Mygreenwheels

Here’s some real electric car innovation from a manufacturer who’s already got proven form in producing EVs. With its T3 Series ESV (electric standup vehicle), California-based company T3 Motion was aiming at the police, security and site management. The T3 ESV has picked up numerous awards, been enlisted for patrols with various police departments - both in the U.S. and internationally – and been deployed at more than 100 U.S. locations to patrol store parking lots. <-- Do they really need police to patrol supermarket carparks in the U.S.? I can't imagine what the world is coming to.

GT3 electric car from T MotionT Motion expanded from there with the four-wheel CT Micro Car that is designed to service similar markets to the T3 Series. Now for the first time it’s taking aim at the wider consumer market with the GT3, a sleel-looking two-passenger, plug-in electric vehicle that uniquely features a single, wide-stance, rear wheel with two high-performance tires sharing one rim.

The logic for this is that employing two tire contact surfaces improves traction, stability and handling. In addition, the low rolling resistance and rounded profile of the rear tires maximise energy efficiency and a multi-link, dual-shock rear suspension in the GT3 is similar to suspension systems found in today's Formula One race cars.

GT3 showing twin tyres on its single rear wheelWith a top speed of 70 mph the vehicle is powered by lithium-polymer battery technology and an AC induction motor, with a range of 80-100 miles per charge. It also features an in-car, integrated "black box" video and data recording system that provides continuous recording of vehicle location, G-force and speed and T3 Motion says the car has proven its mettle in rigorous driving tests.

There are also plans to include the use of an Apple iPad as the car’s central information hub in place of the standard car information centre. According to T3 Motion the iPad, with its built-in software and huge selection of developer apps, could be used for everything from travel planning and GPS to audio, video and games. Quite a useful marriage between electric car and iPad if they pull it off, though it could be a tad distracting.

For the geeks among you there are also plans to incorporate a 5BARz cellular network extender for faster Internet services (including 3G) for mobile web browsing and e-mail along with stronger signals and better reception for mobile phone calls and messaging.

T3 Motion is taking pre-orders for the GT3, which will be priced between US$35,000 and $42,000 and available only in the U.S. initially.