PREVIEW

Will.iam has launched his own futuristic Ai-powered electric vehicle - one that bears a passing resemblance to the 1980s flop, the Sinclair C5.

The vehicle, known as TRINITY, is due to be produced in a limited run of 500 units, with first deliveries planned for August 2027.

In the UK, comparisons are inevitable with the Sinclair C5 – Sir Clive Sinclair’s battery-powered electric tricycle launched in 1985.

Like TRINITY, the C5 was conceived as an eco-friendly urban vehicle but flopped with consumers due to its limited range, low speed and exposed driving position.

It has, however, gained something of cult status and its advocates would claim it was just ahead of its time.

The Black Eyed Peas star believes modern technology, swankier styling and changing attitudes to city travel will make the difference in the 2020s.

The single-passenger vehicle is being launched via Kickstarter, where supporters will be able to register interest in a future opportunity to buy one. The price is expected to be under $30,000 (£24,000), with further details due to be released later this month.

Where it significantly outstrips the C5 is its incorporation of modern technology - as it features an AI assistant that can converse, capture images of the world around you - utilising NVIDIA’s advanced microchips.

“TRINITY is a next-gen micromobility platform that aligns Human, Vehicle, and Agent,” said will.i.am. “It’s brains on wheels, built from the agent up.”

Rather than focusing on self-driving technology, its AI centres on what its developers describe as an “Agentic Operator”, powered by NVIDIA systems. The AI processes real-time visual and language data, feeding it into an infotainment system called RAiDiO, which turns audio into a conversational experience.

Richard Kerris, NVIDIA’s vice-president and general manager of media, described the vehicle as a creative tool as much as a mode of transport.

“Artists have always pushed technology until it becomes a new instrument,” he said. “With agentic AI running on NVIDIA DGX Spark, TRINITY turns that instrument into something you can take with you—an intelligent collaborator that helps you capture ideas, shape experiences, and realize a vision in ways that simply weren’t possible before.”

The AI assistant is designed to manage calendars, communications and errands through natural conversation, while the driver remains focused on navigating the road. In that sense, TRINITY reflects a very different philosophy from the C5, which stripped transport back to its bare essentials.

The project has been three years in development and has been personally funded by the Scream & Shout singer. It brings together DEKA Research & Development - best known for its work on the Segway - and West Coast Customs, the US firm famous for bespoke car modifications.#

Dean Kamen, founder of DEKA, said the team had adapted ideas from earlier personal transport systems.

“DEKA's top engineers rose to the challenge, adapting the architecture and controls approach underlying our original design for the Segway to deliver the next-gen micro-mobility vehicle,” he said, adding that the project also aimed to create new training and apprenticeship opportunities.
Manufacturing is planned for Boyle Heights in Los Angeles, where the production facility is intended to double as a training centre for robotics and advanced manufacturing. Only 500 will initially go on sale.

Whether TRINITY will succeed where the Sinclair C5 failed remains to be seen. Urban transport has changed dramatically in the past 40 years, with electric scooters, e-bikes and car-sharing schemes now common in cities worldwide.
What is clear is that the ambition to rethink personal urban travel - once embodied by Sir Clive Sinclair - is very much alive in the hands of the pop star.