The three-wheel EV models get around
NHTSA safety rules and the 25-mph speed
limit through classification as a motorcycle.
There are two basic layouts: traditional tricycle (one steering wheel in front, two driven
wheels in back), and tadpole (two steering
wheels in front, one driven wheel in back).
The tadpole is more stable in braking and
high-speed cornering.
ZAP’s Chinese-built Xebra tricycle line
appears to be the top seller among three-wheel
EVs because they outperform NEVs at a competitive $11,700 base price. The company offers
a funky four-door sedan and a two-door truck.
Interiors are sparse, and both vehicles cry out
for custom upgrades. The vehicles’ claimed
top speed is 40 mph, with a range of 25 miles
on lead-acid batteries. The lithium-ion battery
options can extend the range to 75 miles or
more but are expensive. zapworld.com
Several companies are developing fully
highway-capable tadpole EVs. The Aptera 2e
that graced the cover of the June 2009 edition
of SOLAR TODAY is one of the sexiest of the
prototypes, and ZAP’s Alias will be a high-speed $35,000 sports machine with suspension
by lotus. aptera.com
This brings us to highway-capable four-wheel vehicles you can buy today (or at least
get on the waiting list to buy). The Tango (see
photo, right) and Tesla are both low-produc-tion high-performance sports cars, made largely by hand and, therefore, expensive — both
are more than $100,000 each.
The lotus-designed Tesla Roadster is a
more traditional-looking high-performance,
two-seater available in both hard- and soft-top configurations. Performance is similar to
the Tango, and the range, with 992 pounds of
lithium-ion batteries, is 220 miles. The lotus
bodies are made in the United Kingdom with
final assembly in Menlo Park, Calif. Tesla is
taking orders for a four-door Model S sedan
planned for delivery in 2012, with a price tag
of about $50,000. teslamotors.com
As with a lot of new marketplace innovations, electric vehicles suffer from a lack
Wisconsin-based Columbia ParCar makes industrial vehicles and golf carts. It now makes several
models of street-legal nEvs that look like golf carts or recreational vehicles. parcar.com
the tango t600 from Commuter Cars in yakima, Wash., is a narrow mini-car with tandem seat-
ing designed to park four to a standard parking space. the tango uses a light, rigid carbon-
fiber body; the chassis and battery box are stainless steel. that keeps center of gravity low and
helped the car to score a five-star nHtsa static rollover resistance rating. With two advanced
direct current (DC) motors, the car does 0 to 60 mph in four seconds. range is said to be 40 to
200 miles, depending on your choice of batteries. commutercars.com
of mass production. Early adopters can
expect to pay high prices or be satisfied with
limited speed, range and capability. That
should change soon: Nissan-Renault,
Daimler-SmartCar and China’s BYD plan to
introduce production EVs in their home
markets for the 2010 model year. Mitsubishi
has already begun production of an EV for
sale in Japan. GS
jeff casalina is a long time proponent of renew-
able energy. he holds a master’s degree in envi-
ronmental science and policy from the University
of wisconsin-green Bay.
