Free Living Like Ed by Jr. Ed Begley Page B

in a 1909 Baker electric car owned by Jay Leno. What an amazing vehicle. It was way ahead of its time. Back in 1909, cars didn’t even have electric starters. They had gas headlamps. But this car was
fully
electric. Interestingly, it was designed for women, for them to go shopping, since it was clean and quiet and quite elegant inside, with a vase for fresh flowers and a mirror mounted on the door to check their makeup. It’s incredible just how advanced this car was.
    Sadly, by the 1920s, electric cars had lost their allure. Cheap and plentiful gasoline—and the longer range of cars with internal-combustion engines—temporarily made electric cars all but unsalable.
    Then we had that first gas crisis in the early 1970s—and, about the same time, people became concerned about pollution—and all of a sudden, there’s an interest in alternative fuels again. The government got involved, too, and began pushing the companies that manufacture automobiles to make vehicles that would get better gas mileage and create less pollution. In 1976 Congress passed the Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development, and Demonstration Act. Its goal was to encourage development of new technologies, like improved batteries, electric motors, and other hybrid-electric components.
    Electric vehicle development really got a boost in 1990, when the California Air Resources Board (CARB) passed the Zero-Emission Vehicle Mandate. It required 2 percent of the vehicles in California to have zero emissions by 1998, and 10 percent by 2003. Unfortunately, CARB was not able to enforce its policy. In 2002 General Motors and Chrysler—along with the Bush administration—sued CARB to repeal the mandate. By 2003 CARB had weakened the mandate to the point that automakers could get zero-emission vehicle credits for non-ZEV vehicles.
    Now there’s almost no
incentive
for automakers to develop electric vehicles, which is why GM, Toyota, Ford, Honda—companies that offered electric cars just a few years ago—have all gotten out of the electric car business. They’ve got some interesting pure-electric concept cars, but not one of these companies offers a pure-electric vehicle that you can buy today.
    So what are your choices, if you want to drive an electric car? Several smaller companies have been developing electric vehicles on their own. After doing a lot of research, I’ve gotten involved with a company called Phoenix Motorcars. I now drive the company’s sport utility truck (SUT), and I’m a big fan. It’s a five-passenger vehicle, and its new battery technology has increased my range to more than 100 miles per charge. I’ll let my friend Dan Elliott, the company’s CEO, tell you more about it.

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    Ed’s Green Friend: Phoenix Motorcars
    Electric vehicles are giving drivers across America hope that their days of dealing with soaring gas prices are coming to a close. Many consumers question electric vehicles, simply because they aren’t informed as to what exactly a battery-run vehicle is and how it can positively affect their lives.
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    Electric vehicles (EVs) produce no exhaust fumes and, if they’re charged using most forms of renewable energy, minimal pollution. Many are capable of acceleration that is equivalent to—or, in some cases, exceeds that of—conventional gasoline-powered vehicles.
    Simply put, EVs reduce dependence on petroleum. They help to reduce global warming by alleviating the greenhouse effect. They are significantly quieter than internal-combustion vehicles, and they do not produce noxious fumes.
    So how does an all-electric vehicle work? Electric vehicles are powered by an electric motor that uses rechargeable batteries rather than a gasoline engine. Electric motors have the ability to convert energy back into electricity through
regenerative braking,
so when the driver of an electric vehicle steps on the brake pedal, it can actually recharge the car’s batteries. Regenerative braking can be used to reduce the