Have you ever seen a tricycle and gone “wow”? Or perhaps given a thumbs-up to the driver for the sweet ride they have. Well you probably have not; after all “tricycles” here mean “basic transportation” with 125cc motorcycles welded onto steel sidecars. Now then - this is your chance to do exactly so and proclaim your approval of a tricycle – specifically with the Aptera Typ-1 electric or hybrid car.

                                              Not your typical tricycle dashboard.
 

Looking like it just rolled off a Jetsons-style retro-futuristic assembly line, the Typ-1 is a tricycle by definition, but looks like a light plane and functions like a small car. This mélange of observations is fitting due to the Typ-1’s unique (some say weird) design, its intended target, and its mission statement of clean transportation. It is designed from the get-go as an electric car, with a hybrid gas-electric also being offered in the future, once production starts ramping up in late 2008.

The looks alone are enough to sway most of the car-buying population, but what actually gets my juices flowing is the potential and immediate savings the Typ-1 presents to buyers. A projected price of $27k to $30k is thousands below that of premium electrics like Tesla’s electric offering(to be fair, they’re offering their product as a premium / enthusiast model), and unlike most other electric vehicles being offered right now, Aptera’s offering actually offers something out of the ordinary, which polarizes the buying population but definitely gets noticed more than the average hybrid Camry, of which thousands that look exactly like it already litter the roads.

A minimum of 120 mpg (miles per gallon) – roughly 51 kilometers per liter and a maximum of up to 250mpg (106km/L) is the calculated mileage (kilometer-age?) of the Typ-1, representing the potential savings in fuel. Given that a regular car priced in the same range may get something like 20 to 30 mpg, the Typ-1 pays for its premium (considering its lower performance numbers and its less-practical 2-seat configuration) very quickly.

It will be registered as a motorcycle, as the manufacturer is actually a motorcycle manufacturer. Safety was a paramount concern during the design process, with special emphasis on roll-over protection and frontal crashes. It might look terribly spindly, but it is after all a tricycle, and it will be much safer than older designs and much, much safer than regular motorcycles. What else can be said of the Typ-1 other than what we can display in the pictures? If you’re anything like me, then these pictures will be more important by far and not how fast it is, or how much luggage it can store, or how long the wheelbase is. No wait, actually it is important, but Aptera hasn’t release any overt details yet, and it probably won’t  matter, as the Typ-1 is being put out in the California market first (not even the other US states will be able to purchase one – yet). But if this takes off, and its promise of low price combined with practical application of green power, we can be sure of the Typ-1, or a version of it, reach our shores as the importance of power conservation steadily increases. For more information visit the company's website here. More pictures follow.