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Tesla's Latest Competitor Is a $15,500 Electric Three-Wheeler

11 points by T-A 8y ago

ravedave5 8y ago
No, no it isn't. This is competing against the Yaris or a low priced Kia, maybe. Maybe you could call this a leaf competitor, but probably not. Actually, the best comparison may be that it's competing against mopeds and bicycles. Saying this is a Tesla competitor is click-bait.
- stonogo 8y ago
  The headline and you are both mistaking Tesla, a car company, for its products, the cars. This car company is an electric vehicle manufacturer who is planning on making a roadster. This model is not a Model X competitor, but this company is absolutely a Tesla competitor... or it might be, if it doesn't turn out to be yet another of at least four failed three-wheeled car companies in the past decade.
  - kwhitefoot 8y ago
    It might be competing but it isn't going to win. If there really was a big market for small three wheelers there would already be a lot more of them on the road. And anyway even in Norway you can buy a used (less than a year old, less than 2k miles on the clock) 2019 Mitsubishi MiEV for 18.5 kUSD (https://www.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=140199983 https://www.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=140199983). That's a lot more car and you can have it now. Edit: just looked at the web site and you can get a new one for about that price: https://www.mitsubishi-motors.no/i-miev/#!section-cc https://www.mitsubishi-motors.no/i-miev/#!section-cc
yyyymmddhhmmss 8y ago
It looks like it has a huge blindspot.
thatgerhard 8y ago
1. It's not even remotely a competitor, it's like saying BMW C1 is a Mercedes Benz competitor. 2. It's just a reliant robin with an electric motor
- kwhitefoot 8y ago
  It's not even that. Del Boy's van had a lot more cargo space.
  - thatgerhard 8y ago
    Agreed
dominicr 8y ago
In a situation where commuters are incentivised to drive electric cars this could do quite well, but it's passenger limitations really limit the market. You can't drop off the kids at school on your way to/from work. Making a two seater version might really increase it's market share. In Oslo fuel cars are expensive to drive into the city, but you can park an & charge an electic car cheaply or free, without paying tolls. Some people buy old & tiny first generation electric cars to travel in and out of the centre. So this would potentially have a market in Oslo as it looks much nicer than a Buddy car! And yes, lazy click-bait headline writers: if it's electric then it's competing with Tesla. When competition requires more equivalence than both companies produce products with wheels and electric motors.
stoobs 8y ago
Nope, it's not, it's more like a spiritual successor to the Sinclair C5 than anything else.
sunstone 8y ago
Considering that you can get a Prius C for about the same price (or a regular Prius for 50% more) this product is going to stay pretty niche.
vmednis 8y ago
I've always thought of these glorified mopeds as suicide boxes. There's no way you could survive a crash against a real car in this thing.

11 points by T-A 8y ago

No, no it isn't. This is competing against the Yaris or a low priced Kia, maybe. Maybe you could call this a leaf competitor, but probably not. Actually, the best comparison may be that it's competing against mopeds and bicycles. Saying this is a Tesla competitor is click-bait.

stonogo 8y ago
The headline and you are both mistaking Tesla, a car company, for its products, the cars. This car company is an electric vehicle manufacturer who is planning on making a roadster. This model is not a Model X competitor, but this company is absolutely a Tesla competitor... or it might be, if it doesn't turn out to be yet another of at least four failed three-wheeled car companies in the past decade.
- kwhitefoot 8y ago
  It might be competing but it isn't going to win. If there really was a big market for small three wheelers there would already be a lot more of them on the road. And anyway even in Norway you can buy a used (less than a year old, less than 2k miles on the clock) 2019 Mitsubishi MiEV for 18.5 kUSD (https://www.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=140199983 https://www.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=140199983). That's a lot more car and you can have it now. Edit: just looked at the web site and you can get a new one for about that price: https://www.mitsubishi-motors.no/i-miev/#!section-cc https://www.mitsubishi-motors.no/i-miev/#!section-cc

yyyymmddhhmmss 8y ago

It looks like it has a huge blindspot.

thatgerhard 8y ago

1. It's not even remotely a competitor, it's like saying BMW C1 is a Mercedes Benz competitor. 2. It's just a reliant robin with an electric motor

kwhitefoot 8y ago
It's not even that. Del Boy's van had a lot more cargo space.
- thatgerhard 8y ago
  Agreed

dominicr 8y ago

In a situation where commuters are incentivised to drive electric cars this could do quite well, but it's passenger limitations really limit the market. You can't drop off the kids at school on your way to/from work. Making a two seater version might really increase it's market share. In Oslo fuel cars are expensive to drive into the city, but you can park an & charge an electic car cheaply or free, without paying tolls. Some people buy old & tiny first generation electric cars to travel in and out of the centre. So this would potentially have a market in Oslo as it looks much nicer than a Buddy car! And yes, lazy click-bait headline writers: if it's electric then it's competing with Tesla. When competition requires more equivalence than both companies produce products with wheels and electric motors.

stoobs 8y ago

Nope, it's not, it's more like a spiritual successor to the Sinclair C5 than anything else.

sunstone 8y ago

Considering that you can get a Prius C for about the same price (or a regular Prius for 50% more) this product is going to stay pretty niche.

vmednis 8y ago

I've always thought of these glorified mopeds as suicide boxes. There's no way you could survive a crash against a real car in this thing.