We know the company called Icona for their Vulcano supercar. It's red, has one thousand horsepower and looks pretty good. But as Aston Martin found out with the Cygnet, you can't just make long-nosed monsters for Chinese billionaires. Thus, Icona has also taken a look at the city car market.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Icona, let's start by saying that this is an Italian design house, but it has its headquarters in China. It was founded in 2010 and has close ties to the Italian house Cecomp, which for more than three decades has built countless pre-production models and prototypes. The Vulcano supercar we just mentioned is the work of Claudio Lombardi, former director of Ferrari, aided by Samuel Chuffart, who has designed for brands such as Nissan or Land Rover.
Getting back to the Neo, we have to say that it's not inspired by the Matrix, it's just a new take on the Fiat 500 and other small cars squeezing their way out of tight urban parking spots.
But the Neo is not inspired by Rome or Paris, rather by Shanghai, which is where it was designed, by the way.
The modern architecture of skyscrapers in Shanghai uses a lot of asymmetric lines. That's partly why the Neo has two doors on one side and one on the other, just like the Hyundai Veloster and the old MINI Clubman. Shanghai taxis also have no passenger door on the road side because it's safer that way.
The Neo features in-wheel electric motors instead of conventional under-the-hood ones. That means the passengers can sit closer to the nose of the car, resulting in a tiny 3.4 meter footprint. That's 20 centimeters shorter than the Renault Twingo.
Before you point out that the smart fortwo is smaller, know that the Icona Neo Concept seats four people.
Unlike most modern EVs that have become obsessed with power, the Neo only has 28 hp. That's about half the output of the most underpowered car. However, the entire thing only weighs 720 kilograms so that it won't be sluggish. The top speed is a very reasonable 120 km/h (we'll believe it when we see it).
The batteries were developed by ITALTECNICA in, you guessed it, Italy. They give the car a maximum urban range of about 150 km/h, which is nothing to shout about.
Getting back to the Neo, we have to say that it's not inspired by the Matrix, it's just a new take on the Fiat 500 and other small cars squeezing their way out of tight urban parking spots.
But the Neo is not inspired by Rome or Paris, rather by Shanghai, which is where it was designed, by the way.
The modern architecture of skyscrapers in Shanghai uses a lot of asymmetric lines. That's partly why the Neo has two doors on one side and one on the other, just like the Hyundai Veloster and the old MINI Clubman. Shanghai taxis also have no passenger door on the road side because it's safer that way.
The Neo features in-wheel electric motors instead of conventional under-the-hood ones. That means the passengers can sit closer to the nose of the car, resulting in a tiny 3.4 meter footprint. That's 20 centimeters shorter than the Renault Twingo.
Before you point out that the smart fortwo is smaller, know that the Icona Neo Concept seats four people.
Unlike most modern EVs that have become obsessed with power, the Neo only has 28 hp. That's about half the output of the most underpowered car. However, the entire thing only weighs 720 kilograms so that it won't be sluggish. The top speed is a very reasonable 120 km/h (we'll believe it when we see it).
The batteries were developed by ITALTECNICA in, you guessed it, Italy. They give the car a maximum urban range of about 150 km/h, which is nothing to shout about.