Several would-be antidotes to oversized and expensive The EV trend started this year. This is bad news for everyone, even if you chose a boring Cybertruck over something that looks like a teenager Kei car.
Cars are generally not a substitute for more efficient modes of transport, including trains and bicycles. But the last one climate and most budgets another tank-like truck or SUV is needed. Large, heavy electric vehicles require more materials and energy than smaller EVs. This means more avoidable greenhouse gas emissions during and after production. Despite these drawbacks, automakers make big sales because of big sales.
Numerous vehicles from startups and some traditional automakers are challenging the notion of “bigger is better” through compact designs and lower prices. However, little usually comes of their resistance. We’ve seen the same with several ill-fated EVs this year, including the ElectraMeccanica Solo, Sono Sion, and Mazda MX-30.
Here we take a look at the small and low-priced EVs that didn’t make it—the flops, launch failures, twists and turns of the size- and range-obsessed North American EV market.
ElectraMeccanica Solo
Image Credits: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Legally a motorcycle, ElectraMeccanica’s tiny EV featured a seat, a 100-mile range, and an $18,500 price tag. The automaker introduced the three-wheeler to city dwellers and delivery fleet managers. I never got to drive a Solo, but I sat inside one of these cuties last year and found it claustrophobic with the doors closed.
In April, ElectraMeccanica recalled every Solo for power outage issues. At the time, the company said it was pivoting to four-wheelers. ElectraMeccanica soon entered into a merger plan with the electric truck maker Teva. In October, ElectraMeccanica inexplicably pulled the plug on that outlet.
Honda e
Image Credits: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
The Honda e debuted in Europe and Japan in 2020 with a range of 100 miles and Price $36,000-$43,000. The vehicle wowed critics with its city-friendly size and sweet but empty looks. However, in terms of sales, it turned out to be a total flop, thanks in large part to a weak price-to-range ratio. Honda never brought the e to other locations, and as recently as December of this year, the automaker said it would stop production of the small wagon in January 2024.
I’m Sion
Image Credits: CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP via Getty Images
German automaker Sono once led the charge for solar panels in electric cars with the Sono Sion five-seat hatchback. Sono priced the Sion (unrelated to Toyota’s Scion brand) at $25,000 and intended to begin production in 2023.
Instead, Sono turned to selling to third-party automakers and laid off 300 workers. No longer a car manufacturer, Sono is now focusing on integrating its solar technology into other vehicles.
GM, Honda’s affordable EVs
Image Credits: Steve Fecht for General Motors
General Motors and Honda said in April 2022 that they will jointly develop millions of small and affordable electric vehicles. They’ve teased sub-$30,000 electrics for North America, aiming to deliver them in 2027.
However, as of October 2023, they have suspended the partnership, vaguely citing “extensive studies and analysis” to explain the move. The announcement came as GM slowed his transition in EVs and Hondas teased a “new global EV series” in its own right.
Mazda MX-30 (USA)
Image Credits: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images
The Mazda MX-30 is small by Cybertruck standards (Tesla’s vehicle is 25% longer and wider), but the only really small thing about the MX-30 is its 100-mile range and availability. Stateside, Mazda sold the MX-30 exclusively in California, the state with the most EV chargers by a factor of five.
Mazda said in July that it planned to do so turn off the EV in the US in late 2023. However, the automaker will continue to sell the EV in Japan and the EU.
Revel Mopeds
Image Credits: Ron Adar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Revel — the Blackrock and Shell-backed bike-sharing business — dumped its two-wheeled EVs this year in favor of regular old electric cars. Revel said moped ridership peaked in July 2020, with nearly 600,000 rides that month. In the years that followed, the company’s moped business collapsed amid several deaths involving Revel mopeds as e-bikes gained ground in cities like New York and San Francisco.
VanMoof
Image Credits: Taylor Hatmaker
Dutch e-bike startup VanMoof has led the way to its peak Bike explosion of the COVID-19 era in a $128 million Series C funding round. VanMoof proclaimed at the time that it was “the most funded e-bike company in the world,” and co-founder Taco Carlier boasted that the company “reinvents, reinvents, and reengineers every element of the bicycle ».
VanMoof’s rapid growth and focus on proprietary components led to his downfall. By 2023, the company was reportedly losing money on every bike due to costly repairs and was struggling to raise additional capital to stay afloat. Last summer, VanMoof halted sales and Taco Carlier left as the company filed for bankruptcy.
Electric scooter maker Lavoie acquired what was left of VanMoof in August for “tens of millions,” pulling it out of bankruptcy. Months later, the acquirer appears has yet to restart production of VanMoof or continue repairs.
Secondly
Image Credits: Telo
It’s been a rough year for small EV enthusiasts, but all is not lost. First, city bike sharing programs are booming and increasingly electric. DC’s Capitol Bikeshare sets record 428,000 rides in the month of May. That same month, New York City’s Citi Bike recorded 867,838 rides in just one week — and the program continues to expand.
Beyond e-bikes, the Arcimoto lives on as the rare, three-wheeled EV in the U.S. The Fiat 500e is coming to North America in 2024 (in limited quantities), several years after its EU debut. A startup called Telo Trucks is trying to prove that Americans will buy small trucks again and is developing a pickup with the footprint of a two-door Mini Cooper. Additionally, while GM said it would kill the Chevy Bolt and the larger Bolt EUV, the automaker now says it will keep the latest Bolt.
