Morgan's Wooden Three-Wheeler Is the Eccentric's Electric

The EV3 is an eccentric contribution to the auto industry's shift away from internal combustion engine.

The Morgan Motor Company's cars look like they're made for the sort of gents who dismiss continental Europe as gauche and swap complaints about their butlers. That doesn't mean they're not awesome, a hallmark of the day when three wheels were plenty and wood was the logical material of choice.

Now, Morgan, which rediscovered its love of three wheels in 2011, steps into the future (kinda) with the EV3, a terrifically eccentric contribution to the auto industry's shift away from internal combustion engine.

The British automaker says the car, introduced last year and now approaching production, is inspired by "1930s aero-engine race cars, classic motorcycles and 1950s fantasy automatons." The EV3 should cost around $50,000 when it goes on sale later this year.

With a carbon fiber hood and aluminum panels laid over an ash wood frame (wood!), the EV3 is based on Morgan's standard 3-wheeler, so it still resembles an overturned bathtub. The interior is sparse but classy, with its gear switch between the speedometer and a range indicator. The single, offset headlight (it "adds to the overall asymmetry") sits above brass cooling fins that channel air to the 20-kilowatt hour lithium ion battery.

A liquid-cooled 46-kW motor drives the rear wheel, and the range is 150 miles. It all weighs less than 1,100 pounds and tops out north of 90 mph. Yes, three-wheeled cars tend to be unstable, but Morgan doesn't cater to those concerned with practicality.

The nine-second sprint to 62 mph will put you behind a Kia Sorento, but it'll feel a hell of a lot faster without a windshield. And that's what this car is all about: Giving drivers just enough performance to justify their bombastically styled three-wheeled conveyance.