Not exactly a motorcycle, but still classified as one by the government- what is it? Well, a 3 wheeled vehicle. This classification is important since it allows the manufacturers a lot of latitude with all the federal safety and emission regulations. Since most of these are very green, emissions are not a problem. But safety is still a big concern. Even still, some of the innovative stuff coming out of what is really silicon valley money and minds is encouraging. So take a look at this and imagine having a car capable of 300mpg. It will probably never go mainstream ( I don’t see 300lb American men and women climbing in and out of one) but for the younger crowd, it could work. I’d buy one if they got down closer to the 20,000.00 mark instead of 30,000.00. Check out the whole story over at MSN.
When Steve Fambro got bored building robots at a San Diego genetics company, he figured he could help keep his brain busy by building a kit airplane in his spare time. But his wife deemed the hobby too dangerous, so Fambro decided to build a car instead, one with low emissions and absurdly high mileage. Called the Aptera (Greek for “wingless”), the machine now exists as a working prototype. It has 2.5 seats, three wheels, weighs a feathery 1,500 pounds, and Fambro says his company will put the Aptera into production next October.
Specs may change between now and autumn 2008, but the current numbers look like this: 300 mpg, a price tag below $30,000, and 0-60 acceleration of 11 seconds (about a second slower than the Toyota Prius gas-electric hybrid). The Aptera will come in two versions: the all-electric Typ-1e; and the series-hybrid Typ-1h, with a small onboard gasoline engine capable of recharging the battery. According to Fambro the all-electric Aptera is expected to go roughly 120 miles on a full charge, while the series hybrid will travel 600 miles on a full battery and a full tank of gas — the equivalent of 300 mpg.
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