Cool Equipment: Vancouver’s Steamworks Brewing touts two tiny SOLO electric company cars

Those two new Steamworks Brewing Co. e-cars above will catch your attention cruising down the avenue. Powered by a 17.3-kWh lithium-ion battery (three hours to full charge) and compatible with universal charging stations everywhere, these sweet SOLO beer vehicles encapsulate efficiency, clever marketing and style.

They’re produced by Electra Meccanica, a Vancouver neighbor to Steamworks. From the press release:

“We ask people to buy local when it comes to beer, so why shouldn’t we when it comes to cars,” said Steamworks owner Eli Gershkovitch. “Our business takes us all over the lower mainland and 90 percent of the time our trips are only with ourselves, so the use of a large vehicle isn’t always necessary. As a B.C. owned and operated business we love when we get the opportunity to support built in B.C. products, and we are thrilled to be contributing positively to the environment and our local economy.”

Even cooler, Steamworks will also power the SOLO vehicle using steam from the brewing process.

“We are installing a micro steam turbine to repurpose the steam generated by our brewing process and convert it to electricity to power our SOLOs. So in fact they will be modern steam cars, but until then good clean BC Hydro will do the job,” said Eli Gershkovitch.

These Solos are interesting. They go zero to 60 in eight seconds with a top speed of over 82 mph. Maintenance is simpler. The Solo brand likes to tout it has 99 percent fewer parts than a combustion engine. There is also some luxury here. They come with a heated seat, Bluetooth stereo and rear-view camera, and (the best part) they’re a Vegan-friendly vehicle. The USD MSRP is $16,250.