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Comment by donalhunt | Hacker News Reader

Is it just me but does a new petrol Euro 6.2 engine make sense in 2019? I know it's targeting the sports market but if they went with an electric motor, they would have a pretty competitive vehicle imo (they are limited to 1000 cars/year though).

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Not sure whether a new internal combustion engine makes sense at this point in time, but it's certainly not where I'd start if I were trying to launch a marque with a focus on low cost. Same with the space frame construction which is very labour intensive. I wish them well but they're making some odd choices.

Electric would cost a lot more currently. ICE engine are cheap and well known (especially if you're not designing it yourself) and you don't have to fight with all the battery issues. I hope this will evolve fast !

Totally agree. Just found it fun that we can make "a sport car" for below 20k (it was sold at 8k before launch) with very common car parts.

You can get a new Mitsubishi Mirage for under $10k, if you really wanted to. Just like this car, it also comes with a 1.2L 3-cylinder engine, and is also not at all a sports car.

To dispel all misunderstandings, NO, it is not a sports and obviously not a super car (130hp 1.2Turbo for 16 490 € ... obviously not :) - The goal of this car is to have a relatively inexpensive leisure vehicle with a "sporty" design (that we like or not) and feelings of "fun" driving (due in particular to the standard bucket seats, in the center low gravity, tubular black currant fairly rigid, the sound of the engine well present in the cabin, the weight / power ratio that remains correct for a car of 4.68m (1240kg) and the side "gross" and "without filter" which will delight some and will scare others. - So NO, it's not a sports, we do not even communicate on the 0/100 so it's the opposite of what we wanted to do. - Yes the road behavior is excellent (proportionately kept and useless comparison with sports). - The car on loan for this test was just coming out of the assembly line (we are in constant flow) and we asked the testers not to force too hard on the engine. - Yes it is about finishes constantly being improved and no it is not a luxury car, far from it (it's a car made by hand in the 78, the only robot there is at home is the coffee machine). - We are an SME with all that implies and compare us to major manufacturers, their unlimited means, their finish, their equipment, would not necessarily be wise. (same for comparisons with cars of big brands in occasion)

In France, the Mirage is sold as the SpaceStar, and the cheapest 1.2L option is €13,495, which is upwards of $15,000 USD. Motoring in general is very inexpensive in the States, so it's difficult to make meaningful a comparison on price.

They sell that as the "Chevrolet Colt" here... definitely don't do a turbocharged version with 130hp though

Can you explain

> it was sold at 8k before launch

Kickstarter type thing maybe?

We started by selling the "pre-series" (something that is not done at major manufacturers who destroy the pre-series normally.

We started selling the first at 8500 € and the price to evolve at the same time as the progress on the car (car assembled 100% by hand)

Was hoping for electro too. I find a petrol 'sports' car in 2019 just repelling.

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