Boy was I surprised when chatting with my car guy brother on the weekend, he mentioned the price. No way, I said, as I'm usually a few steps ahead of him when it comes to new car info. I had it on good authority (my imagination?), that this upcoming model would be priced under the Model S, since Tesla needs a more mainstream volume model to anchor their place in the market. Well, apparently not so, or at least not yet. This new Model X is rumoured to be in the $130k US range. And for that kind of high priced coin, one gets those funky and maybe, problematic doors (if you can call them that). Time tells a lot of things, so we'll just have to wait on the price and the functionality of this new Tesla suv.
But speaking of lower priced electrics, there are a few, shall we say, less than mainstream models, easing their way quietly around the planet, doing one short trip after another. A Canadian company, ZENN Motor Car has produced a very small number of electric cars.........
........but the sales were small and its future unsure, so not so long ago it closed its doors. Probably a good little city car, but tough to make a case for its existence otherwise, in a country with vast distances between places, maybe even hard to justify as a commuter car in a big city like Toronto.
In Europe, there are many of these little two and even one person cars making jaunts around the cities, but there are a few more plugs in which to recharge. Here's one way in which they plan to save the planet.......
The problem, of course, is to have the money to make something that will pass the tough crash tests that the US requires for all new vehicles.
In the past, there has always been someone, who saw into the future and envisioned an electric car world, but had their dreams dashed through cost of manufacturing or mediocre sales. Something like the Enfield 8000.........
Great for a couple, but of course, the dog would have to stay home, no room. Would the modern version of this cute little vehicle be the new BMW i3? Don't think so, but interesting to see them side by side.
Of course, being a BMW, the word "economical" takes on a whole different meaning.
Going way back to just after the Second World War, there wasn't much gas, but there was electricity, so who else, but Nissan, developed a short lived electric car to at least generate some sales. Have you ever seen the Tama before?
All of these examples have tended to be "baby cars", small, maybe cute and extremely limited in their appeal. Pretty much all electric cars were like this before Tesla hit the mark. Well funded by a genius. Maybe if the fellow behind this one last example, had been more like Elon Musk and had more dollars behind him, this unusual car would have sold like the Tesla's have done.........
On the other hand, just hope and pray that, all those tires don't need replacing all at once!
Until next time........
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