Niche carmaker Dartz has introduced a tiny electric car following in the tracks of the last year’s Nikrob model (see video). Called the Freze Froggy EV Beachstar, it is essentially just a China-made Wuling Hongguang Mini EV with a new body slapped on.
The company notes that it drew inspiration from two 1990s-era vehicles – the original VW Beetle-based Dartz Froggy and the rather eccentric Mercedes Millenium, an off-road-prepped roadster.
29 years ago, the Dartz Froggy was the first vehicle the company founder Leonard Yakelovich made. In late 1990s, a unique off-road variant of it was commissioned by Jim Rogers, widely known as an entrepreneur, traveler and later an investor, too.
Little has been revealed about the Freze Froggy EV Beachstar at this point. The images show a rather body-looking supermini EV wrapped in green and yellow and equipped with a grotesquely oversized, trunk-mounted rear wing. Overall, the design is typical Dartz fare, meaning you may either like it or hate it (although if you don’t care, that’s fine, too).
The car runs on the 13.8-kWh traction battery of its donor and gets 305 km (189.5 miles) of electric range on a charge. Its powertrain specs are kept under the carpet for now, but just in case you wondered, the original Hongguang Mini EV has all of 18 PS (18 hp / 13 kW) and 85 Nm (63 lb-ft) of torque.
Dartz expects its corporate customers to be interested first and foremost. This includes hotels, ridesharing services and rental companies. Prices will start from €19,999.