Electric motorcycles may be bridge to electric cars

I see this pea-green electric car biffing around the neighborhood now and then. I test drove a similar car a year or so ago. Entrepreneurs just can’t resist testing the electric car market. One company after another goes out of business, only to be replaced by the next guy in line. It might help if they would make them less silly looking. Adding a fourth wheel might have been worth it in this case.

However, the problem isn’t just marketing. You can’t just make an electric car look sexy — it also has to perform. The weak link, as everyone should know by now, is the damnable battery. This red Twike here, which can do fifty miles an hour and has an 80-mile range, costs more than a Prius (not to mention it looks like an insect).

Now, take a minute to check out this video of the Carver One, the latest in three-wheeled motorcycle design. Now that’s sexy, and a big improvement over the old three-wheeled choppers (and photoshopped biker chicks). The Carver uses a standard reciprocating engine, but a two-seat hybrid/electric version of this tilting three-wheel design is in the works by a new company called Venture Vehicles. AutoblogGreen has a great interview with the company’s founder here. Thanks for the tip, DrX.

Note also that they plan to use batteries developed by A123Systems, the same company that developed the DeWalt 36-volt battery packs that power my bicycle, which, when coupled with a bike trailer, is still far superior for transporting one person around town than any of the above designs.