Living with a Renault Twizy: Pah! Bring out the HOVERCRAFT

Get around 'round 'round, I get around

Pulling out of a space, you discover the Twizy has the most amazing turning circle. It will U-turn in spaces where anything else, including a London taxi, would need to make three-point turn. Parking is even easier. This must be the easiest car to park on the planet. It’s very narrow and you can get very close to the curb, and the bottom of the doors are transparent, a bit like the Lamborghini Marzal, so you can see exactly where the gutter is. The rear view is compromised by the lack of a rear window but you can always do the Countach thing: flip the doors open and lean out to look back. Parking is the only aspect of a Twizy where you can use Lamborghini as a model.

OK, the doors... the doors are just cool

But it’s not electric car spritely. It gathers momentum as your confidence in it diminishes. There is a milk-float vibe and the Twizy rattles as there is no sound-deadening. Suspension is limited so it’s not a comfortable car to drive and as you might have seen from James May’s tramline experience, the Twizy jolts over gaps. The tiny wheels really suffer in potholes and they transfer that anguish to your arse.

Because it's tall and the wheels are like 5p pieces, handling is insecure. It's also too slow for you to feel safe on big roads. The 50mph (80kmph) top speed takes a lot of patience. Low-power cars can be fun, the original Fiat 500 has the same 17hp as a Twizy but they are worlds apart for grin factor.

There is no heater, but because even with the doors and windows fitted it’s essentially an open car, it will demist reasonably quickly.

This is a electric car review and the issue of range is of paramount importance. It's 35 miles (56km). I know that in the Top Gear review they quoted a range of 60 miles (96km), but even the most optimistic figure is 50 and 35 is what I saw. This is fine for collecting someone from the station, providing they can handle the embarrassment of strangers' comments, but with so little space it’s not something you’d take shopping.

Topping up... the twirly straw lead adds to the "milk-float vibe"

I did take it to my local Waitrose, but only because the store has electric car spaces. Unfortunately, the Source London charging points there were 7kW sockets and the Twizy has a captive three-pin plug – and so can only use 3kW sockets.

It seems a bit wrong to be so negative about a car which is interesting and innovative. Maybe in the right climate, where you didn’t need the windows and the lack of a heater never mattered, and somewhere you’d struggle to park and had access to electric charging, it might be very different. It might be a perfect Monaco car, although the lack of sun visors would be annoying.

The Twizy in the Top Gear challenge through St Petersburg traffic might have been better than a hovercraft or Pinarello, but I’d much rather have used either of these. ®