This Street-Legal Two-Seater Trike Is No Spyder, but It May Just Be the Deal of the Year

That's right folks, the wonderous trike before you today is nothing more than the E-Spider from Massimo Electric, a crew that's been around since 1992 and today is responsible for an array of electrified vehicles such as golf carts, utility trucks, and even charging stations.

Yet, suppose you explore the gear this crew sells. In that case, you'll also run across the E-Spider, which, if you ask me, is one hell of an enticing machine, especially if we consider the capabilities it comes with for just $7,000 (€6,500 at current exchange rates). I'm not saying that this beauty is the go-to urban solution for all your travels, but it's got to be a fun ride, especially when we consider the rest of what makes this puppy what it is.

As mentioned, the Spider is an electric vehicle, and that means something. Mainly, it means a high-pitched squeal as you take off from a stoplight with a 3,000 W mid-mounted motor with chain drive sucking the juice out of a 50 Ah battery operating under 72 V.

Now, Massimo makes no mention of this bugger's top speed on their website or any torque outputs either. But the video below does mention that these babies are mentioning that they can hit a top speed of up to 50 mph (80 kph). Pretty dang good coming from a machine that weighs only 652 lbs (295 kg) dry; it'll handle a load capacity of another 450 lbs (204 kg). It's also reported that this bugger has a runtime of up to five hours, but the flick states that up to 90 miles (145 km) is possible.

That's a rough idea of what's underneath the hood, but what about the rest of this road-legal trinket? Well, starting with the exterior of this bugger, we can see an array of panels making up the body which are connected to an underlying tube frame that gives this Spider its shape, looks, and safety ratings; none are mentioned yet again, just the fact that this is a road-legal machine. We'll talk about that a bit more shortly.

Once a central tube frame is put into place, the E-Spider then makes use of an independent suspension system at the front, part of which can be spotted protruding through the would-be hood, and at the rear, a classic wing arm is in place. Disc brakes and that chain drive complete the picture, not to mention those very car-like tires.

As for the cab, throw in a couple of seats that look like gaming chairs, seat bells, a hand brake, and that's about it. It also has turn signals, stop lights, an instrument panel, and the speed necessary to keep up with traffic. I'd still wear a helmet while driving it. Those of us who have swallowed flies at 50 mph know what I'm talking about.

The question is, how does this bugger compare to a Can-Am Spyder? Honestly, that would be like comparing apples to oranges and saying that gravity doesn't exist; you catch my drift. Can-Am has been finetuning the Spyder for years, and aside from the 2024 RT costing over $26K, you can cross the US on a Spyder; the E-Spider is sure to buckle under the pressure of such a feat.

All this raised the question of why we aren't seeing more and more of the rather promising E-Spider on our city streets. After all, $7,000 is a pretty sweet deal for a two-seater, three-wheeling EV with which you can roam around your urban landscape. If you have any ideas, feel free to comment below. Personally, I feel it may have a tad to do with the following paragraph.

I just can't help but shake a particular feeling whenever I look at the E-Spider; the fact that this thing looks as Chinese as it can be, so I did some digging. While I couldn't find this exact model, I did find a fossil-fuel-burning counterpart. All Massimo would need to do at that stage is swap out the guts. Still, there's definitely a manufacturer out there that spits these babies out like they're made with a cookie cutter.

Finally, I do need to point out that the E-Spider is technically classified as a "Kid's Electric Vehicle" on their Amazon page, with a manufacturer-recommended age of "0 months and up." What!? All my brain could spit out at this point was an image of a bunch of babies rocking these EVs around town, getting together at the local trike meet, wearing Oakley's and Ray Bans, smoking cigarettes but asking for their diapers to be changed, I have a weird brain, I know.

Still, I find it a rather fun and neat urban mobility solution for adults and younger kids who have some idea of what driving on the road means; whip out those learner permits and check it out.