The Mobilize Bento is the lineal successor to the Renault Twizy Cargo, bringing electric last-mile delivery to the van world with a quadricycle.
It’s been designed to provide a simple and safe solution for modern mobility as well as offer a more sustainable alternative to larger vehicles as well as some thing of an upgrade from a cargo bike. That’s important to remember because the Mobilize Bento isn’t your typical cargo van, but the market for small electric vans is growing and so too is the interest in quadricycles.
Although the numbers are small, interest is said to leap 20% with the introduction of each new quadricycle competitor – of which there are many.
Most obviously the Mobilize Bento is a competitor to the Citroen Ami Cargo, but you only have to take a snapshot of a modern European city to see that there’s also a wide range of other competitors in the market. However, it’s the cargo bike market that the Bento really will be competing against.
What is the Mobilize Bento?
It's the long-awaited update to the massively fun, but not very popular Renault Twizy Cargo.
As previously mentioned, it's based on a quadricycle so that means it has a lot fewer requirements to meet, like crash testing and safety systems. Because of that it’s a more stripped back version of a regular car or van, but that’s not to say it’s poorer because of it. The Mobilize Bento actually manages to pack in quite a lot of banal functions that you forget are so important until you drive something like the Ami Cargo.
We’ll talk more about the difference between the two later, but suffice to say that assisted steering feels like a real luxury in the Bento.
Unlike the Ami Cargo, the Bento is also a proper van. Well, sort of. It has its own distinct loadspace - a 649-litre cargo box body to be precise – that make it look a little bit like a pizza delivery moped but with four wheels.
The fully electric Bento is joined by the Mobilize Duo two-seat passenger model. Like the Twizy, the Mobilize Duo has a 1+1 seating configuration with the passenger sitting directly behind the driver and straddling their seat in a giant display of man-spreading.
Both versions compete in a sub-£10k category of cars and vans, making them a fraction of the cost of any other electric van on the market.
Who are Mobilize?
Now that you know what the Bento is, it might also be useful to know who Mobilize are. If it’s a name you’re not familiar with then don’t worry – they’ve only been around since January 2021.
It’s the first new brand launched by Renault in 120 years, who say that Mobilize will bring in solutions that offer mobility beyond the traditional scope, with mobility services, flexible financing and charging solutions.
What is a quadricycle?
A quadricycle is a four-wheeled vehicle built to meet L6 or L7 standards.
They have a prescribed kerb weight and limitations on their power. L6e quadricycles must have less than 8bhp, but L7e quadricycles can have up to 21bhp.
Like the Twizy Cargo, the Mobilize Bento is an L7e quadricycle – the more powerful of the two types.
That means it is legally allowed to do up to 50mph - that's almost double the 28mph top speed of the Ami Cargo.
The Duo, however, is available in two versions and homologated to either the L6e or the L7e quadricycle regulations.
The L6e versions can be driven in Europe without a full driving licence, and in the UK with an AM moped licence. But the UK won’t be getting the L6 versions which are limited to 28mph, like the Ami.
Thankfully for the vans it’s much more straight-forward. Because of the need to have a higher weight, the Mobilize Bento is only available as an L7e which means the van get the much higher maximum speed of up to 50mph.
Let’s talk about how it looks?
Quadricycles come in all shapes and sizes, but their unifying factor is that they all usually look weird. Actually, weird is a bit rude, they’re distinctive. From the original G-Whizz through to the Duo and Bento, quadricycles standout for both good and bad reasons.
But there’s a reason for that – they don’t have to conform to half as many regulations as a larger vehicle, so designers can take a few more liberties and push the envelope a little further in their appearance.
The Mobilize Duo has definite similarities to the Twizy in its appearance, but the Bento van is a radical departure. The Twizy Cargo kept the same form factor as the passenger version and simply replaced the rear seat with storage space and a hinged door on the rear for access. The Bento gets a full and dedicated loadspace that also uses up the space for the passenger.
That makes it look a little ungainly, but big rear box aside, it’s a modern and angular refresh to the curvier Twizy.
Like Citroen has done with the Ami, Mobilize has also looked to streamline the production process and cut costs with using similar parts and a simpler assembly process. That has translated to a single piece bumper and common parts like indicators all being the same.
Importantly, the bumper is also made from 60% recycled materials, re-used from Renault’s own recycling processes.
The Mobilize Duo and Mobilize Bento are made in Tangiers, Morrocco, which is a state-of-the-art production site which also produces 90% of its energy from renewables. To further underline the eco-friendliness of the vehicles, they’re also made from 40% recycled materials to improve its sustainability credentials and cuts costs. Mobilize says that this is about double the average for electric cars.
Finally, the whole vehicle is said to be 95% recyclable.
What are the Mobilize Bento loadspace dimensions?
The pizza box – sorry, we mean cargo box – is quite a decent size.
The Bento loadspace measures 81cm (height) x 124cm (width) x 77cm (depth).
Importantly it its wide opening rear doors – with one large and one small – that open to an angle of 140-degrees.
How much cargo space is there?
Like the Renault Twizy Cargo before it, the Bento replaces the rear passenger seat with some sensible storage.
However, rather than simply replacing the rear seat, the Mobilize van is even more practical with a dedicated and well-proportioned loadspace, which Mobilize says is the equivalent to two car boots.
It's not a lot mind you, and while the literature says it’s got close to 1m3, the small print will tell you that it is a 649-litre box - which is 0.649m3.
How big is the Mobilize Bento?
Designed to access all areas of the city, the Mobilize Bento dimensions show is not a big vehicle, measuring just 2.54m in length.
It’s also not very wide at all either and measures just 1.3m wide.
The plus side to both of these is that it means it has a super tight turning radius which is said to be just 3.4m.
Mobilize Bento dimensions:
Length: 254cm Width: 130cm Height: 157cm
Although it might be small, the box body of the Bento's cargo area does pose an interesting opportunity for businesses to advertise themselves with a snazzy livery on what is sure to be a very attention-grabbing city van - not least because of the elytra doors that open vertically to minimise space and prevent less of a hazard to other road users like cyclists.
Another interesting feature is the unpainted bodywork that instead gets a two-tone effect in black plastic.
The unpainted bumpers and rocker panels get a sort of camouflage grain finish to disguise the bumps and dings a small van might get during its working life. Up close it looks quite smart and at a distance you wouldn’t really notice the difference. So that makes it a clever bit of plastic design and also helps to lift what would otherwise be large slabs of dull plastics.
How much weight can the Bento carry?
Don’t expect the Mobilize Bento to have a massive payload because as a quadricycle it’s all about the maximum allowed weight of the vehicle.
So you know the weight of a Duo L6 with battery is 495kg, the L7 version is 507kg. For the Mobile Bento van weight it is 569kg as an L7.
As a result there’s a payload of just 80kg total, with a maximum of 60kg allowed in the cargo box and an additional 20kg in the cabin – either behind the seat or towards the sides.
What's the Mobilize Bento's battery range?
The Bento van gets a 10.3kWh (usable) NMC battery, which is the equivalent of a single module from the battery pack of the Renault 5 E-Tech electric car.
That equates to a range of 149km (93 miles) for the Bento, while the Duo gets a slightly better range of up to 161km (100 miles) based on the WMTC standard for quadricycle homologation.
Mobilize says this will give drivers a range in excess of 100km (62 miles) during winter.
How about the charging speeds?
Charging is carried out using a standard domestic plug or you can choose to have a Type 2 plug fitted instead which will make it compatible with most standard charging points.
There are no official charging speeds, but Mobilize says the Duo will "recover 25 km of range from a simple domestic socket in just one hour, the time to have lunch" - how very French.
Charging from 20% to 80% is said to take 3 hours 50 minutes using a domestic socket and it’s 25 minutes quicker, at 3 hours 25 minutes, with a Type 2 socket.
We’re no good at charging maths, but if the standard charge is at 7kW and it takes 230 minutes, the Type 2 connection isn’t charging at much more than 8kW as it takes around 10% less time.
Of course that’s not an exact science, but it’s slow, and hardly worth the hassle of specifying the Type 2 – unless you have a specific need to charge with a proper cable and can use an untethered charger.
Is the Mobilize Bento safe?
Good question. And an important one, especially as in Europe, at least, these will be aimed at first time drivers.
The answer is, it's as safe as any other quadricycle - in fact maybe slightly more so.
That's because for the safety conscious, the Bento has one major upgrade, compared to the Ami Cargo. The Mobilize Bento has an airbag as standard, despite quadricycle regulations not requiring one.
There are also small crumple zones at either end of the Bento and Duo models that should help absorb a bit of the energy in a front or rear collision.
There are also four disc brakes as standard.
It’s not likely to be stuff that’s going to get it a rating with Euro NCAP, but when it comes to quadricycle safety the Bento is ahead of the pack. It’s also a lot safer than a moped, scooter, motorbike or even bicycle. You’re properly enclosed, and there’s a degree of in-built protection.
You wouldn’t want to crash in one, but you’ll probably be safer in a Bento that you would in an Ami Cargo.
What’s it like on the inside?
There’s a lot to like about the appearance of the Bento, but the interior is a little bit on the boring side. The rectangular dash is said to resemble a ghetto blaster (remember those!) and the Duo version gets funky orange colours to jazz up the appearance.
That’s not necessarily a good thing, though. We found the glare from a sunny day reflecting off the bright orange dash into the windscreen and it made it a little annoying.
Functionality wise, though, there’s a mobile phone holder and an integrated Bluetooth system. Both of these are a significant step up from what you’ll find in a Citroen Ami which gets a very aftermarket phone holder and has to make do with a Bluetooth speaker should you want any entertainment.
There’s a USB-C socket for charging devices and you’ll find all the drive selectors and other controls to the left of the wheel, neatly arranged in a logical order.
The seats are moderately comfortable which is fine as you’re hardly going to spend hours at a time behind the wheel. There’s also a good range of travel even with the solid van bulkhead behind you.
Other practical elements include a drainage plug in the footwell, for when you need to swill out the rubber insides, and there’s also a shoebox-sized storage space behind the driver’s seat that is the closest thing you’ll get to concealed and “secure” storage.
There’s a hot air blower located at the base of the windscreen, which doubles as a personal heater too. Ingenious as it is in its design – the whole thing rotates to provide different air currents and temperatures – it’s arguably not very good at either job. We’d have to try it on a day when the windscreen needs clearing properly, though.
The windows only open up at little flaps, and while it’s easy enough to fold both sides outwards and get a decent amount of air flow, they feel a bit flimsy. It’s possible to specify the Bento with air conditioning, so if you were serious about using this long-term and year-round that would certainly be the best option.
How secure is the Bento cargo space?
Without getting out the crowbar and having a pop at it ourselves, it’s hard to speculate, but we’d wager a child could probably force their way in.
This isn’t the sort of van you’ll be storing expensive tools in, so we’re not saying it’s really a problem. The plastic box is robust enough, and likely to withstand a few glancing blows if some opportunist wanted to try and break their way in, but anyone coming prepared with equipment won’t have any problems. The door hinges, although chunky, feel a little flimsy and so too does the lock.
As previously mentioned, the best bet for storage is behind the driver’s seat.
In terms of other security features, the Mobilize Bento uses Renault’s famous keycard, and there’s also an immobiliser too.
Another nice feature is that using an app, owners can also share permission to access and drive the van. So, it’s a fully connected car, in a way.
Is the Mobilize Bento any good to drive?
The big question is of course what is it like to drive? Well, unsurprisingly it’s fun like the Twizy was.
The ride comfort is not great, but it’s surprising that it’s not worse than it is. If you were to compare it to an Ami you would be very happy with the Bento’s levels of refinement.
That’s also how you’d likely feel about its handling. The inclusion of power assisted steering was a real shock, so if you’re after an easier steer than an Ami, again the Bento is better.
Is it as fun as an Ami? Well it's different. But so much of the Ami’s appeal is in its very live and connected driving experience. The Bento feels a little bit dull because it’s actually just a pretty average handling tiny car.
For day-to-day driving around the Bento is easily a far better proposition but it’s a bit too sanitised.
For such a little car it’s also surprisingly hampered by its visibility. We’ve already mentioned the glare onto the windscreen, but more problematic is the very large A-pilar blindspot. It can require a good deal of shifting about in the seat to make sure you’re getting the best sight lines.
Equally going backwards isn’t particularly easy either, the rear box means there’s not rear window and the mirrors are not only a rather small, but their squished diamong like shape isn’t particularly helpful either. Despite sitting on some very spindly little supports, however, they do manage to stay in place, so if you can set them up right, you’ll have a fighting chance of being able to see, but in order to do so, you’ll have your arm in and out of the little windows many times.
Does the Bento feel fast to drive?
As the Bento is only available as the faster L7 quadricycle, it does feel rather quick once it’s up to full speed. Getting there isn’t particularly rapid, and you won’t win many drag races, but it’s punchy enough to zip you away from the lights ahead of bicycles and just as fast as mopeds and scooters.
At its 50mph top speed there’s a good deal of noise from the motor, even more from the road and plenty of wind noise, but it doesn’t feel intimidating in any way. It doesn’t feel like you’re on the limits of sensible, and the noises only really add to the theatre of it all.
Manoeuvres at high speeds are more nerve-wracking, as the Twizy feels a little light and floaty at those speeds, but again there seems very little need for genuine concern for its road holding.
What is better the Mobilize Bento or the Citroen Ami Cargo?
The Bento has some very clear and obvious advantages over the Ami Cargo. The dedicated loadspace means this is far more of a van than the Ami Cargo.
There’s also a lot more space in the Bento than the Ami Cargo with 649-litres compared to the 400 litres for the Ami Cargo.
The Bento has a payload of 80kg, with just 60kg allowed in the box, however, the Ami Cargo has a total payload allowance of 140kg.
Depending on what you’re looking to do with your Bento or Ami Cargo, might influence whether or not you’d prefer to have your storage behind you or to the side of you.
When it comes to performance, the Bento wins hands down. It’s more comfortable, more refined and more suited to every situation with its 50mph speed limit.
Where the Ami Cargo has an advantage is that it’s genuinely a lot of fun to drive – not that the Bento isn’t. Both little vans will have you smiling ear-to-ear and give passers-by plenty to laugh and smile about too.
Finally, and perhaps this is as good a reason as any for buying one of these as a business, is their ability to be customised and liveried.
The Bento feels like it has a purpose-made advertising board on the back of it. But… unless that business is delivering pizzas, it could look a little ungainly. I’m sure plenty of people will come up with innovative ways to brand them up, but the door panels and generally larger-looking surface area of the Ami seems like a better option.
When can I get one and how much is the Bento?
The Mobilize Bento and Duo were officially unveiled at the Paris motor show, but production won’t start until 2025.
European pricing is around the €10,000 with UK pricing likely to match it.
Verdict:
A mobile branding tool, a quick a cheap city errand boy, or just something that fits into a very specific job…
They’re all possibilities for the Mobilize Bento, and we can see a valid reason for wanting one for eeach of those.
As quadricycles go, this is at the high end, and as an alternative to a cargo bike this is streets ahead in terms of comfort and ability (unless you really want to carry heavier payloads).
We like that there are more three times fewer parts to replace than the Twizy, and that a lot has been done to make it recyclable and more sustainable. As part of the ethos of what Mobilize wants to become the Bento and its Duo passenger car seems to really fit in.
There’s a standard warranty of eight years for the battery and 80,000km, which gives it credibility up there with a small electric car too.
On the basis that this isn’t for everyone we’re not going to say you should rush out and consider one, but in the right circumstances it’s worth thinking about.
It’s better than an Ami Cargo in many areas, and it’s priced just as keenly. Dumber decisions will be made in business than buying one.
| Mobilize Bento 80 | |
|---|---|
| Driving licence | A1/B1 licence |
| Keyless entry | s |
| Driver airbag | s |
| Orange dashboard | o |
| Bluetooth kit | o |
| USB-C connector | s |
| Phone holder | s |
| Heated driver’s seat | o |
| Heated windscreen | s |
| Comfort seats with premium upholstery | o |
| Air conditioning | o |
| Rear parking sensors | o |
| Mode 3, type 2 socket | o |
| “Iconic Orange" colour pack | o |
| Colour pack (other colours) | o |
| Prices from (France) | €10,000, excl. VAT |
