A young Suffolk woman has gone green in more ways than one with her transportation choice.

Lizzie Dorschel, 21, can be seen about downtown pedaling a wasabi-green ELF, a vehicle designed and built by Durham, N.C.-based Organic Transit.

“It’s basically a solar-powered bicycle,” she said recently.

The vehicle runs on a battery, which can be charged in a wall outlet or by the solar panels on the roof of the car. It also has pedals like a bicycle and can be moved forward using only the pedals, only the battery or any level of combination of the two. It also has headlights, turn signals, mirrors and a horn, as well as a surprising amount of trunk space.

Dorschel’s mother discovered the ELF online, and her parents purchased it for her birthday. The family drove to Durham together on Nov. 2 to pick it up. They got one of the first ones manufactured — No. 89 — and chose green because it is both Dorschel’s favorite color and the most visible of those available.

Dorschel has been visually impaired since the age of 8 and does not feel comfortable driving a car. Her vision is not correctable, but she can still see what she needs to on the road, she said.

The ELF — the company’s website gives no clue what the acronym might stand for, though various media outlets have reported it as either electric or easy, light and fun — has given her more mobility, she said.

“It gives me freedom,” she said. “I can go when I need to.”

The contraption comes with a shell that protects her and her cargo from the elements. She said it can go about 30 miles per hour, and the battery lasts up to 50 miles, depending on how much energy is being used.

Organic Transit’s website says the ELF can go 1,800 miles on the energy equivalent of one gallon of gas.

The ELF has attracted a good deal of attention around town. On one of her first outings with the ELF, on Election Day, Dorschel exited her polling place and found a crowd of about 20 people around her vehicle.

It’s street-legal anywhere a bicycle is allowed to go, she added. She even locks it on bike racks.

“It has a key, but people could pedal away with it,” she said. “I love it.”