Zoomi Life

Northern California electric vehicle company ZAP, who recently introduced an electric van and utility truck at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) expo going on right now in New Orleans, has also finally unveiled its much-hyped Alias electric car. After going through many iterations of its original design, ZAP has finally unveiled a physical prototype of this unusual-looking, three-wheeled electric car.

The car itself is supposed to be freeway-legal, with rapid 0-60 acceleration and a 100 mile range, regenerative braking, gullwing doors and other amenities. The Alias roadster is to be priced at under $35,000. While production has not yet started, ZAP plans to produce a limited number of Alias roadsters available for sale in 2009.

According to ZAP, the Alias is projected to have the following specs:

• 0-60mph in 7.7 seconds
• 100mph max speed
• 100+ miles per charge
• 1,613 pounds curb mass (making it a motorcycle, technically)

The expected price tag is about $32,500 off the showroom floor. You can reserve one now for $99, which applies $299 towards purchase. I think they’re doing this to get a minimum production run pre-purchased so they can justify the investments in the vehicle from the corporate backers. Hopefully it works out, since this is actually a really cool car and at a price that some of us might be able to swing too.

While the car certainly looks innovative - it looks to me like a mix of new technology and 1920’s styling - no one outside of ZAP has yet test-driven this car and reported about it, so the jury’s still out on its actual performance and capabilities. However, we were able to find a few pictures of the Alias on ZAP’s site, as well as a couple of videos briefly showing the Alias in action.

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Source: ZapWorld