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Cedre SARL (till 1979 registered as Société Seve-Cedre) was a French manufacturer of small cars, powered by electricity and fueled using batteries. The business was established in 1975, a year after he had presented his first prototype, by François Guerbet at a small town called Montesquieu-Volvestre, some fifteen kilomteres south of Toulouse in 1975.

Cedre was an acronym standing for for Centre d’Études pour la Développement et la Réussite des Entreprises.

Production ended in 1987.

Origins
By 1974 François Guerbet had been fighting for several years to prove that an urban electric car was more than an impossible dream. He believed that using lead-acid battery technology (then the only available option given the amount of charge needed to propel a vehicle) it would be impossible both to match the performance of a "normal" petrol driven car and achieve a reasonable range between recharging stops. But by restricting the top speed to 50 km/h (31 mph) and using a very light bodied tricycle format vehicle carrying 200 Kg of batteries, it should be possible to travel 100 km (61 miles) with a 120 kg load (eg a 70 kg person with 50 kg of luggage). In essence, that combination was the blue print for the Midinette which Guerbet first presented on 25 April 1975.

The cars
Guerbet's first car, the electric prototype of 1974, was identified as the Mini 1, and also as the Soubrette

The Midinette followed in 1975, and in 1979 was put into production. It was powered by a 1.2 kW electric motor. Top speed was given as 50 km/h (31 mph), and the range as 60 km (37 miles). The car offered space for one and the polyester body was accessed through a sliding door on the car's left side. the Midinette was 1800 mm long and 880 mm wide. There were three wheels, the single wheel being the one at the front.

There was also a model for which maximum output was given as 5 kW.

A special model was presented called the 5x5 Solaire.

Reading list

 * Harald Linz, Halwart Schrader: Die Internationale Automobil-Enzyklopädie. United Soft Media Verlag, München 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8. (German)
 * George Nick Georgano (Chefredakteur): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Volume 3: P–Z. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1. (English)
 * George Nick Georgano: Autos. Encyclopédie complète. 1885 à nos jours. Courtille, Paris 1975. (French)

Sources and notes
Category:Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of France Category:Companies established in 1975