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Affordable, freeway-ready, long distance electric vehicle is finally available

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Affordable, freeway-ready, long distance electric vehicle is finally available
http://www.greenvehicles.com/

We no longer need to wait for a %100 Electric Vehicle that can really replace our current cars: The TRIAC EV from Green Vehicles is here.
-- costs only $20K
-- a full charge is only 6 hours
-- approved for interstate highways
-- top speed of 80mph
-- distances of up to 100 miles
-- cost of electricity = 2 cents per mile

Here is a great article from Gas 2.0 (www.gas2.org)
Written by Clayton B. Cornell
Published May 27, 2008

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).

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.
flamegarden

57 responses // Affordable, freeway-ready, long distance electric vehicle is finally available

  • Very interesting. It's cheaper than most EV's. Now crash test it to see how safe it is.
    MrBigShot21
  • Yes, I know, I was thinking the same thing.

    The article and the website say it has a structural steel cage like that of a racecar. The other safety features listed on the website are: "mass centralized stability design," hydraulic disc brakes, 3-pt safety belts with pretensioners, and a frontal impactredirection system.

    Though it does not say whether there have been crash tests or not, the site is not dense with info.
    The car is legal for US streets, and they are taking $ to reserve cars arriving in late this month or in August...so I imagine there is data out there.

    It is 3-wheeled like the Sparrow (but without the huge price tag).

    Sorry about the self-reflexive link -- I don't know what happened -- but I added the http for green vehicles.

    Check them out.
    flamegarden
  • Needs a bit more work to be practical. It is also kind of ugly.
    Marilynn_Murray
  • There was a documentary called Who Killed The Electric car. Apparently, NOBODY killed it!
    dankitti
  • They killed the good one that actually worked, that you could take a real trip in.
    Marilynn_Murray
  • Perhaps this will bring back the electric car which is way more cost effecient. I am a little concerned about the safety and it is a bit ugly. You can't have it al!
    Bood
  • Am I the only one who thinks these are adorable?
    milkradio
    1 response to this
  • I'm excited for the Mercedes electric car, or the Audi. Until them, I'll be burning up gas.
    ipodrulz
  • Restructuring the grid to localize the energy production source (solar on every other roof with smaller wind/solar/geothermal power plants for each town)and the future of this kind of electric transportation is the way to go. So your right, the old grid is a bad grid for the future. But take the thought a little further into solutions rather than complain about those who push forward new ideas. Green Mafia????
    twodee
  • http://www.greenvehicles.com/
    here is the link to Greenvehicles.com
    twodee
  • Stuff like this will help people transition. Twodee is on to something... What we need to be doing is re-localizing. You shouldn't need to drive more than 6 hours to get anywhere. As a transitory way to get away from oil, electricity is a better solution. Even though more than 1/2 our electricity in the states is from coal-fired plants, its WAY more efficient, so its better to use that while wean ourselves off our unsustainable lifestyles and start building infrastructure for local economies.
    Kati_kat
  • I like the idea. Though we have to remember that if the electricity for the car is generated by burning fossil fuels, this isn't really a win on the ecology front. Aslo, don't lithium-ion batteries really degrade in heat? If you left this thing in the sun while you had it parked, would that decrease your range?
    ultravphunter
  • It's a good concept. The only weakness that this vehicle has is the same weakness that all electrical cars have, battery life. Unfortunately batteries as we make them today are very heavy, and on top of that their ability to hold a charge is pathetic. 100 miles on a 6 hour charge? That means I need to wait 6 hours to travel for just under 2 hours on the freeway.

    This is decent but so far the best alternative to gasoline that I've seen is the hydrogen fuel cell.
    Varex_Sythe
    2 responses to this
  • But the real question is will it be able to transfer over to American drivers? It does help the ecosystem and so much more, but its really different and most of Americas population is not ready for change. lets see what happen s.
    currentkid
  • $20K still isn't that affordable for something that can't carry a family. I can not believe that these cost that much more to produce than the pollution machines we have now. Is it worth it to safe the environment? Yes. But until you can get a "family" car for that price the general public won't accept it.
    rblake42
    1 response to this
  • People find it very easy to complain or point out what is wrong with battery technology and our current electric grid running on fossil fuels. a valuable concern on both accounts and in both cases the issues are being improved and developed. Both are very fixable problems that should not get in the way of forward thinking. This involves whole system thinking and not just narrowing in on one small sector of industry. Energy,Economy, Social justice.....Everything we do has something to do with all of these issues and all must be thought about when developing new strategies of being.

    Currently todays cars use 15% of the gas in the tank to actually move the car while the other 85% is wasted due to the inefficiency of the design of the car. In fact car design has become more inefficient over the years as we pile on extra weight to this initially bad design. What drives the design decisions of these cars? The phrase "addicted to oil" comes to mind. But to be clear that phrase should read, "addicted to the money oil makes" The rest of us just help shuffle that money along by pumping gas into our cars.

    Again, I will just re-post what I said above:
    "Restructuring the grid to localize the energy production source (solar on every other roof with smaller wind/solar/geothermal power plants for each town)and the future of this kind of electric transportation is the way to go"
    twodee
  • Hello, I have never understood how electric vehicles are better than gas burning. Coal is still used to fuel them. Is it just the dependence on oil that makes it better?
    Thanks
    RawLife
    1 response to this
  • i want this car!
    furryjenn
  • slow and ugly. get hit by a truck and your dead. no thanks.
    diode
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzBLePJrccw
    check out the youtube promotional videos for these cars. I think it's pretty cool, as long as you dont have to transport a drum set anywhere.
    stephenthomson
  • Very nice, the car is no longer the point.
    Making Electric Cars is like adding Ethanol to Gas.
    What makes you think that once there are 2-3 million electric cars, Electricity won't climb to the roof!?
    1. Give us a 5 Cent per Mile Electric car.
    2. Create a lot more electricity sources to be on top of demand. (Yes, before already having the 3 Million cars)
    Yes, make that car solar recharge as well.
    3. Yes, give 400Million $ to the idiot that makes the best Battery in the world, ever.
    petarro
    2 responses to this
  • I voted this one Up, but it makes no sense if the Government does not Commit to make more solar panels, wind electricity or even Nuclear plants. Most of al, a decent President and Government that don't want to make a Crisis just to explode the price of Electricity.
    petarro
  • I'm for anything that will help diminish pollution, and of course not add to the problems connected to fossil fuel emissions. So, Viva Le Electric Car!
    PaperTigerTrax
  • Now I've heard it all, LMAO! Electric cars won't work because we will short circuit the country. I'm going to add that one to my list of "Dumbest words ever uttered." Thanks, I needed that. I think I bruised a rib on that one.
    menmykoko
  • while the car does not have dangerous emmisions, it really can't be the way of the future, but, it is a promising step.
    octopi222
  • I want an electric car but one that looks more like the Tesla or the EV1.

    If we all had SOLAR we would not put any strain on the system.
    shroomfairy
  • I like the idea and I thing we have come a long way to this but I think this particularly vehicle is overprice for 3 wheels!
    NOTOTHEWALL
  • and humanity says... Eureka
    omarefe
  • At current prices of $4/gal fuel and 2¢/mi electricity The car will pay for it's self in 10 years. if trends continue it will be less.

    Unless you take into account all of the hidden costs of gasoline that brings the cost to $10/gal then it comes to 3 1/4 years.

    All of the above assumes that you're current car gets 30 mpg and you drive an average of 50 mi per day.

    Gas prices will only increase and electricity can be made with almost anything. Electrical storage and transmission devices are improving rapidly to catch up with demand. All in all I would say electricity is the way to go.
    electricsquiral
  • top speed: 80mph*


    *down a hill with a slope of 60 degrees or more
    mrpibb19
  • It appears that the only crash tests performed so far by the IIHS are on the Smart for Two car

    http://www.iihs.org/ratings/summary.aspx?class=120

    Hopefully they will test this one . . . .
    pattik
  • WANT.
    rct1113
  • Why do they make all these electric cars look so different from gasoline powered cars? I like the way cars are designed today. Why can't they make an electric version of a BMW M3? Don't you think more people would buy them?
    KaT_Trina
  • if i had millions i would flood the world with them

    result : non tax able cars

    econamy collapse
    pos_nir
    1 response to this
  • sounds cool but im not tryna drive around in that little thing on american highways full of lifted ford explorers and other massive trucks that will run over me...
    currentlyme
    1 response to this
  • I love GreenVehicles.com... I am trying to get some investors here locally to buy up some inventory to start a dealership, and try to talk local leaders into pushing for an electric car manufacturing plant here. I live in the Rio Grande Valley, in South Texas. It is an ideal place to push alternative energy and vehicles, since we live right along the border with Mexico (just 25 minutes away).

    I also love Tesla's models (although pricey), and the Volt looks cool. Zap! is another cool car company!

    http://www.zapworld.com/electric-vehicles?_kk=zap%20car...
    Mafioso
  • The economy wouldn't collapse, it would become a bunch of smaller economies, due to the fact that regions of America could make their own money and turn a profit using the resources their states offer them.

    So there wouldn't be a "national economy" as much as a bunch of local economies working together to make sure everyone in the country were being taken care of. It would make wealth be equally distributed and rich people around the world can't allow that! Then they would be like the common folk.

    Corporate greed sucks, as does individual preservation at the cost of others despair and unfair treatment.
    Mafioso
  • That's pretty cool. It's definitely a start. Too bad the world wasn't ready for the original electric cars when they first came out, but this global warming frenzy could finally give a new start at taking away power from so many oil companies. Too bad it's not solar though, we still use natural resources with DC electricity.
    Myna
  • The electric grid we have now is capable of charging 20 million electric cars over night when demand is low without building a single new power plant. In addition, this is just one more way to make Photovoltaic panels pay for themselves more rapidly. Solutions are available now - stop complaining and finding reasons this stuff won't work and start changing the way you live.
    philbangs