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.
It's Earth Day, so we would have been shocked to see the day slip by without a press release from Zap about their something or other. True to form, the EV company presents us with news that the Sopraffina Marketcaffe in Chicago will be using an electric Xebra truck with solar panels on the roof in its catering business (read more after the jump). Can't let the Ford Transit Connect have all the food fun, right?
The Xebra is Zap's one legitimate electric vehicle that has more than two wheels, but it does have some drawbacks compared to a "real" car because it's classified as a motorcycle. Still, for deliveries in downtown Chicago, running on electrons is a pretty good plan. Not a lot of sunlight reaches the street in the middle of the Windy City, but if you're on Lakeshore Drive, those panels should be able to suck up some juice. The three-cents-a-mile operating cost has got to be appealing to the business owners as well.
ZAP has proven to be an excellent company when it comes to issuing press releases. They have also offered some nice products in the past, like the Zappy line of scooters. For some, the Xebra (see gallery below) fits their needs quite nicely, and for those people, ZAP is a fine company. For the rest of us, the chances that the ZAP X SUV, ZAP Alias or Detroit Electric brand ever get off the ground seems awfully slim.
The world desperately needs vehicles with alternative powertrains, such as battery electrics. The potential to make a killing in the business is huge, as is the potential to lose everything. The auto industry - as anyone who has ever gotten involved in it knows - is hugely capital intensive so investors are needed. However, people tend to be unwilling to put large quantities of cash unless they see a potential return. In any new business arena there are startups who fail without drawing much attention to themselves. Unfortunately there are also those that draw inordinate amounts of attention to themselves before they ever produce anything. Those in the latter category tend to poison the investment waters for those who may actually have something real to offer.
Such is the case with Zap! and their heavily-hyped electric vehicles. The Santa Rosa, CA company has been around for quite a number of years and has actually managed to sell a number of electrical products mostly related to mobile power products. However when it comes to electric transportation, their products are limited to the Chinese built three wheel Xebra "sedan" and "truck". Wired has now pubished a detailed article on the often sordid 16 year history of Zap! and its two primary leaders Gary Starr and Steve Schneider. Schneider and Starr have apparently "built" a business on alternating press releases about world-beating new electric cars and issuing new stock to continue paying the bills, including their salaries. Meanwhile enthusiastic prospective retailers of Zap products like Ehab Youssef and Joseph Gottlieb with little experience in the realities of the car business, have plunked down large amounts of cash for the right to sell vehicles that either come nowhere near meeting their rated specifications or never materialize at all. It's a sad tale but well worth the read. For those Zap representatives that often post in the comments here, please feel free to try and refute anything you feel may be incorrect in the article - but only if you have facts to back it up.
Zap's CEO Steve Schneider did a very interesting audio interview with CEONEWS.Tv recently where he talked about the Zap-X, the Zap-Coke deal and the future of the company. On Zap-X, Schneider says Chinese automaker Youngman owns 51 percent stake in the Detroit Electric joint venture, while Zap owns 49 percent in the company. Schneider explains Detroit Electric will sell higher speed electric vehicles while Zap continues to sell the lower speed vehicles. Schneider says the Youngman relationship is unique because, according to his understanding, there are only a handful of licenses given to Chinese companies to make cars inexpensively (Zap can sell buses for half the price, for example). On the release of the Zap-X, Schneider says it's a 36-month project but did not say when it started (it's been at least 14 months). Schneider did say the Alias is a 18-month project and they are six months into it. Remember that Zap has been talking about the Alias since June 2007, which was eight months ago.
On the recent deal with Coke (Coca-Cola is using thirty of Zap's compact trucks in Montevideo, Uruguay) Schneider says it was spawned from the UPS deal. Schneider explains the UPS deal came from one brave UPS rep that "risked his career" to use Zap trucks and a tractor trailers hub model. The hub model showed bottom line savings for the company and what do you think happened to that UPS rep? He was promoted to a much "larger capacity" position at the San Fran UPS branch! "Quite a few" companies (Schneider won't give out names) have contacted Zap, looking to repeat the model, since that brave UPS rep started the ball rolling.
Schneider also talked about a trip to Dubai and said the Middle East is more interested in electric cars than you might expect. Schneider was asked about the Daimler lawsuit and while he could did not say much, he did say Zap's lawyers tell him it should be settled in three months. Things are changing like the climate Schneider jokes and "the market is finally catching up (after 14 years) to what ZAP has been preaching." Schneider expects Zap to have 100 dealers by the end of this year, up from 56 at a recent meeting. AutoblogGreen is not a stock investing website but we have to admit we are really impressed by this interview and Zap's CEO Steve Schneider responses. He talks a good game, at least.
Paul Niedermeyer over at TTAC got the chance to drive a ZAP Xebra pickup and his review pretty much reads as you would expect. The car is poorly assembled, slow, short range and dangerous. He goes so far as to refer to it as a motorized wheelbarrow/hair-shirt - which, despite what you think of the car, is pretty funny. Was there anything that he did like about the Xebra? Nope.
We have had the opportunity to drive the Xebra, and we also found the machine to be a bit on the slow side. We also noted the small interior and poor build quality. We still maintain, though, that the vehicle is fine for what it is. If used as a vehicle to get to the grocery store, campus, library etc, it'll do fine. If you actually plan to drive the Xebra every day, or on high-speed or high traffic roads, you should look elsewhere.
Unhappy with your plugless Prius? Zap thinks it has an answer for you.
The king of green car press releases has issued another announcement, this time talking about the availability of a Toyota Prius and Highlander plug-in conversion kit. In collaboration with Hybrid Plus, Zap's kit will convert hybrid Priuses and Highlanders into what tests predict will be 120 MPGe (city) and 90 MPGe (highway) vehicles. Depending on the vehicle, the kits cost between $24,000 and $36,000, and Zap says turnaround time is about four weeks. The press release doesn't get into great details, but it sounds like you need to bring your Prius/Highlander to Boulder to have Hybrid Plus do the work. You might also be able to go to a local Zap dealer to have the work done (UPDATE: Zap says that Zap dealers will be able to do the conversions).
While electric car dealerships seen a little more business in the last few years, as a recent New York Times article points out, it's still hard to get by selling nothing but electric cars. Many EV dealers already sell other types of vehicles and, as Hybrids Plus CEO Carl Lawrence says, electric car companies and hybrid conversion companies collaborating is "natural."
Gallery: Zap, Hybrid Plus Plug-in Prius Conversion
Recently, I wrote a post that talked about Volvo's statement that they were working exclusively with PML (a company that makes in-wheel electric motors). I found this concerning because I thought PML was working with Zap on the Zap-X, a Lotus-designed, affordable, normal-looking electric car. I contacted Zap Communication's Alex Campbell, who checked with Zap's CEO Steve Schneider about Volvo's statements. Zap says they are in a relationship with PML but only on three-wheeled vehicles. As for four-wheeled cars, Zap tried but it looks like PML went with Volvo. Zap has moved on to a Chinese company that they say is not only cheaper than PML but can provide in-wheel electric motors sooner. So there is no confusion, here is exactly what Zap says:
We signed an exclusive agreement with PML on 3-wheelers and at the time were negotiating with them on other vehicles. We have since partnered up with a company in China with rights to their wheel hub motors. The significance is that the wheel hub motor that we have acquired is currently working in application and we believe will be commercially available within a shorter period of time than PML's. It is my understanding that the PML motor has still yet to work in any automotive application. And they are expensive so it would need to be manufactured in China to stay competitive.
In an interview, Ichiro Sugioka, project leader of Volvo's Recharge electric car concept, says PML FlightLink is "currently working exclusively for us." If that was not clear enough, Ichiro adds "all their efforts is going into our projects." The interviewer presses for more information, even mentioning PML's relationship with Lotus, but Ichiro is very clear. You can see this exchange three minutes into the video below the fold.
Why is this notable? Green car fans will recall the PML's in-wheel motors were going to be a key part of the Zap-X. I guess we should have noticed the relationship was probably over because Zap said it had some exclusive rights with PML and then PML started to work with Volvo. Companies don't write press release saying relationships have fallen apart. So, what does this mean for the release date for the Zap-X, the Lotus-designed, affordable, electric car?
Zap never made an exact release date for the Zap-X public, so it's hard to say the date has slipped. I would assume the internal date must have slipped a little bit. While Zap makes great products, they are probably one of the more out-sourced electric vehicle companies. I always imagined Zap, Miles or Tesla would be bought out sooner or later by a large automaker trying to catch up.
This little soap opera makes me think the top automakers just might bypass the middle man and work with the smaller technology companies instead.
Geek Squad took a short video of Zap's booth at Macworld. They also had a quick talk with Anna from Zap who would not confirm the 1.21 Jigawatts power requirement Geek Squad Agent Conrad Hyler asked about. I posted about Zap at Macworld recently and our readers James and Zaedrus were also upset at the lack of power equal to Doc Brown's DeLorean. Zap can make up for this by showing us the Zap-X - their affordable, highway speed, electric car - as soon as possible :D
While Steve I-forget-his-last name of Apple something-or-other might be getting headlines on other blogs, we have the real star of Macworld SF 2008: The iZap Flying Xebra! As promised, Zap, the electric car company, showed off the "Made for iPod" and "works with iPhone" features coming to its cars. As you can see in our exclusive photos from Macworld of the iZap Flying Xebra, Zap was hard at work in their secret labs. Here are the "future specs" for the iZap Flying Xebra:
Turbo Power Thruster: Warp Speed 10
Top Speed before Hyperspace: 89 MPH
Electrical Power needed: 1.20 Jigawatts
Elevation: 30,000 ft LIFT
Optional Power: Flex Capacitor
Visual Capacity: Doppler Navigation System,GPS Receiver, DVD Screen
Zap is also showing off their charger for portable electronics at Macworld. Zap is one of my favorite electric car companies and they currently offer a nice range of low speed electric vehicles. While the iZap Flying Xebra will probably never go into production (the professor destroys it after finding love in the old west), Zap does have real plans to offer a highway speed, affordable electric car, called Zap-X.
Big thanks to Alex from Zap for the pictures from the show floor. If you are close to the Moscone Center in San Francisco stop by Macworld and Zap's booth #545, 546 before it all ends January 18th.
Well, once you have your "made for iPod" Zap car, you'll see an increase in your electric bill, right? Not if you buy a Zap Xebra sedan or pickup ordered in the next month or so. For new Xebra buyers, Zap will throw in a free Kill-A-Watt Smart Power Meter and will cover your electricity costs for one year. According to the National Post, this "preemptive action" could quiet drivers concerns about high gas prices, at least those who opt for a Xebra. You can read more, direct from Zap, here.
To qualify for the freebies, you need to order your Xebra before Valentine's Day (Feb.14). How lovely.
[Source: Drew Hasselback / National Post and Zap via EVWorld]
Zap will be at Macworld San Francisco (January 15 to 18 at booth #545, 546) showing off their new "made for iPod" electric cars. The docking station for iPods in Zap's electric cars will allow your iPod's music to be pumped through the car's speakers and the iPod battery to be charged with ZAP's Recharge-It-All system. After the preview at Macworld, the iPod docking will begin to appear in Zap's electric cars at the end of 2008 and every Zap car from then on.
ZAP's CEO Steve Schneider says "Apple is making some of the most popular consumer products on the market today. ... A ZAP electric car made for iPod joins an important trend happening throughout the automotive industry to give car-buyers more amenities. So many bring their iPods with them wherever they go that having the capability to listen to and recharge them in your car can only attract more customers."
Zap makes low speed (40 MPH) electric vehicles for city-speed commuting, business, utility and government fleets. According to the press release, they recently tested a truck with a lithium-ion battery that has a range of 152 miles. Zap will also show portable lithium-ion packs that extend the battery life of portable devices like cell phones, digital cameras, smart phones, camcorders and laptops. You can read the entire press release below the fold.
The video above shows singer Sting checking out one of Zap's electric vehicles at EMA, the Environmental Media Awards. Sting's wife Trudie Styler won a lifetime achievement EMA and Sting tagged along for support. Sting is not the only one interested in Zap's trucks. Below the fold is a video of UPS using 42 of Zap's electric truck, Xebra, which they leased recently for use in delivering packages. Way to go Zap!
C-NET's Michael Kanellos did a little thinking out loud this week when he tried to list all of the electric car start-up companies (not major automakers working on EVs). He counted 16 small companies. The names on this list will be familiar to just about anyone who reads AutoblogGreen, but I thought it was interesting to see them all gathered in one place:
Tesla Motors (sports cars), Wrightspeed (sports cars and plug-in drivetrains for trucks), Fisker Automotive (electric sedans), Zap (low-speed and sports cars), Miles Automotive (low speed), Zenn Motors (low speed), AC Propulsion (retrofitting Scions for electric), Phoenix Motorcars (SUVs), Aptera (three-wheelers), Porteon (low speed electrics), Lightning (sports cars in England), Reva (economy cars), Ultramotor (electric trishaws), Myers Motors (freakish three-wheelers featured in Goldmember), Think (electric economy cars) and Venture Vehicles (three-wheeled electric cars.).
I'd say the only "major" player that Kanellos missed is GEM, which has been making glorified golf carts for ages. Other contenders not on his list include Universal Electric Vehicle, American Electric Vehicle, G-Wiz and Hybrid Technologies. I'm sure there's at least a couple more we're missing, but we're already got over 20 small EV companies. Pretty soon, he figures, this list will be much easier to calculate: "History shows that most of these companies will be wiped out." So it goes, as my favorite author would write.
Turbo Power Thruster: Warp Speed 10
_thumbnail.jpg "Beijing 2008: BYD e6")
