Malcolm Bricklin is an automotive legend. He has a passion for the automotive industry and has done his fair share to make it exciting, and has also experienced some heartbreaking moments. Mr. Bricklin coordinated Subaru coming to our shores, as well as Yugo. He now has a new automotive desire. An electric one. He sees the market flooded with cars, trucks, and SUVs. So, he is using his previously acquired experience to bring a three-wheeled electric vehicle into production.

Who is Malcolm Bricklin

In an interview with Monro and Associates, Malcolm Bricklin discussed his plan to roll out a distributor and dealership network for the new electric autocycle, or three-wheeled vehicle. He also mentioned how he’s getting investors and dealers involved in the ownership of the company. The target date to have everything in place is 2022. 

Mr. Bricklin’s newest company, Visionary Vehicles, has been around for a few years now. In the early 2000s, the company was going to use Chinese manufacturing to bring vehicles to the United States. Those vehicles were expected to have significantly lower price points than the equivalent competition. However, that relationship degraded and eventually dissolved into litigation. 

Since then, Mr. Bricklin has been looking for a way to move forward with his automotive passion. The increasingly accepted market shift to electric vehicles has brought him and the board of Visionary Vehicles some clarity. While the rest of the market floods the roads in the coming years with electric vehicles, they have chosen to capitalize on a niche market with little competition, that of the autocycle genre. 

The three-wheeled electric Bricklin 3EV

The new autocycle will be called the Bricklin 3EV. The conceptual renderings show an enclosed cabin flanked by Lamborghini style swing-up doors. The vehicle’s nose appears to have a dual nostril type of design element, even though the autocycle is an electric vehicle, which often does not need grilles. The sketch of the dash shows a single, full-length display running across the vehicle. The target price for the EV is $25,980. 

Sandy Munro interviewed Mr. Bricklin regarding the aspirations to make the Bricklin 3EV a reality. Together they also discussed how modern technology and safety systems should put to bed many instabilities or safety concerns for the car. In the video, Mr. Brickline can certainly be categorized as excited. The video is below. 

Electric autocycles are coming

Autocycles seems to be a new up and coming market recently. New three-wheelers are in various phases of development or production. The Polaris Slingshot has been available for several years, although it is not an all-electric vehicle. But, the Arcimoto FUV is a more recent addition to the electric market. The Electra Meccanica Solo just began delivering production electric vehicles, and in the last month, the Nobe Cars Nobe has made arrangements to come to the United States. 

The hope is that the introduction of the Bricklin 3EV combined with Mr. Bricklin’s experience and star power will be enough to garner investors and consumers’ attention. Indeed, people from the 1960s through the 1980s may remember the Bricklin name… maybe. But, let’s hope that Visionary Vehicles has a strong marketing department because Mr. Bricklin doing interviews alone is not enough high-visibility action to create top-of-mind consciousness for the American consumer. If they do, then Visionary Vehicles may be the next big hit, like Subaru was.