Neighborhood Electric Cars

Hey, relax!

Welcome to the Neighborhood.

Neighborhood Electric Car, aka Neighborhood Electric Vehicle, aka NEV, is a category invented by NHTSA, or the National Highway Traffic Safety Association.

Here's what you need to know:

• Speed: They don't go smokin' fast, but they're not golf carts, either. The "true" Neighborhood electric cars go 20-25 mph and no faster. The three-wheeled enclosed "city cars" go up to 45 mph.
• Street Legal: It's okay to drive it on ordinary (35mph posted) streets, at least, in most states. Just stay off the freeway ; )
• Safety: Are these cars really SAFE out there with the Hummers? Read my report on an "unplanned meeting" between a ZENN and a Toyota Sequoia here.


• Charging: They plug into a standard 110v outlet (like the one where you plug in your toaster, for example), although there are 220v options (your clothes dryer) for most of them so you can recharge them quicker.

Generally it takes 6-8 hours to recharge them using 110v, and half that on 220v.

• Operating Costs: It costs from 1 to 3 cents a mile to operate them, depending on the price of electricity per kilowatt-hour in your neck of the woods.
• Purchase Price: Less than your average fossil-fuel-gobbler, that's for sure.; )
• Financing: E-loans has volunteered to provide auto loans, even if your credit is a little...eccentric, for Neighborhood Electric Vehicles and Three-wheeled city cars like Zaps. Visit E-loan's website when you're ready.
• Tax Credits: The federal tax credit is no more. The new one that passed recently (6/2007) doesn't cover all-electric cars...

Zap

Xebras are city-class three wheelers, legally akin to MOTORCYCLES.

• You can license it like a motorcycle (cheaper!);
• You can get on the ferry before the cars;
• You can park in motorcycle parking places;
• You can do lane-splitting in some states, which moves you through traffic quicker;
• You can use your ordinary car driver's license to drive it;
• It typically goes faster than Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, which must be able to go no faster than 25mph by law;
...and get this:

It comes in a solar panel version called Zap Xebra Zero and a pickup truck version, too.

Hey, is the Xebra with a solar panel just a gimmick, or serious solar powered car?

Follow the link to read my article about it!



If you want a safe, affordable, ADORABLE electric car - zebra stripes or not - from a company with a lot of promise...you'll want to look into these.

Get more info about the Zap cars here.



MM NmG



This stands for Myers Motors No more Gas.

(Doesn't that about say it all?)

This car, by the way, is commonly referred to as a Sparrow, or the Corbin Sparrow.

It's the same CAR; it's just that Myers Motors acquired Sparrow (the original company) or somesuch thing. This happens quite a bit, as it turns out, because times have been tough in the electric car business.

The important thing is...

...they're in production so they're available, they're adorable, and also three-wheeled city cars.YEAH, baby!; )

What else?

• They're fast. 75mph top speed.
• Comes with power windows, a cd player, and tilt steering wheel.
• There's room for a backpack, a rolling laptop case, or a cat carrier behind the driver...but apparently not all three. ..

  ...don't ask me how I know this.; )

If you've got a dash of double-o-seven and need for speed, this could be your car. Click here for more information on the MM NmG.









Zenn

This actually is a four-wheeled car, unlike the two I just introduced to you.

It's a luxury sedan, holds two people and some stuff, and goes not as fast as the three-wheelers do: A true neighborhood electric vehicle, but of the posh variety.

This is how the company puts it:Safety first, performance first, comfort first. (We don't believe in second place.)

Feel Good Cars gets these cars originally in France, and then sends them through Canada (where it gets converted from gas to electric) to the United States. You'd think all this shipping and importing and converting might make it expensive, but it's NOT. It's on the same scale as the rest.

That's the French for you. No, wait, that's the Canadians for you. My bad.

They make something wonderful, luxurious, and of excellent quality...

...and then price it so anybody can have one.; )

ZENN stands for...

Zero Emissions, No Noise.

These look very nice inside, quite luxurious. The cockpit looks just like any other (nice, new) car.

If you've outgrown your zebra-stripe years - ahem - this might be the one that floats your boat.; )


read more about these great little cars here...

To read about my (slightly adventurous) ZENN test drive in Seattle at MCEV, click here.



Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
- Mark Twain



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