Neighborhood Electric Vehicle

[3][4] As of June 2014[update], the GEM neighborhood electric vehicle was the market leader in North America, with global sales of more than 50,000 units since 1998.

[5] Another top selling NEV is the Renault Twizy, launched in March 2012, it was the top-selling plug-in electric vehicle in Europe during 2012, and the heavy quadricycle has sold almost 22,000 units through December 2018.

[6][7] Sales of low-speed small electric cars (LSEVs) experienced considerable growth in China between 2012 and 2015 due to their affordability and flexibility.

In many cases, doors may be optional, crash protection from other vehicles is partially met compared to other non-motorized transport such as bicycles because of the use of seat belts.

For instance, the State of New York requires additional safety equipment to include windshield wipers, window defroster, speedometer, odometer and a back-up light.

[14] Some communities are designed to separate neighborhoods from commercial and other areas, connecting them with relatively high speed thoroughfares on which NEVs cannot go, legally or safely.

As a result, these vehicles are most common in communities that provide separate routes for them or generally accommodate slow speed traffic.

[19][20] As of October 2015[update], the GEM neighborhood electric vehicle was the market leader in North America, with global sales of more than 50,000 units since 1998.

[5] Another top selling NEV is the Renault Twizy heavy quadricycle, launched in March 2012, with global sales of 15,000 units through April 2015.

[6][7] Sales of low-speed small electric cars experienced considerable growth in China between 2012 and 2015 due to their affordability and flexibility because they can be driven without a driver license.