Electric cars are good for the environment and owning one can be seen as noble, but how can EVs, despite their range anxiety-related drawbacks, be made to seem stylish, fashionable and desirable?
The Citroën E-MEHARI styled by Courrèges is an exploration of this theme and takes as its starting point the Citroën E-MEHARI electric car concept first unveiled in December 2015.
While the original concept was about outdoor fun and practicality and paying homage to the original 1986 Mehari off-roader and beach buggy, Courrèges has taken things very much in the opposite direction. The car's exterior is almost completely white -- even the wheels -- with just a single contrasting orange line.
The Courrèges concept also benefits from a sliding Plexiglas canopy roof and from doors -- things omitted from the initial concept.
The interior is a blend of white leather, orange vinyl and black accents -- and that includes the floor, which is white-leather lined. In the luggage compartment there are three different Courrèges bags each following the same color and material scheme.
As well as pioneering the popularity of the miniskirt and of go-go boots, Courrèges was one of the first fashion houses to embrace and to elevate materials such as vinyl and, under the direction of founder André's wife, Coqueline Courrèges, turn its attention from ready-to-wear and towards ready-to-drive. Worried about the future, Coqueline Courrèges started building her own electric cars nearly 50 years ago.
"As early as 1968, Coqueline Courrèges was among the first to understand that oil would not last for ever," explained Jacques Bungert and Frédéric Torloting, Courrèges's current owners. "That was when she decided that it was time to do something for the planet. She arrived on the podium of the Courrèges show in 1968 in her first self-built small electric car."
As for the latest Courrèges electric car, it will arrive at the Geneva Motor Show on March 1.
