Portugal’s Amble Launches Amble One Electric Buggy Inspired by NASA’s 1971 Lunar Rover

Amble, a Portugal-based mobility company, launched its debut vehicle, the Amble One, as a street-legal electric buggy built for short-range mobility with a top speed of about 40 miles per hour and a range of about 60 miles on a single charge.

“It seems to be the week for cheap EVs”

Ars Technica

The Amble One is designed as a doorless, open-air buggy that uses a 48V RWD drivetrain with a 15 kW electric motor and a 12 kWh lithium-ion battery, and it charges in about 5.5 hours from an AC 220/230V outlet.

Ars Technica

Design lead Julian Hoenig, an Apple design veteran, traced the vehicle’s look to NASA’s 1971 lunar rover and said, “No doors to close you in, no unnecessary screens to pull you away.”

The vehicle’s lightweight approach is tied to Europe’s L7e quadricycle category, with Designboom saying it stays below 450 kilograms and WIRED describing the curb weight target as “under 450 kilograms (992 pounds).”

The Amble One’s exposed, skateboard-style platform leaves mechanicals visible, and HiConsumption describes a cork steering wheel, marine-grade canvas roof, aluminum frame, and leather seats chosen to patina with age.

Its design also emphasizes reconfigurability, with oversized orange screws marking parts that can be pulled off or swapped, and HiConsumption says the open basket can be traded for a lockable front box.

Designboom

WIRED reports that the One is configurable from the start, with rear seats that fold flat and a canvas weatherproofing option coming, while a lockable front box replaces the standard basket for urban buyers.

Pricing and timing are set for hospitality first, with HiConsumption saying the Amble One starts at $25,000 (€20,000 in Europe) and that resort deliveries kick off in 2027 before consumer deliveries slated for 2028.

Gizmodo adds that Amble says its 2027 delivery slots are already all reserved for hospitality customers and that the average order was about 40 vehicles worth roughly $1 million.

Amble positions the One for coastal paths, villages, neighborhoods, and private estates, and Gizmodo says the idea came from José António Uva, a Portuguese hotelier who complained about how hard it was to find good golf carts for hotels.

“More than half a decade after leaving Apple, two of the tech giant’s former designers could be working on just about anything they want”

Gizmodo

Designboom lists early customers including Amangiri in Utah, Mustique Island, and Six Senses Les Bordes in the Loire Valley, with initial deliveries planned for 2027.

WIRED frames the design philosophy around weight and simplicity, quoting Adrien Roose: “If you take a car and just shrink it, it doesn't work.”

WIRED also ties the lunar-rover inspiration to a visible platform, quoting Hoenig: “You see the skateboard,” and then describing how the company “put toppings on it.”

Looking ahead, WIRED says a second platform is already in design and targeting a 2029 release with removable doors, a lower roofline, and a hardtop, aiming to replace a family’s second car rather than its primary vehicle.