A Micro-Car Revolution: Introducing Kate

Kate acquires Nosmoke, the iconic car maker, and defines its vision of everyday mobility

It all began in 2012 when I swapped my old Vespa for a brand new Twizy.

The experience was short-lived but seriously intense. Six months after I bought this electric UFO by Renault, the Twizy’s seat belt and airbag saved my life when I had a head-on collision with a drunk driver who was on the wrong side of the road.

It was an incredible shock and, in the aftermath of the accident, I realized that the car of the future would be more like an electric golf cart than a diesel SUV.

At the time, I was thinking about creating a micro-car. To save time, rather than starting from scratch, I decided to acquire an existing company. I began by looking for golf carts; in 2021, at long last, I discovered NoSmoke, a beach car manufacturer. It was love at first sight for me: I was captivated by the company’s product and its founder, Luc Jaquelin.

6 months and one LinkedIn post later, I met Pierre and Mathias; together, we decided to buy NoSmoke and found Kate, a name inspired by the “Kei Car” (軽自動車), the Japanese micro-cars.

To put it simply, Kate aims to reinvent everyday mobility.

Everyday mobility (trips of under 80 km) account for 98% of travel; 84% of these journeys involve a car and these journeys are responsible for 11% of the country’s GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions.

We want to reinvent the car on a micro scale. Micro-cars are a way to significantly reduce these emissions and, most importantly, they provide a cheap and practical alternative to existing cars.

Here at Kate, we’re working to produce light four-wheeled vehicles which are suitable for transporting goods and people. Although cycling is the most efficient way for individuals to travel short distances, cars are unbeatable when it comes to transporting multiple people and covering longer distances, whether in the city or the countryside.

Used for everyday journeys, tomorrow’s car will be light, clean and energy-efficient and will offer equal protection for drivers, passengers and other road users. It will ensure the decarbonization of the automotive industry but its success will be guaranteed by the fact that it will be less expensive to produce, use and maintain than a traditional car.

The acquisition of NoSmoke provides Kate with industrial infrastructure and a decade of sector-specific expertise which will give the company a decisive edge within a sector experiencing rapid development. What’s more, we’re keen to retain NoSmoke’s casual style, passion for elegance and penchant for simple pleasures. That’s the inspiration behind the NoSmoke vehicle, which we’ve updated and are going to continue to market as a new model, known as The Original, available now online.

At the same time, as we focus on our vision of tomorrow’s micro-car, we’re already working on a city car project: a micro-car which is suitable for driving in the city and the countryside. Its code name is K1 and pre-orders will open in a few months’ time.