Here at The Autopian, one of our favorite genres of car is the “little guy” segment. Cars that elicit similar reactions as kittens, baby opossums, and anthropomorphized household items. Admittedly, North America’s been light on this sort of vehicle lately, but take a look around and you’ll find them all over the world. In fact, here’s a new one now. It’s called the Fiat Tris, and not only is it adorable, it’s an electric commercial vehicle designed for developing markets.
An ultra-minimalist three-wheeled truck might sound like a niche mobility solution but it’s worked before. Back in 1947, aeronautical engineer Corradino D’Ascanio designed a tiny three-wheeled truck around Vespa mechanicals. The Piaggio Ape was born, and it quickly became an enduring fixture of Italy. Small, light, inexpensive and rugged, these Apes have been transporting goods around Italian cities and villages for nearly 80 years, so it’s not surprising that when Fiat was looking to build a cheap commercial vehicle for Africa and the Middle East, it drew inspiration from its own backyard.
The resulting Fiat Tris is a machine of incredibly modest specs. It only has a range of about 56 miles, has a fairly tiny 6.9 kWh battery pack, a small 9 kW electric motor, and tops out at about 28 mph. However, Fiat claims it can be be charged from 10-to-80 percent from a household plug socket in 3.5 hours using its built-in charging cord, and a short range and low output doesn’t define this thing’s specs.
Not only can the tray of the Tris accommodate a Euro pallet, this thing has an official payload of 1,190 pounds. That’s only 285 fewer pounds than a Toyota Tacoma Trailhunter can take. What’s more, the TRIS can be ordered with a proper flat tray, meaning what it can carry isn’t limited by any bedsides. Need to move something bulky across town? It’ll do the trick, just strap your load down and go. Also, it’s not like the Tris is completely devoid of amenities. There’s a USB-C port to charge a phone, a 12-volt socket, a glovebox, and LED lighting. My Boxster doesn’t even have a USB-C port or a glovebox!
Oh, and how could we forget to mention the aesthetic whimsy of the Tris. From its upright form to its emoticon eyes to its two-tone finish putting a splash of joy over utilitarianism, it looks endearing rather than austere. In orange-and-black, it’s almost like a clownfish for urban deliveries. Expect it to enter production in Morocco soon, with sales across Africa and the Middle East to follow.
Top graphic credit: Fiat
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
and i thought my kei truck sambar was small.
It does remind me of Nemo.
All city and government officials should have to drive one of these to work, unless they choose transit.
I will reserve judgment until I see what happens when you hit the turn signal.
I can’t see where else the turn signal could be, but if those arrows start flashing, it’s a hard no. THEY POINT THE WRONG WAY, did you learn nothing from that stupid Mini?!
Always wanted an Ape, love the concept, and have seen enough success of the moped world to be fine with things like the speed. Totally makes sense in the world of small tight inner cities, for deliveries, but will never make sense in the US.
They should do a slightly larger version with a bigger bed and dually wheels. Call it the TRIST.
I can see them opening up a market with this and then local and Chinese production taking it over. Lots of little retrofit shops and small production vehicle plants popping up all over Africa and the middle east using mainly Chinese components.
Pitstop.
A household outlet in Europe is 220V-240V, unlike North America’s 110V-120V, so those would take longer to charge over here.
Ngl, 28 MPH is too slow for something this big.
Depends on how quick it gets up to speed, I live (unfortunately) in a neighborhood where all roads are 30mph speed limited and each exit to a faster road has places I *DO* go.
Jaunts within a 5-10 minute would be appreciated. Since I do this in an S550 Mustang PP Turbo.
Would it work perfect for me? YES!
Am I gonna buy one? F’ NO!
There is no way even at “Fiat” Build quality will it justify its price point…Unless it uses Chinese E-bike batteries. And I don’t want it to catch on fire.
I have no clue how expensive it’ll be, but I got my 2025 Nissan Leaf S brand new for $21,500.
It’ll do highway speeds and has 149 miles of range.
I doubt this will be the cost effective option if you live anywhere with regular sized roads with regular speed limits.
Is the market for the Ape so big that it can take another competitor in Italy?
It sounds like this are mostly going to be sold in the MEA market
Primates are pretty territorial.
The Ape isn’t really sold in Italy anymore, the Piaggio Port NP6 replaced it. The current new Porter is based on a Chinese truck called the Foton Gratour V3. Piaggio basically entered a deal where they got the rights to the Foton but modified and improved it a LOT to meet Euro requirements.
It, sadly, took over from the Ape. Piaggio still produces the Ape for the Indian market, but I don’t think they sell it in Europe anymore.
India has around 1.5 billion people.
So much overpriced coffee is going to be sold off the back of these.
Hopefully they’ll start selling these in Italy, and then a lot of real cheap Apes can be imported here to have overpriced coffee served off the back of them.
Ngl, I’ve totally considered importing an Ape to make an espresso cart????
I’ve probably bought espresso from one, I’ve definitely purchased yuppie ice cream from one (we even have a place called Bar Ape in Toronto that keeps one parked out front).
It’s adorable! Is the body made of plastic, or it’s just painted in a matte finish? Does the driver sit in the middle of the little cabin, or to one side with room for a passenger. Three wheelers w/one wheel in front always make me a bit nervous (no, not because of Clarkson’s modified Reliant Robin bit) but it looks great for its intended purpose. Just curious, what is it likely to cost, do you know? It’s moot of course, but I’m just wondering. 🙂
A little more sleek than the Bajaj Maxima C for sure. Italians care about design clearly 🙂
I like the look a lot better than the Hyundai/TVS EV Autorickshaw, though the latter has many more variants.
Love it. I would put a fold out solar panel array on the roof to help keep it charged.
Given the size of the battery and the low speeds it operates (making aero less of a concern) a bit of solar up there would go a long way.
No pun intended?