THREE-WHEELED ELECTRA MECCANICA EV TO GO SOLO
Vancouver-based company to debut single-seater this summer
And the beauty is that whenever we make upgrades, the new battery packs will be designed to just swap out the old ones.
Jerry Kroll doesn’t need to look hard for inspiration.
Nor for a road map in rolling out Electra Meccanica, the Vancouver-based electric vehicle company of which he serves as president and CEO.
“We’re looking at all facets of what Tesla has been doing, including marketing, because it works,” Kroll said during an interview conducted in the openconcept, second-floor boardroom of the company’s False Creek headquarters.
In that spirit, the four initial Electra Meccanica retail stores — in Vancouver, Toronto, Seattle and Manhattan — will take a page from the Tesla playbook.
Said Kroll: “Each store will have a chassis on display so you can see the guts, just like Tesla does everywhere but Vancouver.”
What those stores will be selling, if Kroll’s ambitious master plan is realized, is the Solo, a fresh-sheet design of a threewheeled, single-seat electric vehicle.
Last summer I reported on the test bed vehicle Electra Meccanica was using for the Solo, the Corbin-designed Sparrow (see that story at driving.ca/auto- news/news/beetle-of-the-21stcentury). That silver Sparrow now has more than 12,000 kilometres driving Metro Vancouver streets. From data gleaned from those many clicks, a team of Electra Meccanica designers and engineers has created a rolling chassis for the Solo, which boasts a much more attractive design and a lower centre of gravity than the Sparrow. Made of composite materials, that chassis weighs just 38.5 pounds.
“In steel it would be 300 pounds; in aluminum it would be 200 pounds,” Kroll noted, adding that the final curb weight of the Solo, including all the carbon fibre composite body panels, will be 960 pounds.
As to the all-important battery pack, the company’s engineering team is working on upgrades to improve range, which currently stands around 160 kilometres on a full charge.
“And the beauty is that whenever we make upgrades, the new battery packs will be designed to just swap out the old ones.”
That lightweight construction coupled with the current 8.64 kW/h lithium ion batteries will spirit the Solo from zero to 100 km/h in the eight-second range, and provide a top speed of 120 km/h. The plan is for Kroll’s partner, Henry Reisner of Intermeccanica fame, to produce the first 120 Solos, at an initial rate of 10 a month, in his New Westminster shop.
Forty-two of those first 120 — dubbed the “Alpha Series” — are spoken for, with Electra Meccanica offering the remainder on a waiting list system. For $250, which Kroll said is totally refundable, you’re in line for a $19,888 Solo, with a choice of four colours: white, red, silver or black. Once all 120 are spoken for, the company president said production will ramp up at the New West facility.
The first four completed Solos — one in each colour — will be street-ready by the end of June, and Kroll is putting in place plans for a Tesla-like unveiling, with his preferred locations at the moment either Science World or the Westin Bayshore.
“And we plan to do an exact replication — without Elon Musk of course — of the (Tesla) Model 3 introduction,” he explained, adding that he’s working on getting Bill Nye the Science Guy and possibly Jimmy Pattison up on stage during the unveiling.
Where things really get interesting is what comes after the Alpha Series.
Kroll recently returned from China, where he was scouting factories in anticipation of highvolume production.
“We’ve got several potential big corporate purchasers of the car,” he said, hinting that one in California has a possible order of up to 5,000 Solos.
He said while all the manufacturing of the Solo parts will take place in either China or India, the assembly process will take place at a facility in British Columbia.
The company has plans for other models, including a Solo Cargo version, a Solo Twin (with a jump seat behind the driver), and a Solo Super model.
Kroll said he’s already taken a deposit on the first of the latter, prompted by no more than an artist’s rendering of the performance model.
On that note, Kroll, himself a former competitive race car driver, has plans to campaign a couple of Solos.
“I’m hoping that by the end of this year, (Surrey resident and Indy Lights driver) Scott Hargrove and I will be on a track in an SCCA regional race with two of our Solos, which will be decked out for racing,” he said.
“So we can be at least Miata-proficient on a track for a 30- to 40-minute session.”
In addition to great PR, Kroll said the R&D gained during those track sessions will be invaluable in designing and engineering new models, particularly the Solo Super.
Electra Meccanica is hosting a live simulcast party of the Shanghai Grand Prix F1 race this Saturday night at its False Creek showroom. Doors will open at 10:30 p.m., and a “Chinese-themed” dinner will be served.
Said Kroll: “If you’re an EV owner, a Formula One fan or are just curious about either, we’re inviting you to stop by, watch the race and network with other car enthusiasts.”
More details at electrameccanica.com