In just the past few years a seemingly countless number of electric-vehicle companies have sprung-up out of nowhere only to raise a little cash, float a few press releases, and then fade quietly away. We’re not talking about companies like Lucid or Rivian, both of which are actively producing vehicles in real factories and have delivered a number of said vehicles into the garages of paying customers.
Coming Soon? Bricklin 3EV
We’re talking more about companies like Bollinger, which initially intended to produce electric Land Rover clones, only to morph slowly into a would-be manufacturer of medium-duty chassis cabs. And even as such, the jury is still out on the company’s viability. And as for the DeLorean reboot; color us skeptical.
But there’s one EV start-up vehicle that recently caught our attention, mostly because of the maker’s primary backer: The Bricklin 3EV.
And, unless you’re completely new to the auto world, you know about Bricklin. That’s Malcolm Bricklin, the automotive entrepreneur most famous for importing Subarus to the U.S. in the late Sixties, bringing Yugo to America in the Eighties, and failing to import a lineup of Chinese Chery-built vehicles to the U.S. a decade ago.
There was also the Bricklin SV-1, a sports car of sorts Malcolm Bricklin had built in Canada using AMC and Ford engines and featuring gullwing doors. The plastic-bodied Bricklins were built between 1974 and 1976, and were famous for shoddy build quality, water leaks, and gullwing-door failures.True story: This author once found himself trapped in a Delorean with malfunctioning doors. It a mechanic to free me from the orange beast.
That same Malcolm Bricklin, now in his Eighties, is seeking backers—mostly dealer franchisees–to fund his latest automotive venture, the building of a 2-seat, 3-wheel, electric car.
Actually, and this is key here, he was seeking backers. It’s sort of unclear where the 3EV story starts, and possibly ends. Bricklin introduced his 3EV plan way back in 2017, but there was a flurry of interest beginning in 2020, when a running prototype begin making the rounds.
It was in 2020 when Bricklin began discussing the bizarre terms of the 3EV franchise agreement, which included compelling dealers to invest in an unrelated fine-art retail scheme Malcolm had dreamed up. Per one report, Bricklin was looking to secure $1 million each from 200 dealers, though different numbers were bandied about. Note: The dealer count is elevated to 500 in later updates.
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Little is known about the car itself, except that the vehicle is an EV, it’s a three-wheeler with a single wheel at the real, and that range would be in the 250-mile ballpark. Oh, as recently as 2000, the base price would be around $25,000.
In an interview going back to 2000, Bricklin reported that focus-group participants, having been briefed on the 3EV’s specs, and having seem images of the car, guessed that the vehicle would cost as much as $300,000. While that’s entirely possible, Malcolm Bricklin is not know for being the best reporter of clean data.
Drifting into the hyperbolic, Bricklin further reported that upon learning that the 3EV would list for just $25,000, several focus group respondents tried to leave deposits on the car then and there. Sure.
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Per Bricklin, he can sell the 3EV for so little because of the missing fourth wheel. He went on to explain that losing the extra wheel meant lowering the car’s weight by 1500 pounds, which meant that he could use a smaller and less-expensive battery to power it.
Among Bricklin’s more audacious claims regarding the 3EV is that he will, to protect the car’s resale value, introduce a new design after every batch of 50,000 units sold. Per Bricklin, that’s new body panels and exterior trim. So, as soon as that first batch of 50,000 3EVs gets built an sold…
News about the 3EV has been scarce since 2000, but the there is a website, VVCars.com, which is chock full of important information, including standard equipment, which includes such fancy extras as antilock brakes. We also learned that the 3EV “…matches the width of a Lamborghini.” Why this matters is not made clear.
Other startling 3EV facts gleaned from the website:
- The car features, “…remarkable aerodynamic design that delivers outstanding handling.”
- It is certified zero emissions
- It represents high quality and great value
- It boasts OEM levels of safety
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Glossed over everywhere is that the plan seems to be to sell the 3EV as a motorcycle, seriously limiting whatever appeal the car has in states which require a special motorcycle license. This also means that despite all the safety claims made on the website, there are no actual safety standards the 3EV needs to meet.
Two things about the 3EV website: First, it now lists the base price of the 3EV at $28,980, and the longer range 3EVX at $36,980. Also, the 3EV’s range is now claimed to be 275 miles. No range estimate is given for the 3EVX.
Second, and this is odd, or just lazy, the 3EV website is on the VVCars domain. That’s the website Bricklin used for his failed Chery project; seems like a bad omen to us.
Also, because Bricklin feared dealers would not want to give showroom space to the 3EV, and because he (rightly) doubted dealers would want to build stand-alone stores to retail his little 3-wheeler, he designed what he called “sales pods” which would be assembled in dealers’ used-car lots. The pods would house a demo car or two, and would include a virtual-reality test-drive machine. Sadly, we could not locate a rendering of a sales pod.
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CG Says:
If all of this sounds crazy, it should. While you’re probably a little wigged out about the sales pods, it’s the fact that the 3EV would be retailed as a motorcycle that dooms it entirely. No EV-shopping consumer is going to make the effort to obtain a motorcycle license just so they can buy a vehicle that is almost certainly less safe than every four-wheel car and crossover on the road.
Of all of Malcolm Bricklin’s fantastic automotive adventures, the 3EV project is likely to be among the least-well remembered. This vehicle will never be built, and with a slew of brand-name, affordable—and full crashed tested—EVs hitting the market as this is being published, it will not be missed.
Listen to the Car Stuff Podcast
Bricklin 3EV Gallery
Click below for enlarged images
Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast, Episode 186: EV Charging Levels Basics (Bonus Episode)
Has any car, designed to be sold as a motorcycle to dodge safety and emissions regulations, ever succeeded in the market place?
I saw one in the parking lot of my dentist yesterday. Merritt Island, FL.
You mean the only one in existence?