Guestblogger Arthur Goldwag is the author of "Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies: The Straight Scoop on Freemasons, The Illuminati, Skull and Bones, Black Helicopters, The New World Order, and many, many more" and other books.
(CC-licensed photo on Flickr by 911conspiracy)
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Over at Autoblog Green, Sebastian Blanco has an extensive review/test-drive writeup about the Wheego Whip. Snip:
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At 25 mph top speed you'll lose races to some cyclists even before they outrange you.
I think even a city car needs 40 mph, this would not really be a useful car to drive around even in a dense city like Boston because you'd have to avoid all the major roads except at rush hour.
You can drive 50 on some sections of the main street in Palm Springs. There are certainly 35 - 45 mph streets in San Francisco.
Presumably a distinction like "the Cadillac of neighborhood electric vehicles" should go to some kind of electric Cadillac.
It's irritating to read about such an impractical electric car as being a "green" thing to buy. Consider the shipping of parts to assemble the car, the shipping of the car itself, the use of rare earth metals, the fact that electricity does not come for free, but with the expenditure of fossil fuels to generate, and the car does not compare favorably to a high mileage diesel or even to a four cylinder conventional gas engined car. Other factors make this thing an idiotic choice, the limited use, as it's too small for large shopping trips, the traffic annoying 25mph top speed (imagine getting honked at all day in NYC or SF), and the long charge time and the extremely high price. You could buy 3 or 4 perfectly good used vehicles for that price or a clean diesel that has better mileage than a prius, http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/automotive_news/4235586.html
Plenty of people have converted older cars to all electric themselves with less that $20k. And they usually have a much higher top speed...
Why does every story about the new generation of cars have some comment like "You won't be winning any cross-country speed races"? How many cross country speed races are we thinking of competing in this year or next? Perhaps they have squeezed the Dakar desert in between your house and the corner store. I don't know what planet the reviewer is from but in my neck of the woods 99.9999% of journeys are around town - Sheeeesh!
25 mph ahahahahhah....
I think my go-kart I had when I was 10 could do that.... It wasn't zero emissions but it'd probably do 100+ mpg.
But on a more serious issue, this is a hefty beast isn't it? 2475lbs? REALLY? My 04 Corolla has a curb weight of 2524 lbs according to Edmunds. It also makes about 100+ more horsepower and another 20+ on torque. And it certainly goes faster than 35 mph.
I still believe EV's as they currently exist are doomed to their own technology. When you can make the battery (or fuel source) lighter/more powerful you might be onto something.
From the article, it sounds like the 25 mph is a legal restriction. Any indication of ho fast it can actually go?
My main mode of transportation, besides bicycle and train, is a Vespa (> 110 mpg, so I wonder how it compares in "greeness" to this), and, with a top speed of 40-45 mph, I have to pick and choose my roads carefully in Greater Boston.
At 25 mph, I wouldn't be able to leave my neighborhood. Sure, this is what a "neighborhood" vehicle is designed for, but are people going to drop $19k on a car that they can NEVER use to go out to the country?
A master stroke of automotive engineering! The front end includes both a happy face and an angry face.
I can't imagine either a drug dealer or a grumpy old man driving one, so it can't be a Cadillac.
If they can bring the price on something like this down to about $5-8k, I'd be totally interested, and I'd pay more for all-wheel-drive. As it is, to replace my poor old Subaru with another junk Subaru, it's about $6-8k.
Yes, I could bicycle down the mountainous hill, over the water, up the hill, and down the hill to my office. It is only 4 or 5 miles. Or maybe not, especially in the snow. Pittsburgh isn't so commuter friendly, subtracting bus routes, and increasing fares.
It's 50 minutes it takes to ride the bus, versus a 15 minute drive. The '91 eyesore Sentra is more efficient than most other cars on the road today, and may even be cheaper per day than riding the bus. The extra time makes it slightly more worth it.
I'd prefer a smaller hatchback commuter car.
Its not ugly enough, or slow enough to be a cadillac, and it doesn't corner like a wet fish either!
"Neighborhood electric vehicle" is a euphemism for "golf cart". So yes, I guess this would rank as the Cadillac of that class.
Like a Cadillac, this vehicle isn't much of an environmental replacement for the SUV. It's a social signifier to be used as an enhancement to the SUV. Few will use this as a solo vehicle, because it's limitations are so overwhelming. Folks who have no car would sooner bike, walk, take a bus, or buy a Yaris before laying out the $ for this vanity signaler, even after a government subsidy. Which brings up another point. Does the potential market for this vehicle really deserve a government handout?
25mph ??? Even restricted mopeds are allowed to go 30 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moped
I agree with bcsizemo that: "EV's as they currently exist are doomed" - but I don't think that we can blame the technology. Even with our limited batteries, homebrew mechanics have created electric motorcycles with a decent range that could go 80mph. People think that ev = slow. It does not have to be that way.
When they get to the Honda of electric vehicles, let me know.
At 25 mph this thing is slower than my uncle's golf cart- and unless it comes with GPS, a laser rangefinder, and a beer cooler, it is less-well equipped.
startling resemblance to the smart car...
(smart.com, this is not an ad!)
Wouldn't the Honda of electric vehicles be Westinghouse, or General Electric? Why don't we have microturbines for generating electricity in the
Boring and very limited in how useful it is.
My "off the shelf", completely stock turbo diesel Citroën C4 gets 51 MPG with a good mix of urban and motorway driving, it can comfortably seat four adults and their luggage, we drive around with the a/c never turned off and we can reliably do 700 miles to a tank (800 if it's mostly motorway). And that's with normal tyres, a full glass roof, headlights on all the time, listening to music and charging my iPhone, etc. It also has a five star rating from EuroNCAP, emits ~125g CO2/km (when hitting the combined fuel consumption figures), has a diesel particulate filter/capture system, looks amazing AND it'll happily take biodiesel (I believe Poland, where I live, gets theirs from Germany).
This sort of car, my car, is fairly standard over here because diesel costs about $5.60/US gallon and petrol/gasoline tends to be about the same price or a bit more expensive, though it depends on where you live.
So it is damned expensive to drive and thus when one must, you need to do it efficiently. Since driving with a few people in a car really isn't very efficient, my wife and I don't very often. We take the bus to work every day and the bus or a tram into the city during the weekends. It's rare for us to drive the car during the week, occasionally we won't drive it for two weeks in a row.
All of this doesn't really do anyone in the US much good because there isn't much in the way of buses/trains and there is very little in the way of inexpensive, reliable, safe small-family-sized diesel cars. If I were you all, I'd be lobbying my senator or house rep to drop some of the restrictions on diesels and to invest, build and promote public transport. In *addition* to all of those, yes, promote and use NEV's - though I still think it is better to just have one really efficient, practical car vs. one big POS SUV and one little NEV which you will use for grocery runs and showing off to your friends.
But can it be ghost ridden?
Anon11, perhaps you missed that Cadillac makes the fastest and best handling sedan in the world right now? (CTS-V)
If the government is willing to subsidize it, that tells me it's a mistake right from the start. And $7500 overpriced besides. I'll hold out for an honest deal and pay 100% of what it's actually worth.
I'll agree people may perceive EV's as slow, but they certainly can go fast... however you are limiting your range with you top speed and acceleration.
The other big issue of commercial vs. homebrew: liability. If this is classified as a car it has to meet safety guidelines, and probably several other rules.. Homebrew's can take an existing platform and go from there. Or possibly even create their own. Kind of reminds me of the old solar car challenges. They look cool, and work well, but are about %1 practical.
No wonder GM is bankrupt today. Their EV1 had a range of 160 miles, a top speed of 80 mph, could beat any combustion engine off the line and was aimed at the average auto consumer.
@Agnot: Of course GM wouldn't actually let you buy one.
Lots of comments from people who've never heard of an NEV. No, they don't replace your car, nor do they replace trains, boats, bicycles, or airplanes. They meet a different need. They're supposed to be cheap: to buy, build, and develop, when built in small numbers. Kind of a commercial version of the homebrew EVs folks have been building for years. The speed limit is written into the laws, as a compromise for local-use vehicles which don't need to meet high-speed collision standards. The short range comes from lead-acid batteries, which are in turn dictated by cost, and are acceptable for local use. Not right for everyone, certainly, but unlike the magical compromise-free electric cars of everyone's dreams, NEVs actually exist.
#2 Anonymous
This is a full fledged automobile price for a rather limited NEV being presented in very automotive manner.
A better choice would be a Zap vehicle, similar performance, more room and utility at nearly half the price. These are very popular in my town. Zap even has a minivan.
http://www.zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-cars/zap-van-shuttle
P.S. If you want to be taken seriously as a critic, I suggest you sign in.
NEVs are a horrible idea. They're way too slow. They have no range. And they're unsafe in a collision. They're the 2000s CommutaCar. Completely impractical, and they're existence and promotion is doing harm to adoption of electric vehicles.
Fuck NEVs. Give me a Tesla.
Why on earth would such a tiny car have to have power steering? Make it more basic, make it cheaper, make it lighter. Then I might be interested.
Wired recently had a story about NEVs. They seem to be very popular at Florida retirement communities.
http://www.wired.com/cars/coolwheels/magazine/17-10/ff_ecars
This could become at least a medium speed vehicle if the company
would sell it in a kit form, without the motor, batteries and you
install after it's purchase. Kit cars are not regulated by speed,
just like the Tango Electric Car.
Hey, that radio is a JVC KD-R600! Just installed it in my car.
Anon11, perhaps you missed that Cadillac makes the fastest and best handling sedan in the world right now? (CTS-V)
DO you watch Top Gear? I saw the boys there run it through it's paces, fun to drive but,,,Bing, Bing, Bing,,,"Why can't America build a good car with out all the Bings? Bottom line, best Cadillac ever, still crap."
(paraphrased of course)
eh.
i'll keep my $499 bicycle, thanks. zero emissions, zero dollars to fill up (60 miles/day).
oh and my $10,000 bmw F650gs. very low emissions, $7 to fill up (150 miles/tank).
A norwegian electric car with a top speed of 100 km/hr.
http://www.think.no/
The people behind this car can not have much driving experience in the real world. Apart from stop and go traffic, the 25 mph top speed is only useful for school crossings when children are present and you must slow down to 20mph.
Jim
I bought a Wheego Whip about 3 weeks ago. And yes it is not for everyone. But my wife and I put about 20 to 30 miles on it a day. We live in Oklahoma and it is considered a medium speed vehicle here (The Wheego can legally go 35 miles per hour here. The speed is limited by computer so they just re-program it). It is fun and cheap to drive (less than 2 cents/mile vs 12 cents/mile for a 20 mpg vehicle). Oklahoma also has a credit for 50% of the cost of the vehicle on top of the $7,500 federal credit. Thus, you can get into one for around $2,500.
My wife and I share an extended range (traditional) car for out of town trips. It takes a little planning but we have found it is a lot easier than expected. We like it so much we may buy another one.
So don't give up on EV's. They are just in their infancy. But the Wheego is a great step in the right direction.
Correction: The $7500 tax credit is only for the future model which will be highway capable. That version will run $28k. For the LSV (NEV) it's only a credit of 10% of the cost.