MonoTracer MT e150: $100,000

The first cabin motorcycle, EcoMobile, debuted in 1982. Hmm, let's see ... what else debuted that very same year? Perhaps a certain video game-oriented science fiction movie known for its iconic Light Cycle scene! Notice the striking similarity with -- oh wait, wrong clip. Here's the right one. Anyway, fast-forward three decades. The nostalgically futuristic E-Tracer 7009 won the $2.5 million X Prize in the Alternative Tandem class. So when will we "Tron"-worshipping consumers get the chance to own one of these purely battery-powered, low-drag, two-person vehicles?

According to 21st Century Motoring, the official North American agency for MonoTracer of Switzerland, the MT e150 will be powered by the AC Propulsion 150kW electric motor and is expected to be available some time in March 2012 for a base price of $100,000. Its stressed skin monocoque, hand-layered from DuPont Kevlar, will make for one strong, safe body shell. It's supposedly capable of traveling around 200 miles at a steady 60 miles per hour -- not quite as far if you choose to flirt with its top speed, around 2 1/2 times that. Lateral stabilizer wheels keep the vehicle upright at much slower speeds, automatically retract past 15 miles per hour and give the vehicle a little extra traction in hard turns of up to 52 degrees of lean angle. For those who can't wait till spring to see or possibly drive the world's first fully enclosed motorcycle, there are always videos ...