Will Buckshot kill the Xebra?
For the past few years the little Xebra from ZAP! has pretty much had the American three-wheeled electric truck market cornered. However, those days of "dominance" may soon be numbered if the Buckshot from Green Vehicles proves to be as capable as they suggest it is. In fact, since they say that they have been getting "tremendous interest" from different businesses, including a request for a demo from the United States Postal Service, we wonder if it might not make the Xebra truck extinct. Like the Triac that the company is also bringing to our shores, the Buckshot boasts a 20kw brushless AC motor powered by 23 kWh of LiFePO4 batteries with the a custom battery management system (BMS) and regenerative braking. The top speed is said to be 60 mph (the website says 45 mph, so it may be speed-limited) with a range of 80 to 90 miles (at 45 mph). It's heavy duty suspension is advertised to handle a total vehicle load of 1 ton and there are optional cargo configurations. When is it coming? Hit the jump for more.
[Source: Green Vehicles]
If you're lucky enough to be near Salem, Oregon during the first week of September you could stop by Electric Wheels Inc. where the Buckshot is scheduled to premier and view it in person. It will be possible to take it for a test drive, by appointment only please, after the 15th of September at the San Jose and Mill Valley, California locations of Green Vehicles. Deliveries of the electric truck are said to begin around the beginning of November and with only 50 being produced a month, they suggest you jump on board the reservation list. So is this tricycle truck with the tuk-tuk looking fascia mean the end of the road for the Xebra? Well maybe not right away. ZAP! has sold hundreds of their vehicles and have built up a sizable number of distributors. With the Buckshot wielding the competitive price tag of $17,995 though, it seems quite possible that the corner of this market might soon be chipped away.
[Source: Green Vehicles]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
EVan 12:32PM (8/11/2008)
I really wish lawmakers would allow for companies to produce four-wheeled vehicles and advertise them as "quadricycles."
These three-wheeled vehicles are ugly and make me unhappy.
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meme 12:56PM (8/11/2008)
Um, $18k for a vehicle with 23kWh of LiP batteries? That's at least 2/3rds the price of the vehicle in batteries alone. Then factor in several thousand more for the motor, the charger, and the inverter, and you've practically hit the sale price of your vehicle before you've even started making it!
And to those who would give the "It's probably made in China" excuse: Chinese battery makers sell their batteries over here, too. All building it in China would do would cut down on assembly costs. Plus, if you make it in China, you have to pay for shipping, so tack another thousand or two onto the price. Furthermore, a 5-speed transmission on an EV? What the...?
These GreenVehicles vehicles have always seemed suspect. I hope it's not another Exar-1.
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meme 1:06PM (8/11/2008)
Oh, and it's a delta trike, and not a very wide one at that. Good luck on turns at top speed with one of those loaded. :P
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jeffzekas 3:09PM (8/11/2008)
The advantage of building in China is not just that they pay $3 a day to their workers, but also, that the Chinese government subsidizes all exports with MILLIONS of dollars of kickbacks-- in essence, they are selling their products below the actual cost of making-- which makes it near- impossible for western nations to compete with Chinese companies.
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meme 6:15PM (8/11/2008)
Gotcha! This is just a conversion (if even that) of the Trifun Quarter Ton:
http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/resources/2008/03/Trifun_Quarter_Ton.jpg
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Domenick Yoney 11:42PM (8/11/2008)
Nice find, Meme.
http://trifun.com/index.html