This isn’t a case of EV tax credit fraud—it’s much more straightforward.

Just outside Gilbert, Arizona, a scrapyard is accumulating tons of a single, peculiar type of vehicle. Videos of the heap of three-wheeled EVs are circulating online, sparking speculation and rumors about why they’re being destroyed. The reality, however, is straightforward: they started breaking down and couldn’t be repaired, leaving no choice but to dispose of them.
You’re seeing the remnants of dozens of ElectraMeccanica Solo EVs, a three-wheeled commuter vehicle produced from 2018 to 2023. Initially marketed as the ultimate affordable EV solution, according to The Autopian, the Solo’s appeal was significantly hindered by its $18,000 price tag and single-seat cabin. However, these factors (along with its three-wheeled design) were not the cause of its downfall.

In August 2022, ElectraMeccanica received a complaint from a customer whose Solo had lost propulsion while driving. More reports followed in September, prompting the company’s engineering team to diagnose and address the issue. They determined that “a defect in the motor controller and inverter or the battery controller may cause the electric motor to shut down,” but they couldn’t find a solution. The problem was escalated to ElectraMeccanica’s executive team, leading to a recall in February 2023 for nearly every vehicle sold to U.S. customers, totaling 428 Solos.
While the recall documents suggested the company hoped to find a fix, it never materialized. In April, the company informed customers it would be buying back all affected vehicles. Since then, ElectraMeccanica was acquired by electric truck company Xos, which has shown no interest in repairing the Solos for resale. Instead, it appears they have opted to scrap them. An employee at the junkyard allegedly told a visitor that the destruction of the Solos had to be supervised to ensure it was done correctly. (Author’s note: it was probably cheaper to write them all off than to pursue any other option.)
The Drive contacted Xos for an official explanation as to why all the EVs were sent to be crushed instead of fixed. Xos responded that “Following the recall, buyback, and ElectraMeccanica’s cessation of sales, the vehicles were disposed of partly via the facility in the linked video. Following the acquisition by Xos, ElectraMeccanica’s few remaining operations have been wound down.”
It’s unfortunate to see a vehicle’s development end in wholesale destruction, but the ElectraMeccanica Solo was never on track to change the world. No single EV, regardless of its radical design or visionary creator, can achieve that.