Club Car, the global manufacturer of small-wheel, zero-emissions electric vehicles, has raised the bar for utility vehicle safety with its Urban model.

Club Car Urban being put through stringent crash testing at a state-of-the-art facility in the Netherlands

The street-legal electric Club Car Urban has undergone the same stringent crash testing as standard vehicles, and is used by private and public sector organisations across Europe, including Tesla, Siemens and Mercedes-Benz.

Marco Natale, Club Car’s vice president EMEA, said: “Other vehicles in this class are not put through crash testing. We can guarantee that, of all the utility vehicles like this, Urban is the safest.”

Anders Lynge, director of brand and design strategy for Club Car and the designer of Urban, added extra space in the nose of the vehicle, moving the driver further back while still allowing space for up to 1,000kg load at the rear.

“In some competitor cars, the driver sits in front of the front axle, with their knees and feet close to the front end of the vehicle. That placement offers little protection in an accident,” said Lynge.

“We wanted to make Urban safer – and the extra space in the nose allowed us to design the car so that in the event of a collision, the driver and passenger are in a much better position to avoid serious injury.”

The Club Car Urban was put through rigorous analysis at a state-of-the-art crash testing facility in the Netherlands and recorded by six ultra-slow-motion cameras during a head-on collision with a wall at 50km/h.

During the test, the driver and passenger cell remained completely intact, the steering column moved up and away from the driver, and the securely located battery did not move.

Lynge said: “There’s a reason other small vehicle manufacturers do not use the same level of testing. Safety is a key differentiator from our competitors. The Urban is a high-quality vehicle that is practical, functional and, most importantly, designed to keep people safe.”

In addition to the unrivalled safety, the Urban has been designed with user comfort and convenience at its core.

“Urban, from the get-go, has been a practical vehicle,” continued Lynge. “It still looks great, but first and foremost it has to make the life of the user comfortable and more convenient.

“For example, we noticed that an A4 clipboard is commonly used on worksites, so we designed the dash with a tray to accommodate one. There are other smart features that show attention to detail, such as storage space for belongings and a jacket hook.”