The EV market has not been shy in its gimmicks or gadgets at times – some successful, some not – but a new development by ElectraMeccanica may either go down in infamy or create a whole new EV market – the one-seater EV car.
Dubbed The Solo, it's a compact one-person city EV car. Measuring just 3.1m long, the electric three-wheeler city car has the following specs:
- Top Speed 80mph
- 0-60 MPH: 10 seconds est
- Rear Wheel Drive
- 17.3kWh battery pack offers a range of 100 miles.
- Can be recharged (15-90 per cent) for use in under three hours (220v)
- 40kW/128Nm/53bhp liquid-cooled motor
- Torque: 94ft-lbs
- Curb Weight: 1,710 lbs (775kg)
- Safety Cell: Lightweight Aerospace Chassis
- Length: 122in
- Width: 57.5in – at the front wheels
- Height: 53in
- Wheelbase: 80.5in
- Tires: 135-70 R15 (Front) – 215-40 R16 (Rear)
- Power Disc Brakes
- Electric Power Steering
- Daytime Running Lights
- Electric Parking Brake
- A heated seat and is vegan friendly
- Bluetooth stereo and reversing camera.
- Luggage capacity is 142L
It's certainly a novel approach to the market – though there have been car enthusiast efforts at converting three-wheel Reliants in the UK to EV.
ElectraMeccanica is a division of Meccanica, a company better known for making Porsche 356 kits.
“So many vehicles are being driven by one person,” said Paul Rivera, chief executive of ElectraMeccanica. “Why does everybody think they need to drive around and leave three or four empty seats?”
Due to its configuration, the Solo is actually a motorcycle, but looks and drives like a car (complete with roller for safety purposes) with a steering wheel and foot pedals.
There have been two small-scale beta tests of the Solo in Canada but this is the first mass-market ‘car'. The new production version of the Solo will be manufactured in Chongqing, China, in partnership with the Chinese motorcycle manufacturer Zongshen Industrial Group. Up to 20,000 Solos can be made per year at the factory.
The opening markets for this version will be Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland and there’s no news if it will make it to the UK.
If sales justify it, ElectraMeccanica hopes to set up a North American assembly plant before the end of 2022. But will it every come to the UK? G-Wiz owners might be jealous if it did.