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Comment by trothamel | Hacker News Reader

Is there any reason to think this attempt at a three-wheeled motorcycle/car would be more successful than previous iterations? It's been tried a lot in the past, but it doesn't seem to have ever really caught on.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Three-wheeled_motor_v...

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Maybe, and I do mean "maybe" the cost of vehicle ownership and fuel costs are factors that would incentivize such a purchase.

I know we are a corner case, but I would consider purchasing one of these. Well, if they get some YouTube crash videos up like the SmartCar video... My family works on a "primary car / backup car" basis. Most of our combined driving needs are covered by our TDI wagon. When we infrequently both need to drive on the same day, whomever is going on the longest trip takes the TDI, and the other takes the beater. I could see a car like this replacing the beater, or becoming the car used by whomever isn't driving our daughter on a given day.

It does seem likely that this could end up being Aptera Part II.

I was wondering when someone would bring that up:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptera_Motors

"As of January 2010, the number of unique deposits tracked at the unofficial Aptera forum surpassed 5000."

Maybe. It looks like that vehicle never even reached production. Very difficult to tell how such a vehicle would have fared in the market given that it was never tested. I mean, "could be an Aptera 3e situation" is an accusation that could be leveled at almost any first-vehicle from a company. The fact that they're both trikes is barely relevant.

There are some reasons to think so. It's fully enclosed. It might be better constructed. The price is pretty low. Fuel efficiency is good.

Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Personally, I like to see marginal ideas tried again every couple of decades. An idea might click with the public in one decade that wouldn't have two before, because of changing perceptions and needs.

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