Meet Solo: 3-Wheel Electric Vehicle That Combines Bike & Car

While electric mobility is garnering popularity everywhere in the world, helped by various governments scrabbling to lower their vehicular emissions, a Canadian Startup Electra Meccanica has come forward with a three-wheeled electric vehicle to get a share of the electric market. The car follows the turmoil the auto sector is going through with the slow transition to EV’s, creating opportunities for many new firms like Electra Meccanica to throw their models in the ring too.

Even as consumers warm up to the  idea of  owning an electric car with governments too doing their bit to promote adoption , three wheeled electrics have found a niche very quickly. Unlike two-wheelers or four-wheeled cars, a very small market except in South and South East Asia actually exists for the three-wheeler segment. The reason, why three-wheelers have yet to become a hot thing in electric mobility in the west, is probably the lack of options, especially with mandatory safety provisions. Concepts of Trikes or three-wheeled electric vehicles have been in limited numbers and that may be the reason, they have yet to take off.

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But small companies like the Canadian startup Electra Meccanica are realizing that this segment could use a little zing. For this their car Solo is up for grabs in US and Canada. As the namesake, Solo is a three-wheeled, single-occupancy EV, priced at a nifty $15,500, is probably the oddest yet the most futuristic vehicle you may have ever come across.

The Electra Meccanica SOLO follows the basic three-wheel format, with a single wheel at the back powered by an electric motor. Solo features an AC Synchronous Electric Motor which is capable of churning out a powerful 82 PS and 173 Nm of torque right from the get-go.

“83% of people commute by themselves,” said Electra Meccanica CEO Jerry Kroll. “This is not a niche set; this is the majority of people, and they’re driving five-person cars. Maybe that was okay in the 60s and 70s, but today when the United Nations comes out and says we’ve got 12 years to turn around the carbon coming out of all these gas cars. This is probably the last chance we have to get this right.”

What makes the SOLO interesting is how much like a car it looks from inside. There’s a comfortable seat, a familiar stereo head unit, climate controls, and a nice digital dashboard. “Air conditioned, heated, power steering, power brakes, satellite radio. All the luxuries of a car in a one-person vehicle,” Kroll insisted.

While we won’t go as far as to compare it with the likes of Tesla or any other auto giant who are launching electric concepts, we do hope there will be options for people who want affordable choices that are electric. Three-wheeled motorcycles like the Polaris Slingshot, the Vanderhall, and the Can-Am Spyder are now showing up in the playfield but they all are pricey.

While on the other hand SOLO is designed for commuters, which could be parked in the nooks and crannies of city spaces and give the comfort of a car. There’s enough space under a hatch behind the driver’s head for a small carry-on bag or a big backpack about 160 liters, but that’s about it. One of the standout features of the car is its short 3-hour charging time that gives the car a modest 160 km range. Electra Meccanica plans to have about 5,000 cars on the streets by December with another 70,000 to be delivered over the next two years. The company, after producing cars in US, has signed a manufacturing agreement with their strategic partner, Zongshen Industrial Group Co., Ltd, to produce mass quantities of the Company’s SOLO all-electric vehicle at their manufacturing factory based in Chongqing, China.