Electra Meccanica took the wraps off its 2017 Solo battery-electric commuter car at the Luxury and Supercar Weekend event held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
As its name implies, the Solo has a single seat for the driver, with space in the rear about the size of a Costco-size shopping cart. The three-wheeler, with a 100-mile (160-km) driving range, isn’t intended to replace the family car.
Solo’s design took into consideration that approximately 80 percent of people commute to and from work alone in their personal vehicle. Plus, with the average daily round trip commute being less than 40 miles (60 km), it likely won’t require a charge between home and office.
Headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., Electra Meccanica is the electric division of the automaker InterMeccanica, which is best known for its reproduction Porsche Roadsters.
CEO Jerry Kroll, an experienced race car driver who has run a high-tech electric race car development company, teamed up with Henry Reisner, whose family’s business, InterMeccanica, has been building custom vehicles and automobile parts since 1959.
“We believe the Solo will become the commuter vehicle of choice for the masses,” Reisner, said. “The vehicle is nonpolluting, very economical to operate and people will have a heck of a good time driving it too.”
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A 16.1-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery provides electricity for the AC synchronous electric motor that powers the single rear wheel. The motor produces 82 horsepower and 149 pound-feet of torque. That’s good for a zero-to-60-mph sprint of under eight seconds, and a top speed of 80 mph (130 km/h) — enough to mingle with commuter traffic on highways and freeways.
At 10 feet in length, a little longer than the Smart ForTwo and a little shorter than a Fiat 500, the Solo can slip into parking spaces marked for motorcycles.
Battery charge time is three hours using 240-volts, double for 120-volts.
The Solo retails at $19,888 in Canada, which is approximately $15,500 in U.S. dollars using today’s currency conversion rate. While the same money will buy a five-passenger subcompact car, features like an audio system with Bluetooth and USB, power windows, along with an available backup camera should keep commuters content.
Electra Meccanica offers a bumper-to-bumper warranty package for two years of unlimited mileage and an eight-year battery warranty.
This article originally appeared on HybridCars.com
