ElectraMeccanica Solo

ElectraMeccanica Vehicles was founded in 2015 in Vancouver and New Westminster, British Columbia; Jerry Kroll was a co-founder.source 1 By October that year electrive could report prototypes on the road and a plan: a price under $20,000, 120 cars in 2016 and 1,200 in 2017. The firm called its car a “Single-User-Vehicle”, and electrive named its inspiration as the Corbin Sparrow.source 2 English Wikipedia names the Myers Motors NmG instead, which is the Sparrow under its later maker.source 1source 3 Design sketches followed in June 2016, and the production model was revealed that September.source 1

It is a closed two-door coupé on three wheels, a three-wheeler, its twin wheels in front, as photographs show. The single seat has 285 litres of luggage space behind it.source 1 An 82 hp (61 kW) electric motor and a 17.3 kWh lithium-ion battery gave a range of some 160 km (100 miles) and a top speed of 109 km/h (68 mph); the report of 2020 also gives 80 mph, which does not match.source 4source 5 It is 3,099 mm (122 in) long, 1,549 mm (61 in) wide and 1,346 mm (53 in) high, and English Wikipedia gives its kerb weight as 987 kg (2,176 lb).source 1

Chongqing

The first cars, a pre-series, were built at New Westminster.source 1 In May 2018 electrive reported the first deliveries in the United States, at US$15,500, C$19,999 or €13,000, and a deal with Zongshen of Chongqing, in China, to build 75,000 cars.source 4 Series production began at Zongshen, which was also an investor, on 26 August 2020. The price was now US$18,500, and the car had power steering, power brakes and air conditioning; first deliveries were planned for late 2020 in Southern California, Scottsdale and Portland.source 5source 1

Commercial deliveries were launched in Los Angeles on 4 October 2021.source 6 In 2022 came a Solo Cargo with more room for goods.source 1 On 12 December 2022 the company commissioned a plant of 21,800 m² (235,000 sq ft) at Mesa, Arizona, built for up to 20,000 cars a year, and moved its legal home to the United States; the Solo and Solo Cargo were now licensed for sale in California and Arizona.source 7source 1

The end

English Wikipedia says that the Mesa plant was never used for series production. Production of the Solo ended in 2023, and the company ran a programme to buy back cars it had sold, over reported defects in service.source 1 In August 2023 it agreed to merge with Tevva, a British maker of electric trucks, and the merger was terminated in October. On 16 January 2024 it agreed instead to an all-stock merger with the truck maker Xos, to which it brought $48.5 million in cash.source 8 The deal was completed on 26 March 2024.source 1

The car outlived the company. On 28 February 2024 Solo Automotive Inc. of Vancouver, owned by Jerry Kroll, bought the Solo’s design, trademarks and patents, with a plan for a SoloGT, to be built in Spain for Europe and Britain and aimed at early 2025.source 1 Whether it was built has not been found.

No total of Solos built or sold has been found, nor how many the buyback took off the road, nor any club or auction result.source 1 Photographs show a red prototype given to the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s mechanics programmes, and two white Solos at Everything Electric Canada in Vancouver, both in 2024.