DETROIT -- It looks like an egg on wheels, or maybe a plump version of a golf cart, but a California firm hopes the new three-wheeled Zoe Zipper will be the latest thing in personal transportation.
The Zipper is being marketed by the Los Angeles-based Zoe Motors Inc., whose owners hope to sell between 5,000 and 7,000 of the Japanese-built vehicles in the next year.
The Zipper is powered by a five horsepower, 50 cc motorcE:le engine. Weighing about 370 pounds, it is just under 7 feet long, is 4 feet wide and stands 4 feet high.
Top speed for the vehicle -- which comes as a hardtop or convertible - is 45 mph. In Japan, the Zipper got 112 miles per gallon but officials are still measuring its American fuel economy.
Joe Molina, a spokesman for Zoe Motors, said Monday the Zipper is not a freeway vehicle but is intended to be used around the neighborhood and for commuting.
One prime use would be in planned communities now found in mostly in the Sun Belt where homes, stores, churches and offices are all within blocks of each other.
'This is not meant to take the place of a car -- it's to be used for example if you need to get around the corner to the store,' Molina said. 'It's meant to be pure, simple transportation.'
The Zipper is one of the cheapest three-wheelers yet marketed, selling for between $3,200 and $3,700 depending on options. Most in the past have cost up to $10,000. More than 2,000 have been sold in Japan by Mitsuoka Motors, the manufacturer.
Molina said Zoe Motors first hopes to conquer the California market, then gradually begin selling the Zipper across the United States. The company eventually hopes to sign up about 350 dealers.
