August 21, 2006 4:00 AM PDT
Automaker aims to bring clean cars to the masses
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At the moment, electric cars, at least inexpensive ones, need work. While the Xebra can go 40mph, it takes awhile to get up to top speed. Flooring it, I cranked it up to 30mph, but it took about six seconds. The battery charge lasts for about 40 miles. The performance and range, however, will increase with better batteries. Currently, the Xebra runs on a lead acid battery.
But I do have to admit, I smiled the whole time I was driving it.
"This is a second car or even a third car," Schneider said. Ninety percent of all car trips in the U.S. are under 21 miles, and most of the time the driver never cranks up the car past 40 miles an hour, he added. Thus, a market could exist for cheap commuter cars.
By contrast, the scooters are a different story. The Zappy 3 picks up quickly and turns well. It is also much easier to learn to drive and seems to be faster than a Segway. The Zappy 3 costs only $700, far less than the thousands that Segways cost.
May buyers of the scooters are big fans. Ken and Diana Ackerman, who were visiting ZAP's warehouse, have bought 20 ZAP scooters for residents of their trailer park in Calistoga, Calif. "We ride every night at 7 p.m.," Diana said. The riders, some of whom are around 80 years old, will soon participate in a parade.
The Zappy 3 is supposed to top out at 15 miles an hour. Schneider, who lives on a hill, recently took a Zappy up to 40mph, but wiped out and broke four ribs and some other parts.
"I took it way past its capabilities," he admitted.
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14 comments
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did you mean 50 mpg? And if so, why do you equate fuel efficiency with cleanliness?
burned to generate power, the more CO2 and other pollutants that
enter the atmosphere.
I would recommend you no longer report what they are doing until they actually come out with something that is better than a scooter.
www.microcarmuseum.com/. These visionaries from Germany,
France, the US, Italy, and other places were way ahead of their time.
commutes.
The styling and name could also use some work. Some of the
models shown in the video are very very ugly, and "Zap" is not a
good name. Makes me think of being zapped by an SUV or
delivery truck. May as well call it "Squish".
How about "eCar" or "Charge" or "eLite" or "eGo" or "E4U" or
something like that?
But I like the concept.
The names you suggessted remind me of Yugo, and Geo Metro, yuck.
IMHO
JD
These work great for running to the corner market, cruising the neighborhood, or zipping over to the lake near where I live.
I really hope ZAP cars take off, I'll buy one. I have a Scion xB right now, and a ZAP would look great sitting next to it. Who needs a Hummer!
JD
idea in its head (in this case CO2 emissions) it
lays itself wide open to fraud. Asoide from the fact that the electricity that powers these electric cars is most definitely NOT GREEN, the biggest fraud are
thsoe that make economic claims, like so many
equivalent miles per gallon, carefully avoiding the
costs of batteries. Unless a new electric uses the
Altair Nanosafe lithium batteries, it is antique technology. That goes double for the hairbrained Tesla, which must incorporate a Rube Goldberg battery management system in an atempt to overcome
the limitations of the plain Jane lithium ion
batteries it uses (cost $20,000; lifespan - 750 recharges). Unfortunately those batteries cannot be rapidly charged like the Altair batteries(8 minutes versus Tesla's 4 hours) and be completely
safe and flow current 4 times faster and last for over 10,000 recharges. Any electric not using the new Altair batteries is a waste of money.