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Posted Wednesday, January 16, 2002 - 6:15 pm
Upstate drivers get a charge from electric minicars
By Mike Foley
STAFF WRITER
mfoley@greenvillenews.com
Getting stared at is something Zack Thomason had to get used to.
Thomason isn't especially peculiar, but his car sure is.
"I was at Office Depot the other day, and four groups of people came up to me and they all said, 'What is it?'"
Thomason said as he stood next to it, the "it" being a tiny, bright-yellow, three-wheeled electric car. "It's been a pretty
good conversation piece."
And that is exactly what Thomason wanted. He bought the car -- it's actually classified as a motorcycle for insurance
and motor vehicle registration purposes -- for fun and to help advertise his business, Eagle Embroidery. Consider both
purposes fulfilled.
"I was at lunch the other day, and the waiter saw my shirt," Thomason said, pointing to his company logo stitched
across his heart. "And he said, 'Are you the guy who has the little yellow car?' And I thought to myself, 'It worked.'"
While Thomason bought his car, a Sparrow built by Corbin Motors of Hollister, Calif., for commercial value, electric cars
are experiencing a resurgence in popularity. Corbin Motors easily sold the 350 Sparrows it produced last year, and it is
currently re-tooling and building a new construction plant in Daytona Beach, Fla., to mass produce the Sparrow II and
several other body styles, said Mike Tappio of TransTech Inc., which is the Greenville-area dealer for the cars.
Tappio's only problem right now is that he has no cars to sell.
"I think that's the only one in South Carolina," he said of Thomason's car.
Think Mobility, a division of Ford Motor Co., is poised to flood the electric
vehicle market in 2003 with four-wheeled, two-seat cars called the Think City.
This year, the company imported 150 of the vehicles from Norway as a
demonstration project, and those disappeared fast.
"Everybody loves them," said Frank Ginotti, a salesman for S&C Ford in
San Francisco. "They're great fun to drive. They're perfect if you use them
for the purpose they're designed for."
And that purpose is short-distance commutes or around-town errands. Thomason drives his Sparrow about four miles
from home to work and then back. His car has a range of about 60 miles between charges. Ford's car will have the
same. If you drive the car fast, or on hilly terrain, your mileage will vary.
"Our vehicles are not appropriate for the wide-open and hills of North Dakota," said Karl Thidemann, a spokesman for
Solectria, an electric vehicle and parts supplier in Wilmington, Mass. "Ours are used mainly in urban environments
where there's a lot of short trips and stop and go."
Although Solectria previously converted gasoline-fueled Geo Metro sedans and Chevrolet S10 pickup trucks for an
eager market, it now concentrates on selling its electric CitiVan, used primarily as U.S. Postal Service vehicles, and
electric school buses.
The vans, with a range of 50-60 miles, more than meet the requirements for letter carriers in big cities such as New
York, where Solectria has more than 25 in use.
"They only average about 7 miles a day on their routes," Thidemann said. "They'll just pick up mail and then their
routes are a city block full of office towers."
Despite their limited utility, the electric cars are priced comparably to a traditional car. Thomason's Sparrow cost about
$15,000. It's loaded with features such as a CD player, power windows and rack-and-pinion steering. It rides on
13-inch wheels.
Think City cars have a sticker price of $26,000 -- but they're already sold out. Federal and state tax credits can ease
the cost some. Ginotti said he's been able to lower the price enough to offer a $199 a month lease to potential drivers.
Currently, South Carolina doesn't offer any state tax break for emission-free vehicles, but at least 14 states do.
Georgia, for example, offers a one-time $5,000 tax credit. California offers up to $9,000 over three years. The
one-time federal tax credit was 10 percent, up to $4,000, although the credit dropped 25 percent for 2002 and will
drop another 25 percent in 2003 and again in 2004.
Even without tax credits, the cars are economical to drive. Corbin Motors Web site claims that by using U.S.
Department of Energy calculations and conversion, its cars get the equivalent of 358 miles per gallon of gas.
Some of the 13 batteries that power the car are shown above.
"You just plug it in and charge it up," said Eagle's Shannon Thomason, who often drives the company's Sparrow
vehicle around Greenville.
"I haven't figured out how much it costs to drive," said his father, Zack. "But it can't be much more than running a
light bulb."
The Sparrow is fueled by 13 car-size, lead-acid batteries. Six of them are located
under the front hood and seven underneath the driver's seat. When Zack Thomason
fires up the car, you can still hear birds chirping in the nearby trees. It creates no
noise. Driving it is easy and comfortable.
"They say the top speed is 70 mph," the elder Thomason said, then admitted -- with
a wink -- it reaches that speed and then some.
As technology improves and big boys such as Ford move into the market, electric cars
are really turning back the clock, Thidemann said.
"There were a lot of electric vehicles back at the turn of the century, the last century. In 1910, there were 50,000
electric vehicles on the road in the U.S.," he said, "which is about 10 times how many there are today."
But those cars were smaller, with tiny engines, limited range and little speed. Now, people want more from their electric
vehicles -- and they're likely to get it.
"We have every indication that a number of forces, some technological, many of them market-driven like concerns for
the environment, are moving in that direction," Thidemann said. "I don't see big SUVs going away anytime soon. But
there are a lot of electric vehicles being developed behind the scenes, and there's a lot of them coming on line."
For more information visit www.myersmotors.com.
Upstate drivers get a charge from electric minicars
By Mike Foley
STAFF WRITER
mfoley@greenvillenews.com
Getting stared at is something Zack Thomason had to get used to.
Thomason isn't especially peculiar, but his car sure is.
"I was at Office Depot the other day, and four groups of people came up to me and they all said, 'What is it?'"
Thomason said as he stood next to it, the "it" being a tiny, bright-yellow, three-wheeled electric car. "It's been a pretty
good conversation piece."
And that is exactly what Thomason wanted. He bought the car -- it's actually classified as a motorcycle for insurance
and motor vehicle registration purposes -- for fun and to help advertise his business, Eagle Embroidery. Consider both
purposes fulfilled.
"I was at lunch the other day, and the waiter saw my shirt," Thomason said, pointing to his company logo stitched
across his heart. "And he said, 'Are you the guy who has the little yellow car?' And I thought to myself, 'It worked.'"
While Thomason bought his car, a Sparrow built by Corbin Motors of Hollister, Calif., for commercial value, electric cars
are experiencing a resurgence in popularity. Corbin Motors easily sold the 350 Sparrows it produced last year, and it is
currently re-tooling and building a new construction plant in Daytona Beach, Fla., to mass produce the Sparrow II and
several other body styles, said Mike Tappio of TransTech Inc., which is the Greenville-area dealer for the cars.
Tappio's only problem right now is that he has no cars to sell.
"I think that's the only one in South Carolina," he said of Thomason's car.
Think Mobility, a division of Ford Motor Co., is poised to flood the electric
vehicle market in 2003 with four-wheeled, two-seat cars called the Think City.
This year, the company imported 150 of the vehicles from Norway as a
demonstration project, and those disappeared fast.
"Everybody loves them," said Frank Ginotti, a salesman for S&C Ford in
San Francisco. "They're great fun to drive. They're perfect if you use them
for the purpose they're designed for."
And that purpose is short-distance commutes or around-town errands. Thomason drives his Sparrow about four miles
from home to work and then back. His car has a range of about 60 miles between charges. Ford's car will have the
same. If you drive the car fast, or on hilly terrain, your mileage will vary.
"Our vehicles are not appropriate for the wide-open and hills of North Dakota," said Karl Thidemann, a spokesman for
Solectria, an electric vehicle and parts supplier in Wilmington, Mass. "Ours are used mainly in urban environments
where there's a lot of short trips and stop and go."
Although Solectria previously converted gasoline-fueled Geo Metro sedans and Chevrolet S10 pickup trucks for an
eager market, it now concentrates on selling its electric CitiVan, used primarily as U.S. Postal Service vehicles, and
electric school buses.
The vans, with a range of 50-60 miles, more than meet the requirements for letter carriers in big cities such as New
York, where Solectria has more than 25 in use.
"They only average about 7 miles a day on their routes," Thidemann said. "They'll just pick up mail and then their
routes are a city block full of office towers."
Despite their limited utility, the electric cars are priced comparably to a traditional car. Thomason's Sparrow cost about
$15,000. It's loaded with features such as a CD player, power windows and rack-and-pinion steering. It rides on
13-inch wheels.
Think City cars have a sticker price of $26,000 -- but they're already sold out. Federal and state tax credits can ease
the cost some. Ginotti said he's been able to lower the price enough to offer a $199 a month lease to potential drivers.
Currently, South Carolina doesn't offer any state tax break for emission-free vehicles, but at least 14 states do.
Georgia, for example, offers a one-time $5,000 tax credit. California offers up to $9,000 over three years. The
one-time federal tax credit was 10 percent, up to $4,000, although the credit dropped 25 percent for 2002 and will
drop another 25 percent in 2003 and again in 2004.
Even without tax credits, the cars are economical to drive. Corbin Motors Web site claims that by using U.S.
Department of Energy calculations and conversion, its cars get the equivalent of 358 miles per gallon of gas.
Some of the 13 batteries that power the car are shown above.
"You just plug it in and charge it up," said Eagle's Shannon Thomason, who often drives the company's Sparrow
vehicle around Greenville.
"I haven't figured out how much it costs to drive," said his father, Zack. "But it can't be much more than running a
light bulb."
The Sparrow is fueled by 13 car-size, lead-acid batteries. Six of them are located
under the front hood and seven underneath the driver's seat. When Zack Thomason
fires up the car, you can still hear birds chirping in the nearby trees. It creates no
noise. Driving it is easy and comfortable.
"They say the top speed is 70 mph," the elder Thomason said, then admitted -- with
a wink -- it reaches that speed and then some.
As technology improves and big boys such as Ford move into the market, electric cars
are really turning back the clock, Thidemann said.
"There were a lot of electric vehicles back at the turn of the century, the last century. In 1910, there were 50,000
electric vehicles on the road in the U.S.," he said, "which is about 10 times how many there are today."
But those cars were smaller, with tiny engines, limited range and little speed. Now, people want more from their electric
vehicles -- and they're likely to get it.
"We have every indication that a number of forces, some technological, many of them market-driven like concerns for
the environment, are moving in that direction," Thidemann said. "I don't see big SUVs going away anytime soon. But
there are a lot of electric vehicles being developed behind the scenes, and there's a lot of them coming on line."
For more information visit www.myersmotors.com.
