An Electric Car You Can Buy Today: The $20K TRIAC EV
TRIAC Electric Car. Range: 60-100 Miles. Cost: 2 cents per mile
This little number has been getting some good press lately (see EcoGeek and Inhabit), and for good reason: it’s the first commercially available electric vehicle with a price tag and functionality that could meet the needs of the average city driver (assuming you can afford it).
OK, you aren’t going to fit a family of 5 in there, but that’s not what it’s made for. Green Vehicles, manufacturer of the 3-wheeled TRIAC EV, calls it a “modern freeway commuter,” because the zero-emissions vehicle can reach 80 mph and will get you into the carpool lane with a single driver. Safety-wise, it has a structural steel cage the company says is the “same metal skeleton used in race cars” and a low center of gravity to maintain balance (but surprisingly has no airbags).
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Back at home, it takes about 6 hours to charge the car’s lithium-ion batteries at an estimated cost of about 2 cents per mile. Not a bad deal if you can afford the $20,000 price tag. The company website says the TRIAC EV is currently available at dealerships in San Jose and Mill Valley, California, and should be more widely available in the future..
Final thoughts: to me, it looks like they added an extra wheel to a racing bike and built a canopy around it, which makes it a powerful ride but a lot safer (and a lot greener). Generous State/Federal tax credits would put this car within reach for many more drivers, like the $4,000 Federal credit for electric vehicles that ended in 2006.
Want one of these? Check out the Green Vehicles website.
See more pictures below.
More Posts on Electric Cars:
- Affordable Electric Cars Coming to US in 2009
- Nissan to Sell Electric Cars in US by 2010
- Tesla’s First Electric Vehicle, 2008 Roadster, Now Under Production
- Aptera’s $26,000 Electric Car and 300 MPG Hybrid Coming Soon
I’m thankful that the Motorcycle classification is broad enough to allow these INNOVATIVE new(old) vehicle designs to market, despite them not having advanced safety features.
I like the trikes and plan to buy one this year; I know they haven’t passed(or even gone through) crash tests, and I’m willing to take the risk anyway in order to get the benefits; less oil, less war for oil etc.
Bring on the Livingry, out with the killingry, to paraphrase Bucky Fuller.
To be fair to the not-so-big-three, they are held to a higher standard than a “motorcycle” so their costs to market are huge.
There’s nothing stopping them from making a Motorcycle/Trike themselves though. They’ve done concepts, but no resulting product.
As for driving radius…90% of North Americans drive less than 40 miles daily, total.
Ciao tutti,
Antonio
Mr TC Gray is wrong. This “car” adheres to all federal motor vehicle safety regulations for motorcycles and to motor vehicle safety regulations for all states that allow trikes to have seats (rather than saddles)….which is most. While it may not be as safe as some cars with airbags, it is much safer than riding a motorcycle, which lacks any kind of roll cage….and which as far as I know are legal to drive on roads and highways in all states. For the 90% of us who drive less than 40 miles per day this car works. Those who wish to continue pigging up fossil fuel may continue…if they are willing to pay for it….until it runs out in 20-30 years anyway. And by the way Mr. Gray, most people who want to leave the country take an airplane, regardless of what kind of car they drive.
There is a very good aerodynamic reason to only have 3 wheels. My biggest questions would be a) the possible lack of a tax credit for something not (TRULY) a car, and b) if it’s legally a motorcycle, do I have to get a motorcycle license to drive one? What about a helmet?
The EV1 was produced in america by GM from 1996-1999
The price for the car used to compute lease payments was US$33,995 to US$43,995, which made for lease payments of US$299 to over US$574 per month. Since GM did not offer consumers the option to purchase at the end of the lease, the car’s residual value was never established making it impossible to determine the actual full purchase price or replacement value. One industry official said that each EV1 cost the company about US$80,000,[citation needed] including research, development and other associated costs.[25] The vehicle’s lease prices also depended on available state rebates. In 1999, the cost for the electricity used to power the car was computed to be one-third to half the cost of the equivalent amount of gasoline, and since that time, increases in gas prices may have made electricity relatively even less expensive (depending on customer location, recharging time and electricity billing variations — some utility companies have variable billing for peak vs. non-peak usage rates).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1
This is never gonna work. Why do electric car makers insist on making something so flimsy and pathetic. The only thing that’s ‘CAR’ about it, is its CARtoonish appearance. It’s something only Noddy would drive. Available in any good toy shop.
I would buy one like this $20K TRIAV EV
How long would it take charged a battery of an electric if you used a cycle to do it.
Art