If the high cost of gas has you nervous about your budget, a Vancouver car manufacturer may have the answer for you. Electra Meccanica’s SOLO electric commuter vehicle is about to go into mass production and the money you’d save on fuel and parking could make it a worthwhile purchase.

The SOLO is single-seat vehicle, designed for an environmentally conscious driver. Matthew Green got one of the first prototypes and still gets stares when he’s on the road.

“People yell things like, 'Where’s the rest of it? Why are you driving a shoe?'” Green joked, “But we’re the ones laughing all the way to the bank.”

After 10 months of driving it, he says he’s spent just $200 on electricity to power it.

“It’s meant for the 83 per cent of people who commute to work,” explained Jerry Kroll, Electra Meccanica’s CEO.

The unique looking vehicle attracted a lot of attention at the Vancouver International Auto Show this year. At a cost of around $20,000 it can drive 160 kilometres on a charge, at a top speed of 130 km/h. And it can go zero to 100 in eight seconds. It takes up to 6 hours to charge on 110V, half that time if you use 220V.

“It’s like charging your cell phone. When you go to bed you plug your car in instead of your phone,” Green pointed out.

And while it looks small, once you’re inside there’s enough room in it, even if you’re tall.

Ross McLaughlin took the car for a test drive. He says it’s like a three-wheeled electric motorbike, except quieter and dry since it's all enclosed. And people do stare.

As for safety?

"A lighter weight vehicle with the composite technology underneath is much safer," said Kroll.

13,000 SOLOs have been preordered, and Electra Meccanica is now developing a two-seater version.

It’s called the Tofino Roadster. The chassis weighs less than 150 pounds and it will have farther range and be much faster, at a cost of $50,000.

But for now Green is happy with his SOLO.

"The suspension is very tight. The acceleration is there. You feel every nook and cranny," said Green.

Green’s prototype was handmade in New Westminster. Right now there are 26 SOLO’s on the road but in October the company will go into mass production in China. The company says there isn’t a suitable facility locally and because it's a startup, so it doesn't have the money to build a new manufacturing plant from the ground up. But it says it is working on raising the money to do that.

“The only problem with having the car is having to share it with my mom," he joked.

Orders have been coming in from all over the world with most of the interest in California. The company hopes to produce 75,000 SOLOs over the next three years. And the two seater Roadster could be on the road in a couple of years.