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Free electric cars put to diverse uses in
Vermont
By SETH HARKNESS Herald Staff The car parked in the lobby
of Even more appealing to
school officials was the price of the electric car with a top speed of 25 mph.
It rolled into town as part of a manufacturer’s giveaway that brought about
100 free electric cars to “Frankly when I first saw
the e-mail I thought it was … well, I get a lot of trash,” Bowen said
Friday. A little paperwork and seven
months later, he was behind the wheel of a shiny new electric car — worth
about $9,000 — that looks like a cross between a golf cart and a Volkswagen
Beetle. Once it arrived, Bowen said,
it wasn’t immediately clear what to do with the four-seater that has no doors
and can’t break the speed limit on most roads. He took it for a spin and
liked its pep. But he couldn’t go far in a vehicle that can travel only 35
miles before it must plug into a socket and recharge for up to 10 hours. Though the car is registered
and bears a At “I think it’s going to
be very handy,” the principal said. Of the five electric cars
that went to CSC, several have found a home with college safety officers, who
will use them to patrol the campus. The Killington Recreation
Department has been using its new vehicle to ferry children and supplies between
its offices and a nearby summer camp, letting it recharge overnight. Whatever recipients do with
their new electric cars, a Montpelier-based environmental group, the Green
Mountain Institute for Environmental Democracy, is watching closely. The director of that group,
which coordinated distribution of the cars in “They represent a reversal
of the trend of larger vehicles used for longer distances,” Ken Jones said
Friday. “We’re interested to see how the cars shift people’s thinking
about transportation.” By their very limitations,
the vehicles raise some important issues, he said. The cars’ range and speed
mean they have to be used in a local setting, and Jones said he is interested to
see how a short-range, low-speed car can become integrated into the life of a
neighborhood. If what people drive has
much to do with shaping where they live, as strip malls and overpasses attest,
Jones said it would be interesting to see what sort of development the electric
cars tend to foster. Many people have questioned
the safety of the electric vehicles. A GEM car, which weighs only 1,200 pounds,
is built like a golf cart with roll bars and does not look like it would stand a
chance in a collision with a sport utility vehicle. “If you hit one, it’s
bad news,” Jones said. Yet the cars’ light
construction could also be a departure from the escalating trend toward heavier
and heavier cars, he said. Like bicycles, they require caution on the part of
their drivers and everyone else on the road. When people charge it is
irresponsible to drive an ultra-light car, Jones said he replies: “I could
have bought a Humvee. My family would be safer, but yours wouldn’t.” The electric car may
represent the transportation of the future, but “It’s cool,” she said,
“if you live in GEM, which is owned by
DaimlerChrysler, donated cars nationwide to meet state emissions standards. Most
of the cars went to charitable and non-profit groups, with a few donated to
businesses to see how they could be used commercially. Contact Seth Harkness at
seth.harkness@rutlandherald.com. |