(Credit:
Wheego Wheels )
The Wheego Whip, another Neighborhood Electric Vehicle, is expected to hit the streets in May, according to Engadget. That is, if Wheego Wheels can find dealers to sell these low-speed, souped-up golf carts. (I'm not just being mean; company founder Mike McQuary purchased a golf cart company and used its product as a base for the Whip).
Wheego, a division of Ruff & Tuff Electric Vehicles (seriously, that's the parent company name), is taking applications to form a network of 50 dealers. That's a strong goal in a weak economy for a new car that has limited use and range, and not much of a marketing plan.
... Read moreIt was good enough for John D. Rockefeller Jr.
To promote itself, Detroit Electric--a new joint venture between Zap and China's Youngman Automotive Group--plan to release a limited number of cars based around the Detroit Electric, an electric car produced by the Anderson Electric Car Co. in the early part of the 20th century.
Anderson produced various models of the Detroit Electric from 1907 to 1939. Customers included Henry Ford and Rockefeller. It was also featured on a stamp. TV host Jay Leno has some of the cars in his collection.
Zap CEO Steve Schneider and Albert Lam, Detroit's CEO.
(Credit: Detroit)When the opportunity came up to buy the brand, Zap and Youngman decided to go for it, said Zap co-founder and CEO Steve Schneider. The reissued car will be based on a model from around 100 years ago.
"For the bride to be, or the bride of many Junes ago, a Detroit Electric," read a company advertisement from decades ago. "No other bridal present means so much, expresses so perfectly all you need to say."
The company advertised quite a bit in Cosmopolitan. During the 1910s, Anderson employed 1,100 people (and not a drunkard, scalawag or reprobate among them!).
Back in 1917, a Detroit Electric cost anywhere from $1,775 to $2,375--in other words, fit for the proletarian or plutocrat. The cars could go 65 miles to 100 miles on a battery charge, but only go at speeds ranging from 6 miles per hour to 25 mph.
Although the company was growing in the 1910s, prices continued to drop on combustion cars, which started to sap sales in the 1920s. The stock market crash of 1929 then took a toll on the company. It lingered through the 1930s before collapsing in 1939.
But it wasn't for lack of enthusiasm.
"The magnificent Detroit Electric is easily the enclosed car sensation of the year," read another ad. Huzzah!
Detroit, in its new incarnation, will start coming out with electric economy cars in 2010.
Two years ago, Zap, the electric transportation specialist out of Santa Rosa, Calif., talked about coming out with a luxury, all-electric SUV called the Zap-X in late 2008 or early 2009. Things have changed a bit.
The company now plans to kick off its electric car strategy with the Alias, a three-wheeled electric car, CEO Steve Schneider said in a phone interview. The company hopes to have a working prototype later this year and then start selling cars in 2009.
Zap and China's Youngman Automotive Group, through a joint venture called Detroit Electric, will then follow up with an economy car, roughly coming out in 2010 or 2011, then a four-seater sedan similar in size and price to a Honda Civic. Subsequently, it will come out with a four-seater sedan that will compete in the Audi class.
An artist's rendering of the Zap Alias.
(Credit: Zap)The Zap-X is still on the road map, but now it's coming later, Schneider asserted.
The switch--starting at the low-end and going up rather than starting high and trickling down--comes as a result of circumstances, necessity, and new partnerships, Schneider said. Zap signed a deal with China's Youngman motors in 2007. Youngman is China's larger domestic car manufacturer and has several models on the street there.
The idea now is to take gas-burning cars produced by Youngman and retrofit them for electric engines and batteries. Manufacturing will become cheaper because a production line already exists. Miles Automotive, which plans to come out with an electric car in 2009 based around an existing Chinese gas-burning car, is doing the same.
The strategy, though, involves a large risk. Batteries remain costly for electric cars. A huge portion of the $98,000 cost of the Tesla Roadster lay in the battery, and the Tesla can only go around 250 miles on a charge. Economy cars in the $35,000 price band only have a range of around 100 miles, a short distance that makes consumers wary. (Toyota and General Motors have both said that the limited range on earlier electric cars was a big reason they didn't sell well.) Some companies are contemplating urging buyers of electric economy cars to occasionally use gas-burning cars for those days they need to drive more than 100 miles. Need to go to Tahoe? Here's your SUV.
The Zap-X SUV, as illustrated on Zap's home page.
(Credit: Zap)Regulatory issues are part of the reason that Zap's three-wheeler will come out first. Three-wheelers are classified as motorcycles so the safety and crash testing regulations are easier to meet. Venture Vehicles, which also wants to come out with a three-wheeler in 2009, is following the same strategy.
"The production time is relatively straightforward. It is only a matter of how fast we can get them through the regulatory framework," Schneider said.
The marketing will also de-emphasize the Zap name, which has had an up-and-down history with investors and consumers. Zap will sell cars that run at 55 miles per hour and less, but the freeway legal cars (which includes everything from the economy car up) will be sold under the Detroit Electric moniker. Detroit Electric was actually a car manufacturer from 1906 to 1939.
"They have sold more electric cars than anyone," Schneider said. The company liked the history and the brand and so decided to buy it.
As part of a promotion, Zap will sell a commemorative version of an electric car that Detroit came out with 100 years ago.
Many have been skeptical of Zap in the past. The company tried to bring Smart Cars to the U.S. in a deal that didn't get off the ground. Nonetheless, the little company does seem to be able to land interesting alliances. It recruited Albert Lam, former managing director at Lotus Engineering, to serve on its board of directors. Lam was instrumental in linking the deal with Youngman. And the company landed millions from investors in Dubai. Lotus also works with Zap.
The UPS branch in Petaluma, Calif., has leased 42 Zap Xebras, low-speed electric vehicles, for deliveries amid a flurry of activity at Zap.
The Xebra, which comes as a car or truck, is a little bit like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. It has three wheels, comes in flashy colors, and tops out at around 40 miles per hour. You can't take it on the freeway, and acceleration is middling. Look at the picture. It doesn't exactly scream chick magnet. (Read more on my test ride.)
Please don't laugh at me
(Credit: Zap)But for inter-neighborhood deliveries, it does the job. UPS will set up drop-off nodes where the Xebras can load up with packages and go do their holiday delivery routes.
Zap is one of a number of low-speed electric-vehicle makers. These cars, which rarely go above 40, are mostly designed for retirement communities, college campuses, and military bases.
A number of analysts and observers in the clean-tech community view Zap with some suspicion. The company has been around for years but has not had a break-out hit. Nonetheless, it's been quite active lately.
It signed a deal with a Chinese company for lithium ion batteries and hired Albert Lam, former managing director of Lotus Engineering. Zap is also working with Lotus to design all-electric sedans and SUVs for 2008.
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