According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, drivers in Ohio are facing problems when it comes time to register their electric three-wheeled vehicles. Most states classify three-wheelers as motorcycles, but Ohio adds one more item to their definition of a motorcycle: a saddle. This means that three-wheelers which have a normal "car-like" seat are unregisterable as a car, because they have fewer than four wheels, or a motorcycle. Two vehicles are mentioned in our source article, the ZAP! Xebra and the NmG from Myers Motors (pictured above), a company based, ironically enough, in Ohio. According to Josh Engel, chief legal counsel for the BMV, "It's not the first time that the law hasn't caught up with technology," adding that the state of Ohio is supportive of electric vehicles. Basically, the law needs to change, and Tom Hunter, communications director for the BMV, suggests that the real solution would be to classify the vehicles as neither cars nor motorcycles. A special class of vehicle would be created, and hopefully a motorcycle endorsement would not be required. We'll keep you updated if anything new comes of this issue. Thanks for the tip, Ken.

[Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer]

Not all episodes of Sundance's The Green programming block feature green vehicles, but when they do, they do. Tomorrow night (Tuesday, the 22nd), the Big Ideas for a Small Planet segment goes for a "Drive." And it looks like fun.

"Drive" follows the same breezy pace as the other Big Ideas episodes (like the first one, "Fuel"), with cool people talking about cool cars and all saying that the world can certainly become a better place. It's engaging and a good way to keep beating that "EVs are golf carts" stereotype (well, until we get to the NMG, anyway).

The four big ideas are as follows:

First, the electric sports car. This segment features – surprise, surprise – the Tesla Roadster. Man, that car is still so cool looking, even after seeing so many pictures and videos of over the last 10 months. Chelsea Sexton, of Plug In America, and David Friedman, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, give a condensed version of the last 100 years of the electric car and we also go on a visit to Tesla Motors. CEO Martin Eberhard introduces viewers to the car; and we tag along on a short ride and drive for people who've agreed to buy a Roadster. Phil, who I'm pretty sure is the same Tesla employee who drove me in the Roadster prototype last summer, takes some advance purchasers for a spin and we see "Who Killed the Electric Car?" director Chris Paine driving the Roadster. Scott Burns, the producer of An Inconvenient Truth, says the Roadster is the first car he's ever purchased without taking it for a test drive.

The second idea is high performance hybrids, and here we get to go 100 mph down the AMCI test track in a Lexus hybrid with Paul Williamsen, National Manager of the Lexus College. Williamsen's work is mostly training service technicians and he tells us that the LS 600h features a hydrocarbon absorber that holds onto hydrocarbon emissions until the catalytic converter is warm enough to process them. The Lexus hybrids aren't solely designed to reduce emissions, but more to increase power without adding emissions.

Idea three is the electric commuter car, here embodied as the NMG, what used to be known as the Sparrow. Dana Myers, founder of Myers Motors, Myers says that the average American spends four hours a year at the gas station, so plugging your car into your garage outlet at night saves time as well as money. He gives the camera crew a quick tour of the factory, and we see the engineers experimenting with a polymer lithium ion battery option in the NMG. It's not a 100 percent smooth, but they do get the tiny, three-wheeled NMG to zip with the new batteries. It sound like the NMG's range with these batteries might be between 50-80 miles, according to Myers.

There's more on the show, and a clip of the Tesla ride and drive after the break. Try not to be too jealous.

[Source: Sundance]

Although no longer sold, the Corbin Sparrow, which sort of resembles a rollerskate, was an electric vehicle classified as a motorcycle in the U.S. that was available between 1999 and 2002. 285 Sparrows were built before the company filed for bankruptcy. It was capable of 75 mph and could travel somewhere between 30 and 60 miles on one charge of its 156 volt battery pack. Of course, along with that, it produced zero emissions in operation.

Valerie Myers of Hagersown Maryland owns a Sparrow and a Toyota Prius. She tries to take the Sparrow when she can, but it's limited space and range sometimes cause her to drive the Prius instead.

A very similar model is currently for sale as the NmG, or "No More Gas", from Myers Motors in Ohio.

Related:

• One-person electric cars offer yet another transportation option
• Alt Car Expo: Brad Hirsch says the Qui Moto not likely to be Myers Motors next car

[Source: Herald-Mail.com]

AutoblogGreen readers are no strangers to Myers Motors and their tiny electric car, the NmG (No more Gas), which Ray Holan profiled in depth last summer. And it's an AutoblogGreen reader tipped us off to the so far low-profile announcement from Myers of their newest EV, the Qui Moto, coming next summer.

Myers is not releasing a lot of information on the Qui Moto just yet. They say it has a 60 mile range, and can go 30 more miles on a mid-day 50 percent Depth of Discharge 110-volt charge. The Qui Moto can go 1,000 miles on $25 worth of energy and seats two side by side, Myers says. Price and other details are unfortunately unavailable. The NmG sells for $24,900.

The sleek yellow Qui Moto (with a drag coefficient of 0.019) is more strikingly beautiful than the NmG, and certainly looks more futuristic than most other cars available today or soon. Perhaps this creative style comes from the subtle message on their logo for Romans 12:2, which demands people be independent and freethinking to discover the will of God. I wonder if that makes the Qui Moto a Godmobile?

[Source: Myers Motors, hat tip to ABG reader Michael]

Editor's note: to read all of Derrick's coverage of Ecofest, click here.



Overall, the 18th annual Ecofest didn't blow me away, but there were certainly some cars I was glad to see up close and some people I was happy to chat with about the state of alternative-fuel vehicles and the projects they're researching and developing. Most notable were the University of Toronto's Blue Sky Solar Race Car Project, the Vehicle Design Summit's human-solar hybrid and the Bicy-taxis. There were, however, other exhibitors that put up some good displays, but for one reason or another they didn't get the star treatment with their own post.

Toyota came proudly showing their colors with the biggest of all displays. On hand were the Prius, the Camry Hybrid, the Highlander Hybrid, the Lexus RX 400h and GS 450h. Unfortunately, the LS hybrid was no where to be seen.

Ford was the only other major automotive manufacturer present, but their exhibit (if you can call it that) only consisted of a single Escape Hybrid parked to the side of the exhibitor area with flyers under the windshield wipers. No spokesman or representative was available to answer any questions.

Myers brought an NmG that was dressed up in high-end audio equipment by Stereo Upgrade. Back in June, Ray Holan provided AutoblogGreen readers with an in-depth analysis of the NmG which can be found here.

The U.S. Postal Service brought two "clean-air" delivery trucks. A gentleman in a USPS uniform told me that one was ran on CNG while the other was a full electric vehicle. He wasn't able to give me any details on either vehicle, but told me to go to usps.com for additional information. A few searches on the site didn't pull up any stats on either of these particular vehicles, so I'll be sure to check back again and see if I can find anything.

Another interesting vehicle was pieced together by Chip Beam and Larry Shilling, the founders of Beaver Energy. The duo showed an old SUV that had been converted to run off wood chips. You can't miss the behemoth fuel feeding system set up in the rear of the vehicle. I wasn't able to get many details about the truck and they don't yet have a website, but I did get the contact information of both men, so you'll most likely be hearing about them in the near future. Do keep an eye out for a feature on them on Discovery's Science Channel. Mr. Shilling mentioned they'll be airing a segment featuring the vehicle in the next month or so.

There was also a BMW 524td running a vegetable oil tank on display, however, the owner of the vehicle was nowhere to be found.

In all, the most optimistic sign of being able to live in a peak oil future was the general positive reaction I observed from the public's interest in their near-term alternatives to fossil fuels.

You'll find additional pictures of display vehicles by clicking the continue link.

A local TV station in Austin covered the opening of Electric Cars of Austin on Thursday. Check out the video. Prominent is the Myers Motors Nmg, which used to be called the Sparrow. This single-seater electric motorcycle can hit 70mph.

The old Austin desperado himself, Jerry Jeff Walker, is also interviewed as an electric car enthusiast.

The dealership lot was small but filled with various types of electric vehicles, mostly golf-car sized. Prices ranged from $6,500 up to $15,000. The Nmg was priced at $25,000.

Related:

• One person electric cars offer yet another transportation option

[Source: KVUE News]