LOS ANGELES – The C5 Corvette, the fifth generation of America’s iconic sports car, surprisingly was part of the inspiration for the new three-wheel Solo electric vehicle.
The EV Report recently caught up with Kevin Pavlov, Chief Executive Officer and Director of ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corp. (NASDAQ: SOLO), which began selling the small, one-person vehicle classified as an auto-cycle/electric motorcycle, last October in five Western states.
While discussing how the Solo, was much different than the three-wheel, fully enclosed vehicles from the past, Pavlov talked about how the look of the vehicle followed a more conventional path than predecessors and how the interior was up to modern standards with an unusual influencer.
“We modeled the interior space after a very popular Chevrolet vehicle – Corvette, actually. All the spacings we have, elbow to elbow, body length, are just like a C5. . . It’s not a C5 Corvette, don’t get me wrong. . .
“As a cockpit goes, we made it feel very comfortable”
The Solo is a fully enclosed, three-wheel EV capable of 80 miles per hour on the highway; 100 miles of operating range and, with a Level 2 charger, a charging time of less than two hours for a full charge.
Pavlov said the market has been very receptive to the $18,500 vehicle, both individuals who want a more efficient means of getting around (he explained 80 percent of workers commuted alone) and commercial interests including restaurants for food delivery.
“The Solo is based upon everything you do alone,” he said. “Drive to work; drive to get groceries, go to the gym; security drive on campuses; food deliveries; wherever you have a singular function, we’ve made a perfect-built vehicle wherever that is a really optimal green answer. We started with an EV than we optimized it further by taking the compartment, the space the occupant is in, and optimizing that for space, size weight so that we get the ultimate in efficiency out of the vehicle.”
It may be categorized as an electric motorcycle, but Pavlov pointed out it has the kind of features expected in an automobile like heated seats, backup camera, audio system with satellite radio, and “all the controls are very similar to everyday driving vehicles. . . “
Today production is in China, but the company is constructing a facility in Arizona which, according to Pavlov, should begin producing Solos by the second quarter of this year.
As production increases, he said, they plan to expand further into the U.S. market
