It feels like the tilting and covered trike idea has been around for years, and Helix Motors wants to revisit it - again!
It doesn’t fill a market niche that has popular appeal so it will fail like all the attempts before it.
They think they’re delivering “cool” like a motorcycle and “safety” like a car, but what people really see is the “cool” of an economy car coupled with the reduced “safety” of a motorcycle. People ride motorcycles for the visceral experience. People drive cars largely for the practicality (sports cars excepted). This delivers neither the visceral experience of riding a motorcycle nor the practicality of the average grocery getter. I agree, the market for this is very limited and it’s virtually guaranteed to fail, like every iteration of this concept before it.
I’m one of the few who would consider buying one, but I think you’re right.
I’m guessing that if they actually make it to market, they’ll have one showroom in NYC and one in LA. The sticker price would be $70,000. That would shrink their market base even further.
I ride a moto for practicality. It’s about the same cost as public transport and much more reliable. It’s also able to filter thru heavy trafic - which is where trikes like this fail to me.
Can-Am still making three-wheeler though. It will definitely fill the niche market because some people really like weird mobile, and they will pay for a weird mobile. The only concern is whether the company can survive selling only weird mobile.
You don’t think people might rent them? Like in tourist destinations. Can’t pack your riding gear but don’t want/need a car kind of thing.
I doubt any rental company will take a risk buying these expensive trikes which most people won’t even consider trying. Would be very rare either way and the sales number would be pretty low.
That’s what I would have thought about those Can-Am three wheelers but I see them all over the southeast US.
