John Cooper was at the gas pump when he was inspired to open Augusta's first electric vehicle dealership.
He put $30 in gas into his Dodge truck, a V-10 that gets 8 miles to the gallon. It wasn't enough to get the gauge past the low-fuel warning ding, he explained.
"I said 'That's it, something's got to be done.' "
What he has done opens Saturday at 3107 Washington Road, a company called GoGreen Zero Emission Vehicles that sells Chinese-made ZAP electric cars and trucks.
Given Augusta's status as the electric vehicle manufacturing capital of the world through E-Z-Go, Club Car and the Tomberlin Group, Mr. Cooper said it felt proper that Augusta should become the first ZAP dealer in Georgia.
The showroom is small, holding only six ZAP Xebra vehicles and two electric scooters. The seventh vehicle is his. The green machine with "The Future Is Here" on the back window already has 900 miles on it.
"I get some people yelling if that's the future I don't want any part of it. Most of the reaction to the vehicles has been positive," Mr. Cooper said.
ZAP's production area in Santa Rosa, Calif., is increasing, primarily because demand is up since they introduced the Xebra in the United States in 2006.
"Orders for ZAP's full-line of electric vehicles have been increasing as a result of the company's rapidly expanding dealer network," said ZAP chief executive officer Steve Schneider.
A year ago, ZAP had 20 dealers. It now has 50.
ZAP stands for Zero Air Pollution. The battery-powered car can travel up to 25 miles on a charge. The top speed is 40 mph. The truck versions have more battery capacity and can go 50 miles before becoming empty.
Models come with solar panels to charge the battery while it is sitting in the sun.
"You can stop buying gas. Stop getting oil changes. Stop polluting," Mr. Cooper said.
Under the hood is the front tire, horn, headlights and washer fluid.
There are some caveats to driving a Xebra: there's no air bag because it is not classified as a car, but as a motorcycle; a driver must have a motorcycle license; and the only air conditioning is the rolled-down-window kind.
"I live in National Hills, my mom in Jones Creek. If I go visit her and come back, that's $20 in gas. If I go in one of these, it is 50 cents in electricity," Mr. Cooper said. "They ride pretty good for what they are with little tires."
Mr. Cooper said his new business isn't set up like a traditional car dealership, he doesn't take trade-ins.
Though the doors have been open for a week, he hasn't sold any of the cars and trucks in order to have some in the showroom for today's grand opening.
"Rather than buy a new gas-powered car on a tight budget, many multicar families are opting for a new Xebra instead to handle all short trips around town," Mr. Schneider said.
Business fleets have also been field-testing ZAP vehicles, including Dominos Pizza, UPS and Coca-Cola. Mr. Schneider said cities have started adding ZAP vehicles to their fleet operation.
"The people of Georgia deserve to have clean and economic means of transportation and Augusta is just the beginning with immediate plans for expansion in Decatur and midtown Atlanta area near Georgia Tech," said Guy Mannino, the president of Verdek-EV, a ZAP distribution company.
Mr. Cooper said he has expansion plans of his own, starting small showrooms in other parts of the metro area within a year. And he won't stick strictly to ZAP once he finds some other electric vehicle manufacturers.
Reach Tim Rausch at (706) 823-3352 or timothy.rausch@augustachronicle.com.
ZAP XEBRA
SPEED: Up to 40 mph
RANGE: 25 miles on one charge, 50 miles on an extended battery pack
PAYLOAD: 300 pounds
CLASSIFICATION: three-wheel, zero emission vehicle, classified as a motorcycle, insured as a motorcycle
IF YOU GO
WHAT: GoGreen Zero Emission Vehicles
WHERE: 3107 Washington Road, Augusta
WHEN: Grand opening hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday
TIM RAUSCH/STAFF
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010. All Rights Reserved.
SOOOO cool !!! I gotta have one for tooling around to the neighborhood store and park and such !
An electric motorbike with an auto body! ROFL. Hmm, Domino's Pizza flipped, they can't possibly find time to recharge one of these and still make pizza deliveries on a weekend night!
Would have been helpful to have included the price and the expected battery lifetime.
http://www.zapworld.com/ This Website should help with your Questions
Fantastic! I have a new target for my V8 Chevy Suburban.
And I will have at least 2500.00 for my trip to Scotland next year! So put that in your gas guzzling road hog and choke on the fumes ! : )
so.......shouldnt an article about a new kind of car say how much the new kind of car will cost?
This doesn't add up. He said it would cost him $20 in gas to visit his mom. Based on $3.75 per gallon gas and the earlier statement that his truck got only 8 MPG, that would mean that it must be a 42 mile round trip from National Hills to Jones Creek and back. Is it really that far? I'm not sure, but I don't think so.
Also, he said $30 in gas still didn't turn off the low-fuel warning ding. So, even at $4/gallon that would be 7.5 gallons! His low-fuel dinger must have been broken!
On top of that, there is nothing in the article about all of the problems that people are having with these vehicles. They are not getting the range advertised and there are other even more serious issues.
The Augusta Chronicle either needs to be a little less credulous of claims made by someone who has bias on a subject when they report stories or else label stories like this as ads.
Watch out three-wheeler! Mr. Bean is out to get you in his Mini. Can one person right this vehicle if it gets blown over; by whatever?
BTW, BMW got it right with their three-wheel motorcycle. Two up front, one trailing. Now, as far as stability...I'll reserve my comment.
Safety aside, the battery life cycle (how long before all the batteries have to be replaced) is a huge issue. Sure you do not pay by the gallon; but with this technology you pay by the battery replacement.
BTW, if it really were a 42 mile round trip to his mom's house..he would not make it on a single charge!! The range is impractical for Augusta. Maybe in a beach community or a retirement community you could find some useful purpose for errand running. Most daily commutes in Augusta would tax the current range.
Cute but overpriced for what you get.
Thanks, "What?", for pointing out that if it where a 42 mile drive this vehicle would not make it. I missed that additional salient point.
Hyperbole seems to be the order of the day when it comes to any discussion of electric cars or ways to make more fuel efficient vehicles in general. It happened when small cars from Honda andToyota first began to get popular in the 70's and it is happening now with electrics and hybrids. I want electric vehicles to work well, but wishing doesn't make it so. I wish everyone realized that.
I feel these things are a total jip. Starting around $11000 to get around 40 miles at a very slow rate. I'd settle for a Yaris and wait to see what happens. ...though their izap rechage thing on zapworlds website looks pretty sweet!
Its another CHINESE jOKE. They get the American public to buy cheap Chinese Junk. Just buy a golf cart it is almost as good and prbably half the price.
Karma: You won't have $2500 for that trip to Scotland if we have to scrape you off Riverwatch like some ordinary kind of road kill! Twit! Choke on my road fumes as I suck your suped up Snapper lawnmower up my tail pipe.
exactly jbarry and what, great points... just another typical salesman trying to do a smoke and mirrors on the unsuspecting customer!!!!
For those that believe the Xebra doesn't exactly fit your local lifestyle, I am certain that the dealer can introduce you to Zap's Crossover vehicle. To my understanding, Zap got a bit of assistance from Lotus to help with this one. Good for over 369+ miles on a single charge and goes easy up to 60mph in short seconds. And, this vehicle is nothing short of luxury! I think Zap even publicizes a little information about the average life cycle of the cell. For the MSRP, you may have to remortgage your home but, it is nothing short of being worth the purchase..when you consider that you can actually do away with cumbustible engines for good and not sacrafice performance, reasonable mileage and comfort.