Do you remember the ULV (“Ultra Lightweight Vehicle”), the one-person electric vehicle developed at Waseda Environmental Institute, a business started at Japan’s Waseda University? We showed you the cute mini car back in June, and now it’s officially going on sale.
To recap, the ULV is a three-wheeled, 72.6kg heavy and 2m long car that boasts an 80km travel range and a top speed of 40kph. One charge takes four hours and costs just $0.40. For production, Waseda used motor bike tires, a 400W engine and reinforced plastic in the chassis.
And now the price: Waseda is offering the ULV for a whopping $48,000 but says it plans to push down the price to $9,500 by 2015 through mass production. Target groups include small business owners, local municipalities, event organizers or advertisers.
This video in English (from June) provides more technical insight on the ULV:
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