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).
- » See also: Is the Renault-Nissan Alliance Going in Two Different Electric Car Directions?
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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’ve recently had the privilege to work on and drive some Ford Model T’s. These cars are rickety crap compared to modern vehicles, and in some cases were inferior to horse drawn vehicles (or ridden horses) …but, soon became, in their time, for a long time, e the cat’s meow. We are now dealing with the Model T’s of electric cars. How exciting to be part of an era that is just beginning. In fifty years folks will be amazed that we were driving filthy, wasteful gasoline powered vehicles. And many of you will be able to remember the transition. I won’t live to see it, but just to be in at the start of a serious commitment to a new way of life is just awesome.
Where can I buy one???
Would you guys buy a car from a sleazy lawyer who F’s People over every day for a living. thats like buying fresh produce from the garbage man!!
Ever wonder why you cant find any Dealerships for this contraption?
I’ll tell you, Because its not even being made on an large scale or even an official scale at all…
My opinon of hybrids is that they are just a way to keep sing gasoline longer. The tech to recharge Lithium-ion batteries in motion is already in use on high end golf carts and some conversion cars to total electric from gas. So it doesn’t make sense to continue sing gas/ele hybrids. the total electric can recharge in moting and regen braking recharges during de celerate and stopping to give an extended milage range equal to or better than gas only vehicles. This tech is not all that new and has been around for years. Guess why it has not been widely used before. Petroluem cartels” ! A total electric Ford Ranger Pickup can be bought for approx $22,000 new with 20 yr warrenty on the lith-ion batt and reg manufactor warrenty on the rest of the new Ranger truck Just one example of what is already available. ck snoops for verifaction.
Ford Mtr Co built a small number of these all electric trucks and then recalled them. Now they are a few still out there and in great demand. some new ranger trucks are being converted to all electric with 100 hp motors and mag drive transmission, with vibra shock re charging capabilities, Hope the petro cartels don’t buy them off or kill the builders. also another old tech,is making headway, that is magnetic drive motors that run without a battery to recharge. Try snoops re Budipest factories using them to run big factory machines. So get congress and the petro cartels out of the way and let the free market correct the problem that big oil dependancey has enslaved us to.(Including foreign oil)In the short term lift the drill ban and let our own reserves help reduce the price for gas now.
respectfully, Aubrey Stanton, Texas
I’m sure that auto companies can make an e-car that is more aesthetic, although I personally like the look of these cars. It’s too bad that uncle Sam doesn’t cut a break for buyers of these cars anymore. Perhaps if the government used just 25% of the money we pump into the middle east for buyers, we would see electric cars explode in popularity! If the US government gave financial incentives to auto makers, maybe they could come up with VERY affordable e-cars. I’m sure that there would be alot less loss of life!
Can anyone drive by the dealership to see if this guy is real, maybe post a picture and get back to me.
Mar
I think this car will be fine when we compare with the current gas prices as such…..Though only two people can travel in this car….personally i feel okay with this car…….When i went through the comments…i would like to know whether it comes under car or motorcycles…can anyone explain me? http://www.buyingadvice.com/
yeah… umm… no!
for around the same price you can get a midsize
sedan from goss132. i’m glad there are more options
to people who want an EV, but it’s all about the
money. I can get a car that seats 4 comfortably,
or this?? it’s goss all the way!
This seems to be a pretty hefty price tag for what you get. This will basically take you to and from work. I think you’d be out of luck if you needed to bring anyone with you or (I know this will sound crazy) if you need to get some groceries.
I am in the middle of converting my car to be 100% electric. The total cost will end up right around $7,000 and it will certainly be a much more functional vehicle than this is at $20,000. You can see my project at http://www.zerogasoline.com