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| 3-Wheeled Cars - Rave or 300 mpg Revolution? |
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Major car manufacturers have a lock on the automobile markets thanks to expensive and rigorous government safety testing requirements (approximate cost of $10 million per model) plus the relative conservatism of new car buyers who don’t easily shell out hard earned cash for a first model year car. This all but excludes innovative new car makers – and it cuts out many more new and innovative car designs at the same time. These prohibitive cost barriers and procedures do not, however, apply to motorcycles to near the same extent. And its through this window that a couple of brilliant new car manufacturers are selling amazing new car models which are available for you to order or purchase right now. To make a car fit into a motorcycle classification, it must be light. And although a light vehicle that has also squeeked past safety rigors can be assumed to be less safe than a conventional car, its probably also a safe bet that its third wheel and modern traction controls make it more safe than a 2-wheeled motorcycle - all things considered. It’s not difficult to foresee that the intelligent use of carbon-fiber body panels and other composite components could rather quickly render safety concerns a mute point in these lightweight vehicles - and so I'm not quick to throw out this baby for the sake of the safety "Bath water".
By compromising a fourth wheel and shedding about a thousand pounds, these new car manufacturers are able to ship a very reliable and exciting road car for the masses – with truly exceptional fuel economy and styling as well. So – are they efficient ? With designs featuring upwards of 300 mpg, yes they are efficient. Are they comfortable? They are beautiful inside and out with mostly all of the modern conveniences. Where’s the downside? Are these hot 3-wheeled cars a fad – or are we looking at an auto revolution in the making? We’ll let you decide as we showcase a few of the most sought-after, off-shore, and by-gone 3 wheelers next. ApteraFirst – and my favorite by an unprecedented margin – is the Aptera. If a picture says a thousand words, behold Aptera … if at first you don’t love it, just look a little closer at the specs. You are looking at a cult classic in the making my good readers. Aptera is beautiful (in one guys opinion), uber-smart, and an ultra efficient vehicle with the highest gas mileage rating in this – or any - class at 300 mpg. It’s a 2 adult + 1 (baby seat) configuration with enough room for 15 bags of groceries or 2 golf bags. And this is one company that's doing everything right – starting right from the company’s corporate sales website right on down to what’s under the hood of their biggest product. As for creature comforts, the Aptera has it all and probably more than is reasonable to expect from an ultra economy model vehicle. Check out this impressive list of standard equipment:
Choose from an All Electric model that will run for 120 miles on a 4-hour garage wall-plug charge for $27k or “splurge” and go for their Gasoline Hybrid for $30k – which will have you commuters filling up the tank probably once a month or so. Wow! Aptera is shipping “within the next 12 months” and they are taking reservations online. Reserve your place in line, and the option to travel to the factory to watch the car as its built is yours, and all for the low-low price of a fully refundable $500 deposit. The only questions I wasn’t able to satisfy my initial concerns with were over the final production licensing terms; will a motorcycle license be required to drive one of these cars and, if yes, will a helmet also be mandatory? If you don't have to wear a helmet, and these cars as as safe as the manufacturer would lead us to believe, we're all nuts not to be on the list. Uh - and no, I've accepted nor have been promised reimbursement for my opinion nor do I hold financial interest in the company - yada ... yada. Upon full consideration and review, I like this vehicle a lot and I'd be happy to see thousands and thousands of these on our roads (assuming the final product is up to snuff). alé
Ale is a one seat car that uses regular gasoline and a new "fuel vapour technology" to achieve both outstanding gas mileage and extremely low emissions. With previously impossible mixture ratios of 20:1 (air:gasoline), its a solid contender for, and is an official entry of, the automotive Xprize competition. This vehicle will pull 1.7 G's in the corners - which is considerably better than most performance cars - and it is fully certified to drive in British Columbia. View more information from their corporate website at http://www.fuelvaporcar.com/html/news.html .  T-RexOur third 3-wheeler is the T-Rex… Available since 2004, T-Rex is a thrilling, high performance ride. At $45,000 and sporting an open cockpit format, you will be strapping into a motorcycle helmet and THEN hitting the town in this solution. The requirement to wear a helmet is inevitably going to preclude many car drivers from considering the T-Rex as a commuting vehicle and its a fair weather head-turner par excellence. Find full specs and more photos at www.go-t-rex.com
3-Wheelers in History
3 wheeled vehicles were efficient but unstable when configured with a single wheel in the front. Berkeley and BMW both had cult successes with their Usetta and T60 cars in the 1950s and 60s.
3 wheel configurations allowed inexpensive and easily serviced motorcycle parts to drive them.
The 3-Wheeling Third WorldThree wheel motorcycles and cars are commonplace in the third world owing to the fact that the fuel economy of similarly equipped 3 and 4 wheel vehicles shows that a 3-wheel design can save up to 40% in fuel costs. Its really quite surprising to see how effectively 3-wheel motorcycles and cars can be applied in practical life. A little investigation turned up the following design themes. There are the 3 wheel covered motorcycles …
3 wheel Pickups ...
 And even 3-Wheel Minivans ... in Gas AND Electric Power.With fuel economy ratings of 2.8L/100km, these funny looking minivans are not triffles. In all of Ontario, Canada - only a handful of economy cars can boast 4L/100km fuel economy.
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3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved." |
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Fuel-Vapour Technologies of British Columbia, Canada manufacture the 92 mpg, 0-60 in under 5 second, 3-wheeled alé in limited quantities beginning in 2008. 
Karl Benz is generally acknowledged as the inventor of the modern automobile - a moniquer awarded to the first inventor to patent his creation. Karl began his famous company Benz and Cie in 1883 and then patented one of the first automobiles – the 3 wheeled Motorwagen in 1885.
Very interesting post. Thanks again.. Please Keep it Up!!