The success of the Citroën Ami is making people envious. Just like the micro-cars called “Kei, Car”, which represent 40% of the cars registered on the roads in Japan. A growing interest in France, which ended up attracting the attention of Thibaud Elzière, the founder of Fotolia and of the start-up studio eFounders, who has continued to invest in numerous projects for two years (in space with Gama, in a set studio startups grouped under the Hexa entity).
The contractor contacted lemon squeezer to announce Kate, a new French car manufacturer. He took the opportunity to present his vision of the car of tomorrow for daily journeys, which “will be light, clean, sober and will protect its driver and passenger as much as other road users”. For this, he joined forces with Matthias Goldenberg and Pierre Escrieut, two former Valeo employees. Together, they aim to produce several tens of thousands of copies per year within 5 years.
© Kate
Kate formed last year. We don’t know exactly how long his teams have been working on it though. One thing is certain, the three co-founders did not start from scratch, because to get started and save time, they bought the young company Nosmoke launched in 2012 (we do not know the amount of the transaction), marketing a small whole -compact terrain with an electric motor and a style of the 1960s. In ten years, the small company had sold 1,500 units.
The Nosmoke Orignal becomes the Kate Original © Kate
Thibaud Elzière says he met Nosmoke in 2021 and “fell in love with the product and its inventor”, Luc Jaguelin. Kate should naturally take advantage of the takeover to recover the production lines, which are located in Cerizay, in the Deux-Sèvres department in New Aquitaine (between Nantes, La Rochelle and Poitiers). The Original, the model already marketed by Nosmoke, will resume deliveries under the Kate banner in March. Then another new model, the “K1”, will arrive during the summer.
Price up
This new vehicle is the one we are waiting for the most, because it will reveal the lines towards which Kate’s new team wants to go. On their website, some photos allow to distinguish details of its style but nothing is yet very precise apart from the level of the light signature.
For those with the ability to blindly trust, then pre-orders are already available to purchase the model. According to The K1 will ship for example “technology at the service of simplicity and intuitiveness. Without gimmicks or overkill. As if you always knew how to use it. Back to basics.”
© Kate
In terms of price, nothing is yet indicated for the future K1. But the Original, which cost 22,990 euros on the Nosmoke site, now costs 24,590 euros with Kate. We don’t yet know if the brand aims to offer car sharing, like what Lynk & Co is currently trying. Currently, the Nosmoke Original is accessible from 16 years old with the B1 license and has a autonomy of 110 kilometers (recharges in 7 to 8 hours). Opposite, at Citroën, the Friend and its two seats on board are accessible from 7,000 euros.
