Apple, Audi alumni build luxury EV inspired by moon buggy
▼ Summary
– Amble, a new European electric vehicle company, launched out of stealth mode with the $25,000 Amble One, designed by former Apple car and Audi/Ford employees.
– The Amble One is a street-legal, lightweight electric buggy intended for short-range use on paths, estates, and coastal tracks.
– It has a range over 60 miles, a top speed of 40 mph, a five-hour charge time, and a curb weight under 450 kilograms.
– The weight limit is critical for the vehicle to qualify as an L7e category in Europe, allowing public road use without being classified as a car.
– The open, doorless design helps achieve the strict weight target, not just serving as an aesthetic choice.
It’s shaping up to be a defining week for affordable electric vehicles. Hot on the heels of the production-ready Slate electric truck, which arrived with an upgraded range, a fresh European name in sustainable mobility is emerging from stealth mode today. The newcomer, Amble, intends to deliver vehicles that are both budget-friendly and strikingly designed.
The team behind Amble brings serious pedigree. Its founders previously worked at Audi and Ford, launched the successful Cowboy e-bike brand, and cofounded Forpeople, a creative agency with clients like Nio EVs, Arc’teryx, and Herman Miller. Perhaps most notably, design lead Julian Hoenig contributed to the infamous Apple car project before it was scrapped. That lineage helps explain why the company’s debut model, the $25,000 Amble One, looks like it rolled straight out of Cupertino, even though it originates in Lisbon, Portugal.
The Amble One is a street-legal, minimalist electric buggy built for environments where a conventional car feels out of its element: coastal pathways, private estates, and the dusty tracks connecting luxury hotel villas to the shoreline. Imagine Apple setting out to design a golf cart, then pushing the concept much further.
Amble positions the One as an entirely new category of lightweight electric vehicle designed for short-range trips. The specifications underline a genuine commitment to performance: a range exceeding 60 miles, a top speed of 40 mph, a five-hour recharge time from any standard household outlet, and a curb weight under 450 kilograms (992 pounds).
That weight figure is more significant than it might first appear. To qualify as an L7e vehicle in Europe, which allows the Amble One to operate on public roads without being classified as a full car, the model must stay below that 450-kilogram threshold. “This is really hard,” says Adrien Roose, CEO and cofounder. “If you take a car and just shrink it, it doesn’t work.” The open, doorless design isn’t merely a stylistic nod to rivals like the electric Moke. It is a functional necessity, helping the team hit that demanding weight target.
(Source: Ars Technica)