This is an item in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution that a $10,000 base-price electric car from Canada will be marketed in the U.S.
Well, if it were $5,000, then I might...uh, I live now in the country, approx 15-25 minutes from a Walmart.
Nevertheless, I HOPE IT'S A SUCCESS, while there have been electric cars being tried-out at least since the 1970s.
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Tiny electric car to arrive in selected U.S. markets Richard Truett - Autoweek Saturday, July 1, 2006
A Canadian company plans to start selling a tiny $10,000 electric car in the United States by the end of the month.
The Zenn --- short for zero emissions, no noise --- is a French-built two-seat hatchback that can go about 35 miles on a single charge of its lead-acid batteries and is limited to a top speed of 25 mph.
Ian Clifford, 43, CEO of Feel Good Cars Inc. of Toronto, says he has signed 20 U.S. dealers in the Southeast and Southwest --- mostly Florida, Arizona and California. He says he expects to expand to around
45 dealers by the end of the year.
Clifford thinks he can sell 2,000 of the micro cars in the next 12 months.
With an overall length nearly 2 feet shorter than a BMW Mini Cooper, the Zenn is smaller than small. Most states allow registration of limited-speed electric vehicles for nonhighway use. The vehicle also requires insurance in most states. In Georgia, limited-speed vehicles can be operated on roadways with posted speed limits of 35 mph.
Zenn meets or exceeds U.S. and Canadian safety standards for its low-speed electric vehicles but doesn't have to meet standards for full-sized passenger cars, the company says.
Clifford said he sees the front-wheel-drive Zenn being used mostly by drivers running errands who don't need to go fast or far and who want to be in a carlike vehicle that is weatherproof.
Unlike other small neighborhood electric vehicles, such as Chrysler's GEM, the Zenn is a fully enclosed car with an aluminum frame. It has automotive-quality lighting, heating/defroster, switch gear, instrumentation and seat belts.
About 31,000 GEMs have been sold since the vehicle went on sale in
1998, said Chrysler spokesman Russ Kiefer. He said about half are sold through retail to consumers who live in gated communities or who drive short distances. The rest are sold to fleet buyers who use them on college campuses and in industrial settings.
Feel Good Cars buys the Zenn from Microcar, a French company that is part of the Beneteau Group, a large sailboat manufacturer. Clifford says his company buys the Zenn from Microcar minus the drivetrain. At the company's Montreal plant, about 20 assembly line workers install the 5-hp electric motor, controller and lead-acid battery pack. From there, the vehicles are shipped to dealers.
Clifford says electric parts are bought from General Electric Co. and other name-brand companies and have been designed specifically for use in neighborhood electric vehicles.
The Zenn's base price is $9,995, not including delivery charges.
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