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Forum » Three Weehler EVs » Other EV's - 3-wheelers and micro electric cars

SAM II EV Testdrive

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Written on: 28 February 2010 [14:00]
ecoadmin Administrator Topic creator registered since: 20.07.2007 Posts: 504	Dear all, A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to test the new SAM EV II. Some of you might remember that SAM was selling this vehicle in Switzerland some years ago, but if I am not mistaken less than 100 vehicles were sold. A new owner is now producing the SAM again in Poland and it is currently for sale in Poland and Switzerland. The specs are as follows: - 2 seats (front/rear), 3 wheels - 50 miles / 90 km range - Window heating system - Leasing of battery possible - LiPo Battery - Full charge 5hrs - Price including battery Euro 16400 / USD 22300 - Optionally the vehicle is available by leasing the battery Vehicle price Euro 10250 / USD 14000 Battery leasing/month Euro 163 / USD 222 Other options: - Seat heating - HiFi equipment - Rear view camera - Park heating - Aluminium wheels The drive No doubt, the SAM is an eyecatcher. On my short trip of only 15 minutes, pedestrians were stopping, pointing, smiling. I took the test drive together with my wife in an urban environment with lots of stop and go traffic. To get into the rear seat is easy, once the front seat has been moved fully to the front. The mechanism works like in any other 2-door car. The seats are comfortable but not like your sofa at home. They feel more like sitting in a sports car. Due to the narrow canopy and the front/rear seat arrangement, it feels more like sitting on a encased motorcycle. After I got a short intro to all the gauges, handles and indicators, I was ready to roll. Seat belt on, and off we went. Driving the SAM is easy and there are only minor differences to a regular car. Due to the fact that the front wheels are placed outside of the car body, one has to be careful when driving through narrow passages in order not to damage them. Accelerating and steering is done like on any other car and needs no special training. The SAM as most electric cars needs only a forward, neutral and reverse gearshift position, so the handling is like driving a car with automatic transmission. Recuperation kicks in as soon as the (gas) pedal is released or the brake is actuated. SAM offers if I remember correctly two different driving modes such as eco and sport mode. The acceleration is sport mode is very good and you can easily flow with the traffic, in fact you are often accelerating smoother and faster than others because of the electric drivetrain. SAM is clearly a commuter vehicle and in my opinion best used when riding alone. The rear seat can then be used as extra space for goods etc. If both passengers are relatively tall, it gets too tight around the knees. If one is tall and the other passenger short, that combination would work well. SAM does not offer as much comfort as a regular car with four wheels but its handling is like a regular car and it offers possibly a better comfort compared to other currently available three-wheelers. All in all a good alternative if you are looking for a commuter vehicle. The price is in my opinion also very fair and the cost of ownership is very likely to be lower than any other small ICE powered car. I am no battery expert, but I was surprised to hear that SAM is powered by LiPo batteries. If you don't want to take any risk by buying the battery, you have to option to lease it. If you would like to test drive the vehicle, you can find out more on http://www.friends-of-sam.com ecocarforum.com - Green Car Network
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Written on: 01 March 2010 [15:32]
Yardonn registered since: 22.08.2007 Posts: 156	What would you say about the Sam in comparison to the twike (-easy... no pedals... ) Looks like Range and speed are similar. The Sam seems to be quite a bit cheaper compared to a li-ion Twike. But the trunk of the twike is missing, isn't it? Alleweder 4 http://www.akkurad.com allmost full weather protection for one person at 0 - 1.5 kWh / 100 km CityEl as secondary E-Car
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Written on: 01 March 2010 [18:54]
ecoadmin Administrator Topic creator registered since: 20.07.2007 Posts: 504	The Twike and the SAM are two different kind of vehicles. Yes, they both have three wheels but the driving experience is a different one. SAM is definitely more practicable in every day use. It feels more solidly and has a better suspension. Due to the windshield heating defogging is no problem. The price is acceptable and below the price of a TWIKE. Comfort-wise it is something between a Twike and a car. The driving experience however is much better in a Twike. In a SAM you feel like riding on an encased motorcycle with training wheels, not really cool. In a Twike you feel more like in a sports car or a glider because of the joystick steering. In a Twike you can see that the builder has a long experience in manufacturing these vehicles. It has a sophisticated battery management system, cruise control and high quality material is used throughout. The Twike has been built for very high efficiency without much compromise. The SAM just has what is needed to drive. You are right, I was missing the extra space in the SAM. The Twike really scores in this discipline. The available space allows to carry all the stuff needed to go on a weekend trip. SAM doesn't have any luggage space as long as two people are on board. Another downside was the winter-friendlyness of SAM. The grip is relatively low and care must be taken when driving on snowy roads. The Twike is performing much better in snow. I personally would not give my Twike for a SAM, but I must stress that for someone else a SAM might be a better choice. What really speaks for a Twike is the long-term experience available with this vehicle and the high manufacturing quality. The mobility future remains very interesting. Although many people consider such vehicles a joke and will also in the future be driving 4-wheelers, there will be more choices available to buyers and more innovative solutions offered. The buyer will not only have the option to buy a small car, he also will have the luxury to choose from a vehicle with three wheels, joystick, etc... The market for these vehicles will remain small for some time, but gains popularity as long as oil prices will rise. Cheers, Stefan ecocarforum.com - Green Car Network
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Written on: 18 March 2010 [16:16]
Franko30 Moderator registered since: 08.09.2007 Posts: 79	Hi, what I don't get is that the SAM doesn't seem to have battery heating. Is every electric car owner supposed to own a garage to park the vehicle? On the other hand: The Twike doesn't have battery heating as well - but with my 24 Ah/360 V version it doesn't matter as much if 25 % of the 150 km range are not available because the batteries are below 0 ° Celsius (10 % less when below 10 ° C)... Cheers Franko30 Twike 891 easy: 24 Ah Li-Ion-Mn batteries, 360 V, about 7 kWh/100 km (336 US-miles per Gallon) | Citysax 002: 160 Ah Li-iron phosphate batteries, 83 V, about 13 kWh/100 km (180.93 US-Miles per Gallon)
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