Zoomi Life

Cree, which was founded in 1996 and began prototyping and testing an innovative 3-wheeled electric called the SAM, went out of business in 2003 due to lack of sales and investors. The vehicles were being tested on Swiss roads almost exclusively by private consumers in Zurich and Basle.

Barely a year later, the company restructured and came back, debt-free, with new investors for the newly-emerging electrics market. The company now boasts about 13 million CHF in investment capital and nearly 400,000 CHF in shareholder capital. The company is still private and has been busy putting together the SAM for today’s market.

Aimed mainly for the Swiss, Danish, and German markets, the SAM is approved for public road use. This little 2-seater’s got some pretty impressive stats:

• 168v, 250a motor putting out 15kW at 1,800rpm (Permanent magnet, brushless)
• 5.54:1 gear reduction to synchronous belt drive
• Full charge in 6 hours (40% in 1 hr, 70% in 2)
• Range of 50-70km
• Top speed of 85km/h
• 0-50km/h in 7 seconds with full load (2 passengers)

The chassis is almost entirely aluminum and the vehicle has a tare weight of 545kg (with batteries). It’s an interesting front-wheel steering and rear-wheel drive with the rear wheel being the single wheel. One thing it doesn’t have is regenerative braking, but it does sport great stability for such a small, 3-wheeler. It meets all European safety standards and has a roll cage and 3-point safety belts.

One of the designs that really sets this one off, though, is the hinged gull-wing doors that fold inward to crimp their profile for tight parking spots. This means the doors don’t extend beyond the front wheels when opening, allowing for very tight parking without “door dings.”

It’s a little dated in looks, but still isn’t too bad for a 3-wheeler. I’m not a big fan of these designs, though I do like the Aptera (thanks to it’s alien spaceship looks). I’m willing to cut the SAM some slack, though, because it’s an extremely fun-looking electric vehicle. Plus it’s been road tested and approved, so it’s literally ready to sell right now.

Cree is looking for business partners in marketing and investing to get this car to market and into mass-production. Most of the drive train technology is proprietary and designed by Cree while most of the standard parts, like tires, wheels, struts, etc., are freely available after-market. This means that maintenance and repair won’t be too costly.

The prototype is currently being sold on a minimum-build run in four color offerings. Customization is, of course, available. It’d doubtful that the SAM will ever see American shores in any numbers, but it would be cool to get one. If they meet their target mass-production pricing (6,600 Euros), it might be possible to import one for less than $20,000USD.

Here’s a fun video of the Cree SAM in action:

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