We got a tip recently about Hy Tric Motors, a company based in Ventura, California that offers electric vehicles and electric retro fit kits. The company seems to focus mostly on low-speed electric vehicles, but the Hy Tric Electro Cycle seen above (UPDATE: actually the XR3, see update after the jump) has a top speed of 125 mph It costs $23,999, but there are virtually no other details available. In fact, the entire website is not set up to provide a whole lot of information about the cars. We can see pictures of the 2009 AFS Hy Tric 4 Seater (the green vehicle in the gallery below) that starts at $10,900 and the 2009 AFS Hy Tric EVCapus, a work truck for $13,900, but not much more about them.

The only car that Hy Tric offers any real details on is the 2009 AFS Hy Tric Electro XRb-series, an EV that costs $9,999 and can go 60-90 miles on a full charge of its lead acid batteries (eight 12V/120AH packs). A 4 kW motor offers a top speed of 37 mph (can be limited to 25 mph to fall into the NEV category). Hy Tric also offers a series of conversion kits ranging from $2,500 (48 volt kit) to $5,000 (144 volts) to add onto your own vehicle.

The site also lists a "2009 AFS Hy Tric LG1 Euro racer Model" that looks an awful lot like (ok, exactly like) the Triac electric car. Not sure what's going on there.


[Source: Hy Tric Motors]

We heard about the Triac back in April and got more details in May. When we saw the prototype sitting on the floor of the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo floor over the weekend, we knew we needed to stop in and say hello. Ehab Youssef was there to give a rundown of the Triac, an all-electric tadpole-style three-wheeler that can go 80 mph and has a 100-mile range. The Triac uses a 20 kW AC motor and a 160 amp hour lithium battery pack and features full regen braking. The intellectual property - lithium batteries, battery management system, etc. - is engineered in the U.S. and final assembly is in San Jose, but some of the other components come from overseas.

One of the things that Youssef is quick to point out, though, is the Triac's safety features (this is a "motorcycle" in the eyes of the feds, after all, and so escapes a lot of expensive testing). "Safety is one of the primary concerns of any vehicle, and so we went well beyond the Federal motor vehicle safety standards for motorcycles," he said, "and put in all of the safety features that are possible." Some of those features are disc brakes, structural steel cage, side impact bracing.

So far, Youssef said, "several vehicles" have been reserved and Youssef's company, Green Vehicles, will start delivering the Triac to customers in December (a little later than expected). Youssef explained that the base price of $23,000 is the lowest you can find today for a highway-speed electric vehicle, and many customers are choosing to go with some of the many upgrades.

Click above for more images of the Aptera Typ1 e

Gasoline prices in the United States are helping push along the development of many new vehicles such as the Volt from General Motors. Such game-changing vehicles as the Volt and the original Toyota Prius demand a huge amount of research and, even more importantly, money before they are able to get out of the most basic of planning stages. What's more, these hybrid or electric vehicles are often sold at a substantial loss for a number of years before they ever are able to turn any sort of profit. It's not surprising, then, that smaller manufacturers such as Aptera and Can-Am are beginning to appear on the scene which look to offer an alternative to run-of-the-mill hybrids by introducing three-wheeled vehicles.

We'll delve a bit into the three-wheelers which are already available and look into what makes them legal - or not - after the break. We'll also discuss what could take place in the near future as Washington takes notice of the three-wheeled trends.

A little while back we told you about a $20,000 highway-speed electric car promised for the American market by Green Vehicles called the Triac. It seems, as with every other electric car program (except, so far, Aptera), that the launch has been delayed and now a new estimated delivery schedule has been posted on their website. While the company informs us that test drives from the San Jose showroom can be scheduled as of August 15th, the actual driving won't occur until after October 15th. According to the update the first deliveries to customers already in their queue will begin in October as well. The company hopes to produce at least 50 vehicles a month to start and raise their output to between 100 to 200 in the second quarter of 2009.

You may not have to travel all the way to Northern California for your Triac tryout for too long either. Company president, Ehab Youssef informs us that they've received interest from over 100 dealers. Of course, if you are not fortunate to be located near one of the soon-to-be-chosen retailers, the company says they can deliver throughout the lower forty-eight states though that will cost extra. We will try to keep you apprised of any further developments as we wait for our own bit of quality wheel time. Thanks to Matthew for the tip!


[Source: Green Vehicles]

The wait for an all-electric highway commuter just got a whole lot shorter. If you wanted to buy a Tesla and had the cash, you would still have to wait until the 600 (and counting) folks in line in front of you received theirs before you could stop buying gas and start turning heads. That could take a while. Then there's the Aptera. They only begin building their birds this Fall and there are 2,400 (and counting) folks with paid reservations in that line-up which ends, or at least pauses for effect, at the magic number of 3,000. But now, if you act fast, you may be able to jump into the beginning of a brand new queue. AutoblogGreen has just received word that Green Vehicles is accepting reservations (with a 10 percent fully refundable reservation fee) for July delivery of their new Triac (pictured above). That's only 60 days away!

You want to try before you buy? The three wheeler will be available for test drives around the middle of July and, according to Green Vehicles president Ehab Youssef, they anticipate leasing as well as selling the vehicle. They can ship cars throughout the U.S. (though Ohio could pose a licensing problem) and Canada, not to mention most other countries as well. The missive sent out by the company also gives reassurances about the quality and safety of their product. What kind of reassurances? Join us on the other side of the break to find out.

Recently we broke a story about a new electric "highway capable" three-wheeled car being prepared for the American market called the Triac. We promised to keep you posted and now that some interesting new details have emerged, behold the posting.

Apparently, many of you out there contacted Green Vehicles to seek out more information about the Triac for yourselves. It seems they might have been a little overwhelmed and it took a few days before a response was sent out en masse. The missive contained lots of interesting information which I will now share with you.

First of all, there were a couple of items from the video that were corrected. In the clip it states that the top speed of the vehicle is 70 mph. This is wrong. Green Vehicles is claiming that it can actually reach 80 mph. That's a speed that can come in handy when you're passing on the highway. The other metric to undergo revision was the range. This was lowered from 120 to 100 miles with the further explanation that the original figure was achieved at a relatively slow speed and that the new result was returned from a speed of 45 mph. Other Triac facts we learned were about the drivetrain. It will have a 5-speed transmission (we're guessing manual) matched to a 20kW AC motor with "one of the world's most sophisticated battery maintenance systems" to help you get the most out of your lithium ion battery pack. It's onboard charger will allow you to plug it in to either a 120V or 240V outlet. Now, what was that about a truck? Hit the jump for more news.

Is there a new three-wheeled highway-capable electric car about to emerge from "stealth mode"? We believe so and we have the video to prove it. As our faithful readers well know, we have been following the lengthy development of other three-wheeled vehicles like the Aptera and the VentureOne very closely as they are being prepared to enter the market. We haunt their forums, dig through their dumpsters monitor their websites and read their press releases. However, the Triac, like the mythical Planet X approaching the Earth from the South pole in time to wreak disaster on December 21st of the Mayan calender time-ending year of 2012, seems to be appearing out of nowhere and may be about to make a huge splash as it enters the orbit of the electric car-craving American public. At least it is if we are to believe the claims made in the commercial that we dug up on YouTube.

Here is what we know. Ehab Youssef got tired of choking on ZAP vapor, took matters into his own hands and is now about to show them how it's done. His company, Green Vehicles (which recently moved from their retail Los Gatos location to a larger San Jose space according to a report in the Los Gatos Observer), will be offering a 144V lithium ion-powered vehicle (most likely sourced from China but with some work done here) capable of 70 mph with a 120 mile range, with tandem seating starting at $19,995. Although the video states "Available now", there has not been an official announcement on their website yet but we expect one any day and will keep you posted. In the mean time, hit the jump to check out the slick commercial for this up-coming little beastie. As a bonus you can also see a video of a NEV that Green Vehicles will also be selling.

*Update: Thanks to reader, Bill, who pointed out that the seating isn't tandem.