ZENN and the art of pollution-free miles: With local video
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10/1/2008 - 10/2/08
Like many of us, Dotty Weis drives to and from her office each day. But unlike most of us, Weis doesn't spend a dime on gasoline.She drives a GEM, an all-electric car that belongs to a little-known class of vehicles called low-speed vehicles. Ten years ago this summer, the federal government formally recognized LSVs as suitable, street-legal transportation, mostly for small towns and planned communities.
Few paid much attention to LSVs then — gasoline cost about $1.10 a gallon in 1998 — but now, with record-high gas prices, LSVs are starting to get more notice. Weis lives about a mile from her office at Belton Insurance in Tavares, Fla. She learned about LSVs when a customer came in to insure one — it costs about $200 a year, Weis said — and Weis thought her own short commute would be perfect for an LSV.
She found a used model — a GEM, built by the Chrysler-owned Global Electric Motorcars in North Dakota — for less than $5,000 "in perfect shape," she says. "I love it."
New LSVs range from about $6,500 to more than $17,000 for the ZENN, which stands for Zero Emissions, No Noise. Most are based on golf-cart technology, upgraded with required equipment including an automotive-style glass windshield, lights and turn signals.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requires LSVs go at least 20 mph but no faster than 25 mph. In most places, they are legal to drive on roads with a speed limit of 35 mph or less, "though they can cross regular roads that have higher speed limits," Weis said.
"In a community like Tavares," Weis said, "it's surprising how many places you can go on the smaller roads. I can go shopping; I can go downtown; I can even go all the way to Eustis (about 4 miles away) if I want to."
Though her GEM is equipped with windows and a windshield wiper, she does have a Jeep to drive if the weather is too severe.
Weis' GEM e4 has four seats, curtainlike fabric doors and plastic side windows. LSVs are not required to meet the same federal safety requirements that regular cars and trucks do, so there are no airbags or mandatory side-impact beams in doors. They are not crash-tested by the government, and it's difficult to find accurate safety records because, in many jurisdictions, they are lumped with golf carts.
"I can tell you this," said Joan Michelson, who heads public relations for GEM, by far the largest manufacturer of LSVs, with total sales of more than 37,000. "We're in our 11th year in the business, and we've had zero fatalities. And any injuries we've had have been minor."
A 2008 GEM e4, which costs $10,640, has a 5-hp electric motor, powered by six 12-volt batteries that give it a range of about 30 miles. It recharges overnight on household current. Weis, who has had her GEM for about a year, said she has not noticed an increase in her electric bill from recharging it.
The fuel crisis has sent interest in LSVs "through the roof," Michelson said. The company is adding staff and increasing production. Inquiries are up tenfold, she said, and some dealers are reporting upward of a 30 percent increase in sales.
There are at least seven other LSV manufacturers, and at the absolute top of the LSV food chain is the ZENN, which is based on an actual car: the French Microcar MC2, sold there with a gasoline or diesel engine.
The ZENN is imported without a drivetrain from France to Quebec, where the ZENN Motor Co. installs a 7.5-horsepower electric motor and six relatively sophisticated sealed lead-acid batteries.
Golf and Electric Vehicles near Bithlo, Fla., has new LSVs starting at less than $6,500, but the ZENN, priced at $17,540 including air conditioning, is the star of the fleet. Inside, it looks like a regular car, with room for two adults, a stereo, power windows, a clock and carpeting.
But even with two aboard, the ZENN reaches 25 mph quickly and will squeal its 13-inch tires from a standing start. The range, said dealership manager Jason Brownell, is 30 to 50 miles, less with the air conditioning on.
Like most LSVs, the ZENN can go quicker than 25 mph — in this case, at least double that — and some owners have learned how to disable the government-mandated governor, but expect no help from liability-conscious dealers in learning how to accomplish that.
Brownell said he sees multiple opportunities for vehicles such as the ZENN, ranging from security-patrol cars for businesses such as shopping centers or hospitals, to downtown delivery vehicles.
"With gas at or near $4 a gallon, we think a lot of customers might realize that this may be all they really need."
