It was ‘cheap’, with three wheels, it turned off automatically and the suspension worked backwards. The 428 that were sold have ended up in a scrapyard

A the outskirts of Gilbert (Arizona, USA) There is a scrapyard that is attracting attention because it accumulates tons of a unique and unusual vehicle: the ElectraMeccanica Solo, a small three-wheeled electric microcar that was born with the aim of revolutionizing urban mobility. But the most curious thing is not that there are hundreds of them waiting for their sad end, but that Most of them seem to be practically new.

Beyond the rumors and theories that have begun to circulate on social media about the reason for what may seem like a premature destruction, there is the shocking reality: They had a critical failure And instead of fixing it, the project managers decided that the best thing to do with them was to scrap them.

The murky and surreal story behind the electric ElectraMeccanica Solo

The ElectraMeccanica Solo was a three-wheeled electric car designed for the city produced between 2018 and 2023, The car was touted as the “Volkswagen Beetle of the 21st century” and aspired to be an ideal mobility solution for everyone. But from the start, the Solo was limited by its $18,000 price tag and single-seat cabin. Neither of these was its downfall, however.

A former Local Motors engineer who goes by the name StartupSlick on social media has revealed the story of the ElectraMeccanica Solo. While at one point in the video he says he believes the vehicles are “wrecked Elios,” the truth is that ElectraMeccanica is a totally different companywhich has a bizarre history behind it.

ElectraMeccanica is a little-known brand, whose legacy technically dates back to 1959, with a completely different company, Intermeccanica. This, founded by Frank Reisner, specialized in spare parts for Renault, Simca, Peugeot, etc. But also in the handcrafted replicas of the Porsche 356, the bodywork and construction of coachwork for the Apollo GT, the Italia, the Indra and many others.

But Reisner passed away in 2001 and his son Henry Reisner took over, and today Intermeccanica continues its tradition of building custom cars and replicas. Intermeccanica actually has nothing to do with ElectraMeccanica, but when Henry decided to open a new company, he added the suffix “meccanica” to his new company, which caused confusion.

In 2012, As reported by Automotive News CanadaReisner joined forces with Jerry Kroll to form ElectraMeccanica, which had only a similar name to Intermeccanica. Far from wanting to be coachbuilders, Reisner and Kroll wanted to build an innovative three-wheeled electric car. Reisner didn’t seem to mind Kroll’s shaky track record at the time, having already had experience with stakes in failed startups (including two electric vehicle companies and a sports drink company).

On the day of its releasewhich arrived much later than expected (the first production version of the Solo was planned for 2016), a convinced Jerry Kroll promoted the small electric car as “the new people’s car”: “This is the Volkswagen Beetle of the 21st century,” he assured the journalists present who were eager to test it.

“After 30 minutes of driving it, you feel like you’re wearing Robert Downey Jr’s Ironman suit: you’re wearing the car. That’s how driving should be,” he said. Although in a video Kroll went a bit further, claiming that the Solo would end up being “as ubiquitous as the iPhone within a year,” and calling it “the best non-sexual experience you can have.”

Despite their marketing efforts that had convinced tens of thousands of customers to pre-order, ElectraMeccanica’s flagship project faltered for the first time when deliveries failed to arrive months after they had promised. But in the end, the brand achieved what so many dreamers could not: after removing the first covers from the production model in 2016, production of the final version began in Vancouver, Canada, in 2017. The first ElectraMeccanica Solos were built by hand.

The second time the company was on the verge of closing was in 2019, when ElectraMeccanica built a “second-generation” Solo, designed to be cheaper and mass-produced in China: of the 300 or so built, only one was sold. The rest also ended up in the scrapyard, although the reason is unknown. ElectraMeccanica then changed its advertising, and the trike went from being “the next Beetle” to being promoted as a fun mode of transport ideal for the city.

The third time was not the charm: the sad story of Solo, with a moral

These new Solos were built by Zongshen in China (just like the second generation), but included improvements such as a wider track to reduce the chances of tipping over, stability control to try to keep all three wheels on the ground, and included reasonable specifications for a city car.

Weighing just over 800 kg, the Solo had a 17.3 kWh battery, a 56 hp engine and a top speed of 130 km/h. Its electric range was approved at 160 km, a good figure for the urban use for which it had been conceived. But shortly after its third generation finally went on sale, August 2022ElectraMeccanica received the first complaint from a frustrated customer because their Solo lost thrust while driving.

A month later, more similar reports were received, prompting the company’s engineering team to attempt to diagnose and fix the problem, although they ultimately They came to the conclusion that it was “a defect in the motor controller and inverter or in the battery controller, which could cause the electric motor to stop“They never managed to figure out how to fix it.

The issue was escalated to ElectraMeccanica’s executive team, which in February 2023 initiated a recall of almost all of the vehicles sold to customers in the US, a total of 428 Solos. And although the recall documents suggest that the company hoped to find a solution, it never came. Finally, in April of the same year, the company notified customers what would buy back all affected vehicles.

This is an excerpt from the letter that was sent to their clients: “While driving, the vehicle may experience a loss of propulsion. A warning light will illuminate in the instrument cluster and the driver will experience a loss of power as the vehicle decelerates as if the driver were to take their foot off the accelerator pedal. The steering, braking and lighting systems are not affected. The vehicle can be restarted after a period of time. In the event of a sudden loss of propulsion, the vehicle maintains all other critical functions, such as power steering, braking and lighting, and in most cases allows the driver to stop.”

Since the buyback was voluntary, owners of these three-wheeled vehicles could choose to keep them, although ElectraMeccanica made its position clear: “EMV strongly recommends that you accept the purchase offer for safety reasons. Please note that EMV will no longer guarantee, support or service your vehicle.”

And some were saved, like the one that is living a second life at the hands of YouTubers like Robert Dunn or Grind Hard Plumbing Co. It can also be found some rare specimen for sale.

Shortly after the disaster, ElectraMeccanica was bought by electric truck company Xos, which has shown no interest in repairing the Solos for resale. Instead, it has opted for the probably cheapest option: sending them to the shredder.

The company, which came to announce and then cancelled a four-wheeled electric vehicleis today in a strange limbo. When Xos bought it he had no interest in cars or designs, but in their cash reservesso who knows where it goes from here.

The saga of ElectraMeccanica is a sad one. Despite its enormous potential and having reached the production phase despite all the challenges, the brand now lies on the scrap heap that its history has become.