Now on duty in Minneapolis: Electric cars
Posted on November 24th, 2008 – 6:33 PMBy Roadguy
This morning, I stopped by a short-n-chilly news conference in Minneapolis, where the city was introducing two all-electric cars to its fleet (press release here, mayoral YouTube video here). Both vehicles are fully rechargeable. The one above is a ZENN car (zero emissions, zero noise), which was made in France and refitted with batteries in Canada, while the green one below was made in Princeton, Minn., by e-ride:
The mayor invited me to get behind the wheel of the green one, but I decided to let him chauffeur me around the parking lot of the public works facility for a minute instead. This allowed me to take pictures of the rather simple dashboard (all photos are click-to-enlarge):
No shifting, just forward and reverse. Also of note: no airbag. And while there’s heat, there’s no air conditioning, unless you count this:
I wouldn’t want to spend all day in one, but that’s sort of the point — no one would ever have to. The vehicle’s range is 20 to 35 miles on a charge, ideal for the short hops around the city that staffers from the inspections department will make. Here’s a cost comparison from the city:
The estimated five-year cost for a ZENN and fuel is $19,000. For comparison, a Ford Taurus costs $33,515 and a Chevy Cobalt costs $25,290 for five years (assuming 10,000 miles per year at $3.50 per gallon for fuel). The vehicles have a range of 20 to 35 miles on a full charge. A full charge takes an estimated 7 kWh of electricity, which costs just $0.56.
The fuel estimate is high at the moment, but in five years, who knows. Click here for more on electric cars from Tuesday’s Variety section.
8 Responses to "Now on duty in Minneapolis: Electric cars"
My $1,100 van has air conditioning. And it goes more than 40 miles per hour.
…yeah, it goes more than 40 miles per hour when the head gasket isn’t leaking.
I got a look at the ZENN cars at the most recent Living Green Expo at the Fairgrounds. I was impressed just how far the electric vrhicles have come in the past few years.
The grounds crew on the Capitol complex has a two door version of the green one (but yellow in color). They roll that around now instead of the mini diahatsu pickup hauling their weed-whackers and other lawn/garden implements.
No offense, but those really look more like tricked out golf carts than actual vehicles. Don’t get me wrong, that’s great that the city is using them instead of large vehicles, and I do think that cars like this have potential for a number of people who make short commutes.
That said, it is the small steps like this that will lead to future progress. We didn’t swtich from horse and buggy overnight. It required someone to figure out how to mass produce a vehicle for cheap and an incentive to build the infrastructure required to service those vehicles that ultimately led to the gas-powered culture. That took roughly 30 years. Why should electric be any different?
ZENN is planning on converting its batteries to capacitors in the next year or two using equipment from EESTOR (search web for more details). IF (big if) this technology proves successful, they will have a real car that can be driven at highway speed over significant distances, not a fancy golf-cart. I’m keeping my fingers crossed, and remain optimistic, yet skpetical.
My head gasket is fine. Why no love for the 1993 VW Eurovan?
I test drove a ZENN car. It would be practical for getting around the city on parkways and side streets, although the range is a bit limited by the batteries today.
