Three-Wheel Vehicles Don’t Qualify for DoE’s Advanced Vehicle Loans

This is the Aptera 2e — a slippery electric vehicle that’s chock full of advanced technologies and, according to the manufacturer, capable of the equivalent of 200 mpg. You may think such a ‘green’ vehicle would be a prime candidate for the Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program loans, but there’s one small problem: the 2e is one wheel shy of qualifying.

In order to reduce weight and improve aerodynamics, Aptera engineers designed the 2e as a three-wheeled vehicle. Although removing the fourth wheel reportedly improves fuel efficiency by 25 percent, it also puts the Aptera in conflict with the DoE program, which is presently limited to developing vehicles with four wheels.

Aptera isn’t the only manufacturer facing this conundrum. Other manufacturers of electric three-wheeled vehicles, including both Myers Motors and ZAP! Motors, may face a similar blockade if they apply for the DoE money.

There may be some reprieve for these companies. Representatives Brian Bilbray and Adam Schiff have both introduced a new bill in Congress that would allow manufacturers of fuel-efficient two- and three-wheel vehicles to be candidates in the DoE’s loan program.

Even if the resolution is passed, the three-wheeled Aptera may face more problems if it is eventually offered across the country. As Myers Motors discovered last year, certain states will still require the 2e to be classified as an automobile, while others, seeing it as a motorcycle, may require drivers to wear helmets.