Some states have laid out the red carpet for the three-wheeled electric vehicles from ZAP! by offering rebates and issuing executive orders while some states are trying to pull the rug out from under owners by invalidating their registrations. This is now the case in Maine where Xebra owner, Tom Joyal, has received a letter from the state government telling him his little electric Xebra doesn't conform to the state's motor vehicle code and that they are revoking his registration. A spokesperson for the Secretary of State says a number of vehicles, "have been brought to their attention" because people are trying to find ways of coping with higher gas prices. The owner disagrees with the states assessment and claims he is in compliance because it adheres to the definition of an autocycle.

So who is right? After meticulously combing the 251-page Maine Motor Vehicle Inspection Manual (PDF) we conclude that Mr. Joyal appears to be mostly within the boundaries of the law, though he may want to consider installing a roll bar if he wants to be sure to pass inspection. Although the law states that an autocycle is "...an enclosed motorcycle, originally manufactured as an autocycle. It is designed to have no more than three wheels in contact with the ground at any time," an inspector must reject the vehicle if it's does not have said roll bar. The office of the Secretary of State may take another look at the situation and has issued a statement saying, "We certainly want to take an opportunity to review the vehicle and the way that it is configured, see how that fits within the existing confines of state law and see what changes to make to either the vehicle or to the law to make it a viable alternative for people." We hope Mr. Joyal has a lot of patience and wish him good luck.

[Source: WCSH6]

There has been a lot of noise in Kentucky recently as state elected officials work to bring a large electric car factory to the area. A month ago, Democrats and Republicans were fighting over just who could hold the earlier press conference with representatives from Zap. Then, two weeks ago, the governor issued an executive order to allow low-speed three wheelers like Zap's Xebra on the roads. On Friday, officials from the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority gave the green light to offer a $48m tax credit package to Integrity Manufacturing of Bullitt County for an $84m plant that could be used by Zap to build electric vehicles. A final deal is expected this week, says the Courier-Journal, and Zap could employ anywhere between 500 and 2,500 workers in Kentucky (or maybe Indiana, if the Kentucky deal falls through) some time after the plant is up and running in late 2009.

[Source: Courier-Journal]

Kids today. Give them a new toy and before the sun goes down it's been taken apart, hacked, and maybe even improved. Jeff isn't exactly a kid and he picked up this toy some time last January but a Xebra isn't exactly an Playstation so it took a little time. The point is he wasn't totally satisfied with his ride and took it upon himself to bust out the power tools and make some changes. He also made an entertaining and somewhat instructional video of his Xebra hacking adventure which is definitely worth 7 minutes and 51 seconds of your time.

The finished product is faster, goes farther and is definitely better looking. Before the mods, his 3-wheeled truckette had white paint and a top speed of about 38 mph (in the presence of a strong tailwind) and lost lots of speed going up hills. After upgrading the wiring, adding a battery and increasing the voltage, it can go 45 mph and stay strong on the hills. The range seems improved as well. From the picture above you can see some of the cosmetic changes; black paint, l.e.d. lights, 2 inch drop and the bed is long gone. That's all the hacking this little ZAP Xebra is going to get for now. The plan for the future is just to see how many miles he can add to the existing 4,400. Check out all the all the madcap mayhem after the jump.

[Source: YouTube]

For the past few years the little Xebra from ZAP! has pretty much had the American three-wheeled electric truck market cornered. However, those days of "dominance" may soon be numbered if the Buckshot from Green Vehicles proves to be as capable as they suggest it is. In fact, since they say that they have been getting "tremendous interest" from different businesses, including a request for a demo from the United States Postal Service, we wonder if it might not make the Xebra truck extinct. Like the Triac that the company is also bringing to our shores, the Buckshot boasts a 20kw brushless AC motor powered by 23 kWh of LiFePO4 batteries with the a custom battery management system (BMS) and regenerative braking. The top speed is said to be 60 mph (the website says 45 mph, so it may be speed-limited) with a range of 80 to 90 miles (at 45 mph). It's heavy duty suspension is advertised to handle a total vehicle load of 1 ton and there are optional cargo configurations. When is it coming? Hit the jump for more.

[Source: Green Vehicles]

We recently told you about the Kentucky Senate side-show in which Democrats and Republicans both tried to get legislation started that would make it legal for low-speed vehicles (LSVs) to drive on some roads in the bluegrass state. Now, Governor Steve Beshear has stepped in and signed an executive order that allows LSVs on roads with speed limits of 45 mph or less. Why would he do this? To encourage ZAP! to locate a factory there, of course. While a few weeks ago ZAP! had said there were no "formal conversations" about locating a manufacturing facility there, it certainly appears differently now. First clue: ZAP CEO Steve Schneider was on hand for the signing ceremony and took the governor for a spin in a Xebra afterward. Second clue: At that same event, Beshear also announced that state officials will work "hourly and daily" with ZAP!, a local businessmen Larry Cottingham and Randall Waldman, CEO of Integrity Manufacturing of Bullitt County to develop an incentive package to secure the building of the plant in Kentucky. Hit the jump for lots more news plus bonus video.

*Update: Added video of Governor Beshear's announcement and ensuing press conference.


[Source: McClatchy / Business First / Courier-Journal / SMASHgods]

The Malaysian government has given the green light to national car maker Proton to begin "in-depth validation and testing" of electric cars. The announcement came after the Cabinet Committee on Inflation received a briefing on the role e-cars can have in reducing the consumption of petrol and diesel. Prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who seemed to be completely behind the idea, expressed hope that commercialization of the project could begin in a years time. As part of the announcement, the politician went for a ride in an electric Lotus Elise converted and supplied by Dutch company, Electric Cars Europe (ECE). Interestingly, Detroit Electric was named, along with PRO Dis-T, as one of the companies that Proton would be working with to "fine-tune" the car. In a somewhat convoluted web of alliances, Detroit Electric is a joint venture between Chinese firm, Youngman Automotive Group and ZAP! which is headed by Albert Lam, formerly of Lotus, which is owned by Proton. Youngman currently rebadges the Proton GEN2 as the Europestar RCR for the Chinese market. Also, Electric Cars Europe, as we recently informed you, has plans to bring ZAP/Detroit Electric vehicles, including the famous Alias, to the European market. It wasn't stated which model Proton would be initially using for the project but the ECE website shows the Savvy (pictured above) as one of the models it has targeted for production in 2009. We await further announcements to make the room stop spinning.

[Source: The New Straits Times / PaulTan.org]

There has been quite a political theater circus happening in Kentucky this past week. Democrats and Republicans have been tripping all over themselves to hold press conferences with the owner of a potential ZAP! factory as well as clear the legal roadblocks that currently bar certain three-wheeled electric cars from the roads of the bluegrass state. It seems the kerfuffle started when Republican senators, Dan Seum of Louisville and Gary Tapp of Shelbyville, sent out a press release July 2nd announcing an appearance at Integrity Manufacturing in Shepherdsville. Also appearing at the would be owner Randy Waldman and local ZAP! dealership general manager, Larry Cottingham, to announce their legislative intentions and support for new jobs at the facility.

Democrats preempted the senators with a press conference of their own which they scheduled for the day before the original media event. The senators "R" then decided to head the Democrats off at the pass and pre-filed a bill that would allow licensed three wheeled vehicles on roads with speed limits of 45 mph and under. The Dems finally held their press conference but unfortunately forgot to go over some details with Bullitt County businessmen and the Xebra they crowed they would test drive was a no show. Their corrected press release indicated that they would inspect what they termed a "Segway scooter" (we think they meant a Zappy 3) instead.

What do they make of all this at ZAP HQ in California? It seems that, while ZAP seems somewhat interested in manufacturing stateside, they say any "formal conversations" with this factory owner have not been held. Regardless of what side of the political fence you reside on, the whole hoo-hah makes for great reading as it was nicely chronicled on the WHAS11 Political Blog.

[Source: WHAS11 / Courier Journal]

We recently got word that a ZAP Alias prototype had been built but at the time, we couldn't find any pictures. With a link supplied by commenter "Jay," that situation has been somewhat rectified. Although we don't have photos beyond the screen grabs you see above, there is a news video from NBC24 showing off the car from different angles. They even chat with the Craig Winn of Applied Technologies, the man responsible for this first iteration.

From what we can tell, the prototype stays quite true to the drawings and video renditions previously released. It looks real and not made of styrofoam. He hope to get more and better pictures soon as well as an updated production schedule. If Electric Cars Europe want to import it, seems like the pace ought to be picked up a bit, no? H/t to jay.

[Source: NBC24]

A consortium of Dutch companies under the banner of Electric Cars Europe have decided a little collaboration is in order to help speed up the implementation of electric cars in the Netherlands. With a vision of seeing 26 per cent of Dutch cars powered by electrons by 2025, the consortium's plan has several parts, the first of which involves some conversion of several Lotus Elise vehicles to an electric drivetrain by partner company, Innosys Engineering. Isn't it a little strange how Lotus has become the "go to" company when you want to build, or even just convert, an electric sports car these days? But I digress.

The next order of business is to take €100 million already invested and metamorphose a couple hundred Volkswagen Golfs from liquid fuel to solid state. All of these vehicles, as well as some future models, are to be monitored by energy company, Essent, as part of large-scale testing of their "Mobile Smart Grid." This is a "smart" distribution system that will make the move to electric personal transportation more feasible by tracking how much power you need and when you need it. It can also bill you for what you use regardless of where you plug in.

To read about a somewhat surprising twist to their next phase as well as test your working knowledge of Dutch and watch some electric Lotus Elise action, hit the jump. As an extra bonus we've also tagged on an extra video from Innosys Engineering that shows off what they've accomplished to the syncopated rhythms of a funky soundtrack.

* Added another video showing more of the orange Elise on the track

A while back we were telling you that ZAP was looking for an engineering firm to help make their Alias three-wheeled electric car drawing come to life. It seems Applied Technologies, Inc. has taken up that challenge and, according to the Toledo Blade, there were plans to show off the powertrain-less prototype to the public for a few hours on Monday before it was shipped to ZAP headquarters. We were hoping we could show you a picture from the historic event but, not only is the Internet seemingly bare of Alias photographs at this time, there isn't even a press release from ZAP! marking the occasion. It's all very strange. The next thing you know, the Obvio will disappear from their products list.

Holy Spicoli! The Obvio is no longer on the Zap! product list. Maybe the new chairman of the board and heavy-duty investor is trying to regain some lost respectability for the company and actually produce a promised vehicle. In any case, expect to see some prototype pictures soon. Hopefully.

*Alerted by a commenter, we noticed that although the Obvio is not listed with most of the ZAP! product line, it does have its own little paragraph down the page that states that Obvio is expected to deliver vehicles to ZAP in 2008. The Obvio website says it is "currently facing serious trouble in its operational schedule" because of the demise of its motor supplier and subsequent sale to Fiat.

[Source: Toledo Blade]

Things may be looking up for the somewhat controversial electric vehicle company "ZAP" since Mr Al Yousuf took control of the company the other day. Just after the change at the top happened, the California Air Resource Board added two ZAP models to their list of vehicles eligible for a rebate. Actually, it's the California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE) who hands out the cash on their behalf, as we mentioned when we told you the Vectrix was on the list. The money pile for the program has shrunk somewhat since that post and as of this writing there remains only $468,900. The rebate is worth $1,000 off the purchase of a Xebra sedan or truck and we suggest you take one for a test drive before buying.

Also in the past few days, ZAP has "acquired an ownership interest" in an electric motor company. The name of the company isn't known but we think it may well be located in China as they had mentioned working with such a company before. They seem to specialize in-wheel motors and the press release states that they are "developing a 7000-watt wheel motor for larger vehicle applications." In a departure from past ZAP practices, no prototype sketches accompanied the news but we will let you know when if the motor debuts in a new product. Press releases are after the jump.

Just days after the Al-Yousuf Group bought $475,000 of Zap's convertible debt, the president of that group, Eqbal Al Yousuf, was named chairman of Zap. This is not the first time Zap and Al-Yousuf came together: last November, the group (based in the United Arab Emirates) bought $5 million worth of ZAP shares and Eqbal Al-Yousuf has been on ZAP's Board of Directors since December. Al-Yousuf will become Zap's chairman on June 2. According to Zawya, Zap is the only non-UAE company the Al-Yousuf Group is invested in, but Al Yousuf himself invested in Phoenix Motorcars in December.

Zap's shiny press announcement of this change says that Zap's current chairman (and the co-founder of the company), Gary Starr, will remain on the Zap board of directors. Maybe that revealing Wired article made Starr want to get out of the spotlight a little bit.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, drivers in Ohio are facing problems when it comes time to register their electric three-wheeled vehicles. Most states classify three-wheelers as motorcycles, but Ohio adds one more item to their definition of a motorcycle: a saddle. This means that three-wheelers which have a normal "car-like" seat are unregisterable as a car, because they have fewer than four wheels, or a motorcycle. Two vehicles are mentioned in our source article, the ZAP! Xebra and the NmG from Myers Motors (pictured above), a company based, ironically enough, in Ohio. According to Josh Engel, chief legal counsel for the BMV, "It's not the first time that the law hasn't caught up with technology," adding that the state of Ohio is supportive of electric vehicles. Basically, the law needs to change, and Tom Hunter, communications director for the BMV, suggests that the real solution would be to classify the vehicles as neither cars nor motorcycles. A special class of vehicle would be created, and hopefully a motorcycle endorsement would not be required. We'll keep you updated if anything new comes of this issue. Thanks for the tip, Ken.

[Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer]

click to enlarge

It's Earth Day, so we would have been shocked to see the day slip by without a press release from Zap about their something or other. True to form, the EV company presents us with news that the Sopraffina Marketcaffe in Chicago will be using an electric Xebra truck with solar panels on the roof in its catering business (read more after the jump). Can't let the Ford Transit Connect have all the food fun, right?

The Xebra is Zap's one legitimate electric vehicle that has more than two wheels, but it does have some drawbacks compared to a "real" car because it's classified as a motorcycle. Still, for deliveries in downtown Chicago, running on electrons is a pretty good plan. Not a lot of sunlight reaches the street in the middle of the Windy City, but if you're on Lakeshore Drive, those panels should be able to suck up some juice. The three-cents-a-mile operating cost has got to be appealing to the business owners as well.

ZAP has proven to be an excellent company when it comes to issuing press releases. They have also offered some nice products in the past, like the Zappy line of scooters. For some, the Xebra (see gallery below) fits their needs quite nicely, and for those people, ZAP is a fine company. For the rest of us, the chances that the ZAP X SUV, ZAP Alias or Detroit Electric brand ever get off the ground seems awfully slim.


Let's check out Number 19.