Plans for crowdfunded EV

A US entrepreneur plans to make a NZ$14,000 three-wheel electric vehicle (EV), by using crowdfunding for the prototype.  The out-of-the-box idea comes from Storm Sondors, who launched a prosperous electric bike business with an “incredibly successful” crowdfunding campaign, reports autoblog.com. Thousands of people paid NZ$699, plus up to NZ$272 for shipping and handling, through site IndieGogo for the electric fat bike. Now he is launching the Model Sondors: a styled, three-wheel EV, with seating for three and a NZ$14,000 price tag, from the newly-formed Sondors Electric Car Company. In a humorous promotional video (below), Sondors implies no one cares about electric cars if they are not affordable. He is looking for a community that will grow with the car company, he says. Crowdfunding for the EV will begin with a StartEngine campaign, reports autoblog.com. This offers the chance to buy NZ$16.81 common shares in the company, with a minimum investment of NZ$185, to raise an initial NZ$1.4 million in capital to build the working prototype. As well as giving equity, the investment will also act as a reservation for the vehicle. A further round of financing will be done once the first Model Sondors is produced. Sondors hopes to exceed 120,000 initial orders and says his plan has a path to profitability. It is still early days for the project – a physical prototype isn't expected to be shown before the end of 2017 – so details are understandably scarce. However, the Model Sondors will feature an aluminium body and come with battery pack options that allow for a range of either 80km, 160km or 320km. The vehicle can be “charged by plugging it into the same outlet you plug a smartphone into every day”, indicating it will use relatively small batteries to keep charging times within usable boundaries. Similar to the electric bikes, vehicles will be ordered online and delivered to the door of US customers. There is no word if the vehicles will be available in New Zealand.