Fiat Zicster (1996)

This was a development of the 1995 prototype electric car, the Zic. Becoming a spider (Zic + Spider = Zicster) the Zicster was first shown at the 1996 Geneva Motorshow. A development by the Fiat Research Centre, Centro Stile Fiat and CNR, the car features an aluminium spaceframe to which are attached composite polymer sandwhich panels. This reduces weight and increases rigidity, indeed the Zicster weighed only 850kg including all batteries.

The motor is a 21.5kW AC unit with 128Nm of torque, giving the car a top speed of 100km/h and a range of 230km at a constant 50km/h. In urban use the range becomes a still decent 170km.