First there were the drivers who swung around in perfect rubber-necker fashion as they sped by. Then there were the joggers who did the same. And finally there was the tourist from Rhode Island who chased us down, jumped out of his Volvo when we stopped and shouted, “I’ve only seen one online. Where did you get it?”
All this excitement centered around two stylish rides, the Miles ZX40 and the ZENN, that I had the thrill of test driving last week. Now, I’m normally not much of a car freak (actually I spend a lot of time coveting the car-free existence of some Portlanders I know), but these automobiles not only have a sleek, distinctive style, they’re powered purely by electricity.
“These are called low-speed electric vehicles,” explained Kal Rogers, who is the marketing director of Maine Electric Vehicles, which is selling the cars from the Portland Saab lot in Falmouth. “They’re designed as local, commuting cars.”
This means each tops out at 25 mph and generally can go 35 to 50 miles per charge. Sure, you can’t drive them on the highway or race your sports-car-driving friends (or even your mom in a minivan), but they definitely beat a Vespa when the weather turns cold (or rainy). You also don’t need a fancy electrical connection to charge these babies, just a standard 110-volt outlet and five to eight hours of time to give ‘em a full recharge.
“In my regular vehicle, I’m putting out more than five tons of carbon annually,” Rogers said of his Ford Explorer. He added that because he buys his electricity for his home through Maine Interfaith Power & Light, he can plug in the all-electric and know that he’s contributing zero greenhouse gases to our warming world.
Behind the driver’s seat
I tried out the four-door Miles first: Open door, put on seat belt, turn key and wait for engine to rev up. And wait. Finally Rogers was kind enough to tell me that it was already running. Duh.
Because the car makes no noise, it was a bit disconcerting for a newbie electric car driver like me. The other weird thing is there’s no shifter to get from drive to reverse. Instead there’s a switch. Flip it to R and suddenly you hear the loud “beep, beep, beep” of a delivery truck backing up.
Rogers explained that the manufacturers added this feature to compensate for the cars’ stealthy silence and warn pedestrians to get out of the way.
Once we hit the open road, I slammed the pedal to the floor. We slowly inched up to 25 mph. Then we began to climb a hill and the speed gauge started going in the opposite direction. The opposite happened as we headed downhill and actually clocked in at a breath-taking 36 mph.
When it was time to cruise around in the two-seater ZENN (which stands for Zero Emission No Noise), I found things to be pretty much the same. Except the ZENN seemed to have faster acceleration, more power on an incline and, because it has regenerative braking (which charges the batteries when you slow down), it doesn’t speed up on a downhill slope.
Getting out of the ZENN was tough. With its cuter-than-a-Mini-Cooper look and its park-me-in-the-tiniest-spot-in-the-Old-Port size, I wanted to take it home. I even had a momentary urge to try and abscond in the vehicle. (But then I realized the cops wouldn’t have much trouble catching me as I sped away at 25 mph.)
Putting an electric in the garage
Should you want to be the talk of the neighborhood as you tool around in your all-electric car, Maine Electric Vehicles can hook you up with one of the 10 cars they have in stock right now. The Miles sells for between $16,000 and $18,000, and the ZENN ranges in price from $12,500-$15,000.
“There’s really not a lot of maintenance,” Rogers said. “You might put 3,000 to 4,000 miles a year on the car, so there’s not much wear-and-tear.
“The electric motor is a very simple machine, they last for decades. There’s not much that can go wrong with them. And we all have electricity at our house, unless you live in a yurt in the woods.”
If you’re not living in a yurt, but need to ply the interstate to get where you’re going, you’ll be happy to know that plans are in the works to release an all-electric car that can zip along at a more normal pace.
“Miles is on track for next fall for a highway car that will use lithium ion batteries we’re used to seeing in laptops,” Rogers said. “That adds $10,000 to the cost of the car.”
In the meantime, Rogers is spending his time getting the word out to environmentalists and islanders. This fall he plans to introduce the cars to college campuses, government agencies and businesses that operate fleets. He says the cars appeal to people who just commute around town or want a second vehicle for neighborhood errands.
“Right now everyone has cars that do everything, including producing carbon and fueling the oil wars,” Rogers said. “The question is, when are people going to start changing their behavior?”
Good question. Let me know if you learn the answer.