There Are Several New Three-Wheeled Electric Vehicles on the Market, But They Come at a Cost
In our ongoing effort to keep 2GreenEnergy readers informed on developments in the electric vehicle space, here’s a new entrant from a company called Sondors.
The essence of the trike form is that it circumvents NHTSA (National Highways Traffic Safety Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation) testing and standards; in the U.S., three-wheeled vehicles are treated as motorcycles. The downside for the owner is the new driver’s license, helmet laws, and, of course, the safety factors that NHTSA would have required, of which there is a very long and important list.
Electric cars are very convenient. And electric cars are becoming more and more common. Compared with the car, its price is cheaper, but it is also relatively light, it has become the first choice for many people. I like riding an electric car.
Craig,
Good for you June! I’m always happy to hear from someone who likes EV’s 🙂
I don’t want to dampen you enthusiasm, but EV’s are not really lighter than normal cars. Real EV’s are still cars, and come equipped with all the same features as a normal car.
The only difference is instead of a heavy engine and fuel system EV’s are power by a heavy battery pack.
Sonder’s, Elio etc, are kinda silly. These little oddities have been around for many years. (I’ve several versions in my collection). Each is an exercise in futility and the designers vanity.
To compete in Modern traffic, cars need to be very safe. With safety comes weight. Battery technology is very expensive, and even more expensive when engineered to operate safely in a moving with that mush stored energy.
That’s why Nissan’s Leaf, BMW i3, GM Bolt and Tesla 50% more expensive than an equivalent ICE model.
These oddball little vehicles used to crop up each time the world went through an oil crisis, but with oil prices at historic lows, and real EV’s on the market, these little curio’s are simply anachronisms.