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The confusing but cute 3 wheel Solo EV is finally in production:
It's taken years, but it's finally happening: the Solo, the adorable three-wheeled electric vehicle from Electra Meccanica, is entering production.
As Electrive points out, news of the Solo first surfaced about four years ago, and deliveries were supposed to commence two years ago, but nothing happened — until now.
According to an announcement from Electra Meccanica, the company that designs and makes the Solo, the car is today entering production. It will be produced under contract by manufacturing partner and investor, Zongshen Industrial Group, in Chongqing, China.
[...] As you might expect given its name, the Solo is a one-person electric vehicle that's targeting itself hard at individual city commuters.
It has 100 miles (161 km) of range and a top speed of 80 mph (129 km/h), which is more than you'll ever need in the confines of a crowded city. It's all powered by a 17.3 kWh battery that feeds electricity to a 82 bhp motor that drives the single rear wheel.
[...] It's quirky, different, and it's way smaller than a car, which makes it great for use in cities where space is at a premium and conventional cars aren't getting any smaller. I'm not sure it really makes sense, but we'll get to that.
Electra Meccanica has said it wants to produce 75,000 of these, which seems ambitious, especially given that it didn't meet its previous delivery date.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Wednesday September 02 2020, @07:57AM (14 children)
1: extremely charming or appealing
2 : worthy of adoration or veneration
Merriam-Webster [merriam-webster.com]
It is a car, and it is not adorable [thetruthaboutcars.com]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday September 02 2020, @08:04AM (12 children)
I'll wait for the women to determine whether the thing is "adorable". To me, it falls just a little short of "butt ugly". But, I'm obviously not the target audience.
We could probably make a long list of ugly little horrors, that women claim to be "adorable". Just do a search for things like "world's ugliest dog", or cat, or baby, or even notorious death row prisoners. Each of them has their fan clubs.
(Score: 2) by Unixnut on Wednesday September 02 2020, @08:50AM (5 children)
> I'll wait for the women to determine whether the thing is "adorable". To me, it falls just a little short of "butt ugly". But, I'm obviously not the target audience.
Seconded on "Butt Ugly" there. I had a look (not on TFA though, which won't even load an image unless you enable all kinds of third party JS), and the first word that came to mind was not "adorable", but rather "distended", followed by "warped". I can only guess I am not the target audience either, although I am not sure who would be.
It might make sense in congested European cities, as a replacement for public transport due to people being averse to sharing space with strangers due to Covid, but Europe has loads of small "city" cars like the "smart car", the BMW 3 wheel scooter with roof, that was kind of a car hybrid, and the Renault "Twizy", which is a very small electric city car with 4 wheels (and two seats), and others that I can't remember now.
In the USA everything is built bigger, even the cars. A "normal" euro car looks small compared to US cars, so the city/microcars, if small enough for ancient European capitals, will suffice just as well in US cities.
This seems to be a car that is larger and uglier than what is on the market already, while being only able to seat one person (so not as practical) , while being less stable due to having 3 wheels (admittedly not as unstable as having the single wheel at the front like the Reliant Robin, but still less stable than having 4 wheels).
I guess claiming it is "quirky" is its only selling point, which is marketing speak for "its so poor compared to the competition, that we have to stress its oddness as the reason to buy it".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 02 2020, @03:18PM (3 children)
On "BMW 3 wheel scooter with roof" did you mean the BMW C1? It's only got two wheels, but it's the closest I can think of without going all the way back to the Isetta. If they did do a 3 wheel covered scooter, though, I'd be interested in a reference. I always thought I'd love to get a C1 if they ever sold in the US, but no dice.
(Score: 2) by Unixnut on Wednesday September 02 2020, @05:52PM (1 child)
Honestly I thought I saw a three wheel version of the C1 once, but I may have confused it with this Peugeot: https://image.xedoisong.vn/w1024/Uploaded/2019/bgtwae/2016_04_27/53fyeo_aili.jpg, [xedoisong.vn] although that seems to be a concept that was not put into production: https://newatlas.com/peugeot-hymotion3-three-wheel-concept/10195/ [newatlas.com]
They made them, but without the roof, which seems like a shame. The C1 was very unique, and seemed like an excellent city commuter, even had storage behind the seat for larger load. According to wiki sales were poor, so they discontinued it. In fact, looking at the the general experience of these "micro cars", sales are consistently poor. Seems people just are not interested in them. The most successful was the "Smart car", which struck a good balance between size and practicality, and is similar to the original "mini" and "fiat 500", all of which have gotten much fatter lately.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2020, @09:18PM
You may have seen one, it was probably just modded though. 3 wheel kits exist for a few bikes, and DIY is not too hard if you have a torch and knowledge.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Thursday September 03 2020, @10:30AM
Why not just put a lid on a motorcycle-plus-sidecar?
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday September 02 2020, @05:22PM
The guy was on Dragons Den a few years ago, couldn't get an investor when he was based in BC.
Moving to the US hasn't changed the problems with the design. It still looks like a kit trike that someone built in their garage.
Price wise it's absolutely not competitive. Spend a few grand more and get a real EV.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Immerman on Wednesday September 02 2020, @01:26PM
Seems to me adorable is a particular subset of "ugly little horror". I mean, think babies - practically the definition of adorable. But look at them objectively and they're bald, wrinkly, self-absorbed little monsters.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Thursday September 03 2020, @01:48AM
Man-bun guy has turned me off it: is he supposed to make it look cool? Gay? Assholish?
me confused...
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Thursday September 03 2020, @02:48AM (2 children)
To me it looks like half a car....
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by arslan on Thursday September 03 2020, @09:02AM (1 child)
Yea, its just a 3 wheeled electric scooter with hood & windows, kinda like the tuk-tuk taxis on the street of Bangkok.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Thursday September 03 2020, @10:27AM
Ah, I think I know what you mean (despite having never been to Bangkok, not even for one night :)
I know someone who has a whole four-wheeled car that's no bigger than this. Don't recall the make, tho.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2020, @03:53AM
You are in luck my friend! It is 2020, you no longer have to wait for women to opinionate on such trivalities, we now have soyboys! Men can do all jobs better, even being women.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 02 2020, @11:41AM
Here's another take on the small three-wheeler, by a good friend in CA (he passed about 5 years ago). He initially planned on making the Sylph electric but it was too early (design first developed c.1980) for good batteries/controllers/motors, so his prototype has a Honda Goldwing powerplant. Along the way, he built a 1/6 scale model which set the low Cd record for land vehicles in the CalTech Galcit wind tunnel, at Cd=0.10
Initially meant to be in limited production, he eventually decided that it would be better for his mental health to call it a work of art, rolling sculpture. It seats two in staggered-tandem (with room for a child behind the driver's seat). In the back, over the motor is a flat floor long enough to stretch out.
https://web.archive.org/web/20200902112431/http://aquaflector.com/ev/sylph.jpg [archive.org]
http://web.archive.org/web/20040618062525/www.plugitin.co.uk/images/gallerypics/sylph.jpg [archive.org]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 02 2020, @08:51AM (10 children)
For the same price you could get a Mazda 2 / Toyota Yaris (same thing) which is a real car that holds four people and is plenty compact enough for the city. Not electric, but not made in China either. Even the "Smart car" is more practical than this, and it was still too small.
This reminds me of the old Pulse motorcycle: https://www.autocycles.org/specs.html [autocycles.org]
(Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Wednesday September 02 2020, @10:03AM (3 children)
I had a Smart, It was not too small, other than that I was pushed of the road by some construction workers in a Nissan Navarra.
Small cars are not a new idea in Europe.
My parents had a Heinkel 125 (which is not a WW2 fighter jet), and our neigbours had an Isetta (car, not scooter). A schoolmate had a Messerschmitt - which had a tendency to attempt flying back to Germany if you went round corners too fast - probably pining for the Autobahns.
(You may or may not want to visit Google Images, depending on the value you put on your privacy).
The Solo's designers could have learned a lot by studying these vehicles before starting work.
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2020, @03:55AM (2 children)
Small cars are a necessaity, nothing desirable about them. Just like homes, if you buy it for the size you need at the time, it is usually too small the day after you buy it. But I'm sure you can tell me how you can fit yourself, your spouse, two kids, a niece, and in-laws in your Smart car.
(Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Thursday September 03 2020, @03:04PM (1 child)
But I'm sure you can tell me how you can fit yourself, your spouse, two kids, a niece, and in-laws in your Smart car.
As an environmentally friendly family, we had two cars, the other being a Nissan X-trail.
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Friday September 04 2020, @02:19PM
I bought the X-Trail for £3,000 with a faulty turbo, and replaced the turbo myself for £333. Took about two hours
most of which was spent cleaning the EGR.
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 02 2020, @01:28PM (2 children)
Around here buying a Toyota ought to be grounds for losing your driver's license. In fact, just the intention ought to be enough. Toyota drivers are horrible horrible drivers. If we're serious about getting to zero traffic fatalities, part of the solution needs to be taking Toyotas, or worse Lexus, drivers off the road permanently.
(Score: 3, Informative) by ChrisMaple on Thursday September 03 2020, @05:03AM (1 child)
You misspelled BMW.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Thursday September 03 2020, @10:32AM
I spell that "Dodge".
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by slinches on Wednesday September 02 2020, @06:19PM (1 child)
There was another company trying to make an affordable 3-wheel commuter/fleet car that seats 2 in tandem, Elio Motors. The idea is great, take a normal ICE coupe, cut the car in half long ways to reduce drag, minimize cost and still have a usable amount of passenger space for two. At $7500 and ~60mpg it would actually pay for itself in the gas savings compared to driving a larger vehicle. So people who would normally have to choose between a commuter car or an SUV/truck could get the SUV/Truck and an Elio and it would actually cost less overall while getting the utility of both vehicles.
Unfortunately, the start up costs were too high to jump straight into the scale needed to hit those cost targets and the market wouldn't support such a vehicle at $10k plus since that would put it too close in price with traditional compact cars.
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Wednesday September 02 2020, @07:19PM
I saw the orange Elio demo car and I wanted one. The prototypes were really nice. I feel like they might have oversold the production-readiness of these vehicles though; IIRC the demo I saw was powered by the engine out of a Geo metro.
(Score: 2) by ChrisMaple on Thursday September 03 2020, @05:10AM
The Solo is not worth a Napoleon.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Rich on Wednesday September 02 2020, @10:17AM (5 children)
My late 1st gen Smart car is approaching an age for replacement, and I'm in the market for a car with pretty much the performance envelope of that in TFA. However, this one is a fail. Not so much because of the design, which must be the worst front/rear imbalance since the Nelson-class battleships, but because of its overall measurements and capacity.
I went to their site, and it's 302 cm long, which is a total no-go. Hard limit here is 250 cm, which allows sideways parking, which is THE most important requirement for any city car (even the 2nd and 3rd gen Smarts fail that). Also, despite being longer than any of the Smarts, its capacity is a joke.
If there's really no alternative I might trade the 250cm requirement for something ultra-efficient that looks like the VW (X)L1, for tree-hugging cred, but that would need to have the tandem passenger layout.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday September 02 2020, @10:29AM
2nd gen VW eUP - 360cm, 200+km range
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday September 02 2020, @01:29PM (1 child)
I seem to recall that sideways parking is illegal for cars in many cities, no matter how well they fit. Though I suppose as a three-wheeler this might be legally classified as a motorcycle and fall under more permissive regulations.
(Score: 2) by Rich on Wednesday September 02 2020, @03:50PM
Many people seem to recall that (and indeed, to my knowledge, the German law isn't really clear on this). But it definitely is tolerated around where I live.
I can gladly report that, in nearly 20 years of driving 1st gen Smarts, and saving probably over a thousand hours of searching for parking spaces, I've got the odd ticket for proper parking or speeding violations - but not a single one for parking sideways.
Just been checking the smart website. It looks like they've completed the all-electric switchover, the 269cm 3rd-gen EQ starts at 22k€, minus about 4k€ eco-subsidy. Ugly, but bearable if my one was a write-off (otherwise i'd rather have it rebuilt if it breaks). Smart are moving the production to China now, so there's hope that we see a few from a moonshine run of the production line at eBay prices ;): "Snort car, 15kWh, 10k€ ... ;)"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 02 2020, @01:31PM (1 child)
You should drive it before saying that. Putting the single wheel in the back is a much better idea than putting it in the front for stability reasons. I'd be curious to hear from people that actually drive them once they're actually being delivered for reviews, but I've got a trike license and that arrangement of wheels is surprisingly stable.
Plus, you can do wicked burnouts and drift them like a mo fo. For the likely use case, I don't see this as being a problem. You're not supposed to be going on road trips in something like this, it's for short trips to the grocery store and around town. Preferably with a charging station on either end.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2020, @03:44AM
You sound like a good customer for a Polaris Slingshot, have you tried one yet?
I drove an early one on their small test track (friend worked there), it was a blast!
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Wednesday September 02 2020, @12:15PM
"Tiny, ugly and quirky" was what how someone (I think on SN) said wa axiomatic for EVs during their early days, but here we go again.
Someone mentioned the Reliant Robin but backwards, In fact earlier 3-wheelers (1920-30) had the two wheels at the front, much more sensible. Brake and swerve in a Robin and you are done for. In case anyone hasn't seen it :-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAzK3B2Z9P4 [youtube.com]
The only serious reason ever to own a 3-wheeler in the UK was that for some bonkers reason they were classed as motorbikes and therefore had lower road tax, and you could drive one on a motorbike licence (which at one time at least kids tended to get before they got a car driving licence). Otherwise they are pointless. They don't save space because the max width is still controlled by the two-wheeled front end.
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Wednesday September 02 2020, @02:52PM (2 children)
Emphasis added,
More than you'll need on average, sure. More than you'll usually need, okay. But promoting a limited range vehicle as having more than you'll ever need is just silly. That's not its niche; that's not what it's good at.
It has great range and speed for commuting, allows for emission-free commuting which is especially good for a smoggy city, and is parkably tiny. Why try to add on to that by saying
640K100 miles/80mph is more than anyone will ever need?(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 02 2020, @03:26PM
Keep in mind that with a top speed of only 80mph and the physical size of the car, that probably is more than you'll ever need. A larger car with a higher top speed is the sort of vehicle that would benefit from more range. This one is really not going to be pleasant on the freeway or on road trips unless you're going the back road route. And even there, you'd not want to do that due to charging stations being rare there. The range bit might address that a bit, but even with better range, it would still be an issue.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2020, @03:50AM
> emission-free commuting which is especially good for a smoggy city
You need to keep up with the tech. On particularly smoggy days, the latest round of low emission vehicles can have exhaust that is cleaner than the air. This is relative to regulated emissions, HC, CO, NOx, etc. In other words these vehicles have negative emissions relative to ambient.
Of course they still make CO2, but if your e-car charges from a coal or nat gas power plant it does also.
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Wednesday September 02 2020, @03:00PM (3 children)
It's cute, but I have difficulty seeing how it will be competitive in today's electric car market. Back when the only production electric cars were golf carts then it would have had a shot, but they are a decade too late for that.
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Wednesday September 02 2020, @06:27PM (2 children)
This. A thousand times this. When Musk put batteries in a Lotus body, the era of the dumpy, dorky EV was over.
Musk wasn't the first to do it though, he just made people wake up because he had the $$$. I remember reading on USENET, yes, that long ago... back in the 90s on the EV forums. There was dude who put batteries in a Corvette. He got Tesla-like acceleration. Tooling around town, throwing his passengers in to their seats with mighty acceleration. Freaking out pedestrians with the 'vette that moved like a 'vette but made no sound... for 20 miles. That was all he could get with his setup, which might have actually been deep cycle lead-acid. The world had to wait for better batteries. I don't know what became of the Ovonics patent, but I hope Telsa didn't give them a red cent. We could have had decent electric vehicles 10 years earlier, easily.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Wednesday September 02 2020, @07:15PM (1 child)
Clarifying point: I still think there is room for a dumpy dorky EV if it's cheap enough. As an example, the Elio got a bunch of buzz and was a (ICE) car I wanted to buy at 7k. If they wanted to charge $20k for it then no way.
(Score: 1) by istartedi on Thursday September 03 2020, @03:14AM
Good point. Dumpy, dorky and overpriced is over.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 2) by tizan on Wednesday September 02 2020, @03:01PM
Reminded me of the Reliant Robin
https://youtu.be/QQh56geU0X8 [youtu.be]
(Score: 5, Interesting) by PhilSalkie on Wednesday September 02 2020, @03:04PM (2 children)
Pre-ordered a Corbin Sparrow [wikipedia.org] in 1998, received the 38th unit made (Lime Green, "Jellybean" style) in March of 2000.
At that time, it was about the same price as a really nice Harley (around $13K US), for a hand-built three-wheeler which qualified as a motorcycle, but in most states didn't require a motorcycle license or helmet use.
The community that grew up around the vehicle dove deep into the science of battery management, charging, and motor control - several small companies were started by hobbyists making add-on hardware for the Sparrow and other EVs.
The company eventually went under, sold the design and parts to Meyers Motors, they sold it off to someone else. (The wikipedia article's a bit out of date, it seems.) Mike Corbin, the original manufacturer, is trying again with the Sparrow 2 - some more history here: https://www.makesthatdidntmakeit.com/corbin-sparrow [makesthatdidntmakeit.com]
The launch of the Sparrow inspired a number of companies to look at designing and producing three-wheeled enclosed motorcycles - Electra Meccanica, Aptera, and several others all floated prototypes over the years.
Mine's still on the road, I've swapped out a lot of parts over the years, added a Lithium battery pack from Enerdel and a more capable charger, and it's still a total head-turner - no regrets. We call it our "Tesla Egg", because it's the thing from which the modern EV movement hatched. I'm still amazed at how many people ask me where they can buy one (often for their high school student, or college-age kid).
At this point in time, though, the necessarily high pricing of a small-batch vehicle like this makes it cost about the same as a used Nissan Leaf, which I suspect would be a much better deal. If one of the big motorcycle manufacturers were to bring out a high-volume vehicle with similar specs, they could probably sell it below $10K US, which I suspect would generate a lot more interest.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday September 02 2020, @09:11PM (1 child)
I was in California near Hollister when the Sparrow was being produced, and I stopped in to give it a test drive. Their plant was located on the end of a circle. Their driveway opened on the circle at nearly a tangent, so the gutter was at an angle. I had visions of one front wheel being propelled up out of the gutter just as the other front wheel was dipping into it, causing the car to roll over. They were a little jittery about a test drive, mentioning that someone else had already crashed one of their Sparrows earlier in the day. Um. I didn't ask for any details about the crash, but it certainly wasn't the kind of thing to inspire confidence.
And that's all the further I went. A community, huh? There aren't that many Sparrows in existence. About a thousand of them in all, isn't that right?
(Score: 2) by PhilSalkie on Thursday September 03 2020, @07:21AM
Wow, that's neat! I've never actually seen any other but ours. Production between Corbin and Myers was more like 400 or so all told, I believe - but the online group's still attracting members 20 years later. They show up on ebay fairly regularly, and there's enough folks with knowledge to help keep them running.
As for crashing - they're not super tippy, the batteries are heavy and low - but they can fairly easily spin if the rear wheel loses traction when cornering on wet pavement or wet leaves. Once it spins, then going over sideways is much easier. (Mine's now 400 lbs lighter since the lead->lithium swap, but it's still not a top-heavy feeling while driving.)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by richtopia on Wednesday September 02 2020, @03:24PM (1 child)
If you are going to make an enclosed motorcycle, do it right: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK4wzBYmTIo [youtube.com]
If there were an electric version of the Carver I would be all over it. Actually, as I research this post they seem to have started making them in 2019... probably not available in the USA but I now have something to aspire for.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 02 2020, @03:33PM
TBH, that looks amazing. Now, if you could remove the wind shield on nice days, it would probably sell a ton to motorcyclists that are losing their ability to balance.