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I thought these just started being sold in the US. My girlfriend saw one in a parking lot in Oakland this weekend!

Believe it or not, there was already one attempt here in the U.S. to market an electric car by Saturn. It was hugely popular, with many vehicles pre-sold, and what happened?? As always, the oil industry won… for more information on this little known piece of the ugly (recent) history of America, check out the film/documentary”Who Killed the Electric Car” (2006).

Nice, now that’s some serious piece of design. I’d love to have one, and I’m a huge fan of the Otto engine (this in combination with my preference for green design is killing me). A great looking green aternative. But, indeed, if the car is 20.000 euro’s it would be to expensive, also for me, and thus killing it’s own market. Too bad…

Except they are very epensive, and not very good.

Oh by the way, there is a speed restriction with these cars. And they are not expensive- just around $12,000.00

Considering that you can get a Smart ForTwo or even a 5-door Aveo for nearly the same price as a ZENN, I don’t necessarily consider a ZENN to be cheap. This is mostly because it doesn’t have all of the safety features of a true car and hasn’t been through all of the crash testing that the Smart and Aveo have, so it’s limited to 25 mph and can only go on roads with a speed limit of 35 mph or lower (though some places might have exceptions). Considering that many of the surface streets in my area have speed limits of 40 or 45 mph, I’d have to plan my routes carefully. If you can live with its limitations, then go ahead and get it, but it’s not for me.

Now, the Th!nk has been crash tested to some extent (though I’m not sure if it’s tested enough to get a rating yet). It’s got airbags, ABS brakes, and other true car features. It has a top speed of 65 mph, meaning that it could achieve the speed limit on any road within about ten miles of my home, and would still be legal on the rural Interstates in my region which go up to 70.

I’ve heard the Th!nk is going to be sold for £14,000 in the U.K. If you do a raw exchange rate, that works out to $27,784. Plus £100+ ($198+) a month for the battery rental. However, vehicle costs in the U.K. seem to vastly outstrip the exchange rate. For instance, the cheapest VW Jetta costs £15,105 in the U.K., while it goes for $16,990 here. While I doubt the Th!nk would quite follow that same pattern, I’d still expect it to have a base cost of $20,000 or less. Considering that maintenance costs would be virtually zero and fuel costs would be about 1/4 that of a Prius, it could work out to be pretty attractive to a lot of people. Still, I think I’d cringe a bit paying the battery fee each month since the fuel bill for my current car usually runs about $60 per month, (though my car cost about $24k)

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Its cool, but anyone can build there own electric car. A lot of information on how to build an electric car, including cost cutting measures and design tips, can be found on Frank Didik’s website at: http://www.didik.com/didik_ev.htm. In particular, check out the section entitled “How to Build an Electric Car”, “Didik Turtle or How to build a two person electric vehicle in 14 hours” and “Critical and accurate assessment of electric vehicles”. He is the first to truly mention the pro’s and con’s of electric cars and an excellent history directory of electric cars, starting in the 1800’s. Many years ago, Didik was the found of the Electric Car Society.