Electric Cars - Not Ready for Primetime

Dear Readers: I have been on an extended road trip, visiting different locals along the beautiful Pacific Coast. I made my way from Seattle to San Diego in a comfortable 4 days in my 2003 Chevy Impala (which gets a true 34 miles to the gallon on the highway). One of my objectives while in the San Francisco Bay Area, was to visit an electric car distributor and sample the pulse of the industry from the inter-sanctum, behind the corporate veil. What I learned surprised me and has changed my view on the viability of all-electric cars to revolutionize transportation any time in the near future.

The company I visited will remain nameless for now, as they will think my comments are directed at them, when in fact they are more directed at the state of the industry as a whole. My eye-opening tour and interview began when I entered the secure building and was greeted with friendly hospitality. But my first hit on the low morale of the environment was palpable. Instead of the pioneer spirit and passionate entrepreneurial momentum I was expecting to encounter, I instead felt as if I were in the locker-room of a team that was down by 10 points going into the final quarter. The more time I spent with my host, the more I was convinced that my original impression was accurate. I was given free rein to ask any questions and peek in all the nooks and crannies. But by contrast, though the headquarters of this company are housed are in an impressive newly renovated building, prominently situated on a conspicuous corner with large windows on 2 sides, the public is not welcome. The company's vehicles are displayed in a showroom fashion for passers by to see, but the doors are locked and employees milling around inside intentionally ignore curious on lookers.

Why? I asked. The response I received left me incredulous. I seems that the staff was being pestered by visitors asking for inner-tubes and  other automotive parts, distracting them from the important work of creating and promoting their next alternative wonder. But as he was explaining this to me, my host signaled in a not-so-subtle way that he disagreed with the decision to turn the public away and so do I. This is how new ideas are spread: virally, through word of mouth. By average folks welcomed in to kick the tires, to ponder what it might be like to run their daily errands in an all electric vehicle. And by shutting them out, they were being snubbed, reinforcing the stereotype that the academics and environmental whiz kids behind this quiet revolution, look down their nose at the average Joe. As if to say, keep your grubby hands off of our golden egg.

As the afternoon wore on and my host became more confident that I wasn't a mole from some other company, masquerading as a green-blogger, he confided that the company had received some very negative press about their vehicles and their business model. And frankly, it doesn't surprise me. I was invited to take one of the vehicles out of the building and out in traffic. An invitation I not only didn't solicit, but was rather leery of. These vehicles are for all intents and purposes a motorcycle with a shell of sheet metal around them. And this is not just my impression, but rather a fact, brought upon by the rigid regulatory environment in which all new vehicles must compete. A car is narrowly defined by the various regulatory agencies that oversee what new vehicles are allowed on the roads. It must be of substantial weight, meet a minimum power requirements and have other characteristics which distinguish it from a scooter or motorcycle. These minimum requirements are expensive to build into a vehicle and therefore automatically make them more expensive for the end user to buy. It is for this reason that this particular manufacturer decided to make their all electric transports look somewhat like a car or truck, but much smaller and much less substantial, allowing them to be registered as motorcycles and be sold at more affordable prices and hopefully putting an all electric vehicle in the garages of average families across America.

My On-the Road Impressions

Now, I am not a tall. 5' 9" on a good day. When I climbed into the driver's seat, I immediately felt compelled to move the seat back. My knees were banging on everything inside the tiny cab. But, not only was there no mechanism to move the seat back with, there was no room. The seat back was pressed up against the rear window of the cab and that was it. But my host, who was at least 3" taller than I seemed quite comfortable hemmed in by my shoulder on his left and the passenger door on the right, so I figured maybe I just needed to find my comfort zone, but I never did.

As I pulled out into traffic, I did notice that the first depression of the accelerator pedal gave the vehicle a jolt of forward momentum. But the power curve declined rapidly from there. So much so, that if I had needed to get out of the way of a red light runner, well..... let's just say, I wouldn't be here writing this article. The second thing I noticed was that there was no power steering. Power steering is facilitated in a conventional automobile, by a pump, energized by a belt attached to the main hub of the motor. Whether the car is moving or not, as long as the engine is running the power steering is active. But with an electric vehicle, when the car is stopped, there is no kenetic energy to power a pump. To say nothing of the fact that, even if power steering could be integrated into the design, it would put an extra load on this vehicle's already anemic acceleration.

This particular Bay Area town, unlike it's big brother, San Francisco, is relatively flat. So making it around to your various errands (notwithstanding the scary lack of acceleration) would be somewhat feasible I guess. But, if I were to bring this back to Seattle, where I live-forget it! Hills are a fact of life here and my host admitted that the challenge of gravity was a problem with a vehicle that had about a 40 mile range under the best of conditions. So not only might you find yourself half way up Seattle's NW 65th St. when gravity proved to much for the little electric motor, but by trying, you would have completely used up your remaining charge and have to walk home in the rain.

Other little problems

No room for the kids in this little two seater. The cargo area is a flat bed behind the cab with a wooden enclosure, so no place to store your valuables out of sight. There is no heater or air conditioner, No radio, no power anything, like mirrors or windows. And with a 40 mile range on a full charge, these vehicles are really only suitable for the "true believer" that works a little farther than walking distance from his house and wants to make a statement about how environmentally conscious he is. Frankly, I am unhappy to report that I found these vehicles at best, impractical and at worst, dangerous.

This is why local journalists have stated that these vehicles do harm to the all-electric vehicle movement. They suggest very strongly that transportation will have to regress to a point not unlike the horse and buggy days. In fact, with a horse and buggy, you could go much farther and faster that you would be able to in these little cans. Furthermore, in order to reduce production costs, these vehicles are actually manufactured in China. Don't get me started on how the Chinese connection is having a negative effect on global commerce and quality of life. But it is huge and this only contributes to it. To produce a vehicle that is supposedly "environmentally conscious" in a country that has no concept of environmental responsibility is disingenuous.

After my visit to the Bay Area, I continued my trek down the coast and reflected on the tremendous investment which has been made in our freeways over the last 50-60 years. How does this fledgling technology envision getting from town to town, let alone from State to State as I was doing. How does this jibe with the American penchant for the open road and the freedom to travel on a whim. While this has created many problems such as air pollution, green-house gas emissions and vehicular congestion between our suburbs and cities, it is no doubt that powerful steeds with and unlimited range are a fact of American life. We view our vehicles as a magic carpet that can transport us almost effortlessly to different worlds within a world. Even as we use our cars and trucks to bring us to and from the drudgery of our jobs, we also use them to escape that drudgery. To haul the family and or friends to far flung environments that reinvigorate and re-inspire us. To remind us that our frenetic lives are not the end all and be all of existence but merely a means to an end. That our true connection is to the life-giving elements of wind, water, plant and animal  and our cars make reconnection to that infinite realm possible.

Electric car technology will need to evolve by several levels of magnitude before it will be embraced by the American consumer. Like it or not, powerful, full featured, road warriors are inculcated into the American psyche as much as any other tradition, whether it be Christmas, football or Reality TV and until the environmental upstarts can produce an affordable all electric vehicle that doesn't require us to compromise safety, comfort, speed, range, reliability, style and freedom, like it or not the gas guzzling internal combustion engine is here to stay.

Mark Reynolds