We’ve seen the arrival of some electric microcars here in the Philippines over the past few years.
Some units of the Wuling Hong Guang Mini EV and the Renault Twizy have already been spotted on our roads. Recently, Jetour also joined the party with the new Ice Cream EV unveiled during the 2023 Manila International Auto Show (MIAS).
But if we had to pick what we’d like to see next, it’s probably this: the Ark Zero electric microcar.
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This tiny EV is built by startup company Ark specifically to become the most affordable electric car in the UK. The small EV can seat “two adults and a dog,” run for up to 80.95km on a single charge, and top out at 45kph. Not that fast, but if you’re paying less than £1 or P71.45 per ‘full tank’ or a single charge, you probably wouldn’t mind it that much.
As for charging, this EV charges ‘like your smartphone’ and can just be plugged into a regular outlet and left to charge overnight.
The Zero also comes equipped with—believe it or not—a small sunroof, a keyless ignition system with a remote key, and a reversing camera. It has a Bluetooth-compatible head unit with built-in speakers.
“At ARK, we are committed to creating The Future of Urban Mobility that is smarter, smoother, and greener,” said Ark founder and CEO Yilmaz Bora. “By eliminating fossil fuel reliance and embracing electric vehicles like the ARK Zero, we can foster positive change in our communities and protect our planet for future generations.”
The Ark Zero is now available in the UK for just £5,995, or about P430,000 in local currency. Of course, if you’d like to bring in a unit here to drive it on our roads, you’d have to pay for both shipping and taxes, and that’ll cost a pretty penny.
“We thought it’ll cost less than half a million pesos here?” Fine, fine. You got us—that was a bit clickbaity. But it did get you interested enough, didn’t it? That just shows that if we had insanely affordable electric mobility solutions like this one in our market, more people would probably opt to buy them. In the foreseeable future, perhaps.
More photos of the Ark Zero electric microcar:
