Tired of waiting for EVs to become available?

[kevingalls]

[caption id="attachment_623" align="alignnone" width="636" caption="Trexa EV platform"][/caption] Later this year expect to see what I think could be an industry changing product. Trexa, the same company who brought you the EDrive Prius with improved lithium ion batteries, is working on this EV platform from which you can build your own car. The idea is you buy this carbon/aluminum/plastics skateboard substructure which can go roughly 100mph powered by two electric motors. Then, you take all that bottled creativity you have and build your own car. Confused? Well, remember how Scion told us we could buy one and customize it any which way? Remember when you bought Legos as a kid because you wanted to build your own damn toys? Remember this BMW GINA concept? People like to mix and match thier own wardrobe, customize their homes, change their ringtones, shave their facial hair in funny shapes, etc.

It would be nice if the automotive industry could take the same steps towards flexibility, customization and do-it-yourself additude allowed in things like myspace profiles, ponoko, and ikea furniture but the fact is the automobile industry is heavily regulated in most nations with lame federal safety standards. So, while we might not get away with building vehicles any way we want, we might at least be able to choose from customizable setups which are guaranteed to look like transformer legos.

Photo courtesy autoblog.