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
Why no airbags? It would be pretty stupid to drive on the freeway without them.
I was excited until I saw the lame rear end. Oh, and the pointless third headlight in the middle there.
3 wheels =
• No crash testing (meaning it would never pass any crash worthiness measure)
• No air conditioning (in an enclosed vehicle sold in North America!?)
• No airbags (in a car that size what would be the point)
• No guarantee of stability (not a good wide stance like an Aptera)
So.. it’s a motorcycle without the fun.
Oh but it is an EV so we’ll forgive its shortcomings. All of them.
The comment from Brian a few days ago is interesting: “We have to start some place.”
We did Brian. GM did it a decade ago. Toyota did. Honda did.
Why do we have to put up with these lame 3 wheel plastic go carts???
This a stupid looking car its doesnt look safe in the least. It looks like a bike maybe they should have put a forth wheel and make it into a car. The 2 cents a mile sounds good but thats it.
If this is the best engineering we can expect then I wouldn’t expect anyone to rush to alternative transportation, especially when you consider a $20,000 sticker - For the life of me I cannot understand why every offering I’ve seen carries at least a 50% higher retail than an equivalent gas offering - I know this technology isn’t cheap but these people are shooting themselves in the foot with the styling & price points
they’re offering.
I need a van to haul stuff, and I want to go hydrogen cell or electric. ASAP
Road-rash proof wonder! I want mine in electric metallic orange with three point safety harness and a jet fighter cockpit motif. I can hardly wait to go blasting past gridlock to a half price shared parking space with my buddies. Bravo! more fun commuting than a bag full of Prozac. Commuting could be ballsey with this thing, and maybe an insightful city government would give us lanes of our own to reduce downtown congestion and air pollution. London England has a surcharge on big vehicles downtown, why not a break for the smaller faster non-polluting smart stuff?
No, they can’t replace a gas powered vehicle, but if you just want it to commute to/from work and do short distance errands, it would do the job. I live in the NW and like the fact that it has a canopy, I don’t care if it’s just a “motorcycle with and extra wheel”. Would I get one? Probably not, because I can only afford one vehicle and need one that will haul cargo, so I have a Ford Ranger PU. They have hybrid technology that powers 60ft city buses, why can’t I get a hybrid pu?
This is the best alternative so far I will love to be the spokesperson for this toy.
I like the idea but in Indiana if your driving something clasified as a cycle you must wear a helmet, if your under 18 or a first time rider any age for 3 months and you can’t drive after dark. I wish it would do at least 100 mile on a charge. 50 gives you nothing left on your charge after a 35 mile round trip without risk of going dead. Battery life is decreased if run real low every time causing heat and sulfides problems.
i see a lot of knockdowns here about a rinkydink little car you have to squeeze into but personally i would love to have a 50 mile range buggy for back and forth to work with the cost of fuel nowadays you can laugh all you want . and with the stringent inspection laws i have been getting beaten down with on building my own a 3 wheeler sounds fine to me …. laugh your way past all them bullies with there monster gas sucking buggies when theres no fuel left for them