Twizy could be first Renault in North America in ages

The folks that brought you Le Car may return to North America for the first time in almost three decades with Le Twizy. The low-speed Renault Twizy electric vehicle will be shown off at this year's 2015 Québec City International Auto Show in preparation for possible distribution in the French-Canadian province, Green Car Reports says, citing Le Soleil. And speaking of "the sun," the Twizy, mind you, is open air, so there could be some cold rides ahead if Renault sales return to North America.

Renault has been in discussions with Canadian transportation officials about meeting regulations necessary to get approval to sell a small number of Twizy urban EVs in Canada. The Twizy delivers 17 horsepower and has a top speed of about 50 miles (80 kilometers Canadian) per hour.

A return for Renault to North America in the form of the Twizy, which started being exported to the UK about three years ago, would be a bit of a surprise because Renault-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn has consistently denied that Renault would return to the continent. Renault stopped North American distribution in 1987, when its US parent AMC (maker of such fine automobiles as the Gremlin, Javelin and Pacer) was sold to Chrysler.

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