The Mobilize Duo x TA is a limited-edition electric microcar, with graphics by TheArsenale

This is the Duo x TA, a special edition of the ultra-compact electric city machine developed by Renault’s Mobilize division. Designed in collaboration with creative agency TheArsenale, which has a long-running relationship with Renault, the Mobilize Duo x TA takes the 2.4m-long two-seater and gives it an aesthetic overhaul.

Originally available in blue, the new edition has details and key elements picked out in acid yellow, the kind of vivid colouring favoured by TheArsenale for its high-profile, urban-focused installations, events, special editions and collaborations.

The Duo was first shown back at the 2022 Paris Motor Show when it was heralded as a successor to the tiny 2012 Twizy – still a favourite runabout for upscale hotels around the world.

TheArsenale’s team have paired black bodywork with yellow graphics that emphasise the angular forms of the tiny machine, as well as slogan-bedecked wheels and yellow stitching details on the seats. Like Twizy, the Duo sits passengers one behind the other, with forward-hinged scissor doors and barely any space for luggage.

Although the Twizy was a more open design – heaven help you if it was raining – the Duo is fully enclosed and feels a lot more car-like and refined as as result. It’s the first in a planned series of urban runabouts to be sold under the Mobilize sub-brand – a single-seater cargo version is also available, as is a Mobilize-branded charge point.

Like that other French foray into electric microcars, the Citroën Ami, special editions and collaborations are seen as a fine way of expanding brand recognition, building a cult following amongst the young and helping seed cities with smaller, cleaner modes of personal transport.

Mobilize Duo, €10,000, Mobilize Duo x TA edition, €12,500, Mobilize.com, @Mobilize_fr, TheArsenale.com, @TheArsenale