opel is announcing RAD-e. This futuristic looking product won’t just be a return to the origins for the German carmakers, but also a fresh new start in the renewed transportation business. “The challenge of this project was to ensure maximum production efficiency on the one hand, while making the design as forward-looking and appealing as possible," says Marcus Waldmann, managing partner and project manager of the RAD. Yes, the design. Let’s be honest: in the last decade has not been one showing off Opel strengths.
Now things may have changed, because the concept shown at the Salon de Geneve is stunningly beautiful. With the help of the design and brand consulting comapny KIKSA, the Opel RAD-e features smooth lines that converge in a boomerang shape, all in a hollow-pressed steel which is light, strong and even super flexible. It features smartphone-like controls to unlock the engine and to provide current and future data.
A 250 watt electric motor and a lithium-ion battery provide propulsion with an average speed of 20 km/h and a electrically supported range of between 60 and 145 km. It will be fully charged in a maximum of two and a half hours, with the possibility of being carried by Opel’s very own FlexFix bicycle carrier and be charged while driving. It’s not fast and it’s not roaring -but it is damn gorgeous and it has no emissions at all.
That’s where the market is going, and that’s the road the German carmaker is taking.
