madcorgi

Took one for a test drive just for the experience, It was actually a very nice little car--felt not that different from any other compact, though it was a lot quieter. Sorta like a golf cart. It accelerated as briskly as I would care to on the street. Handling and braking were fine, and the interior was very nice--quite upscale. Over all, quite nice, though it was butt-ugly.

But two things would make it a complete non-starter for me. The maximum range it can get is 90-110 miles. There's a little readout on the dash that tells you predicted remaining range. Just turning on the defroster changed it from 95 miles to 65 miles. To me, driving the thing would be a constant source of anxiety. And, it's not like there's a recharge station every block. Plus, a "quick" recharge still takes 3 hours! A normal one takes 8. So, the thing would be useless for anything other than short commutes where you had all night to recharge the car.

The real killer, though, was the price. It's a dinky little car, but it cost $38,000! Even with tax breaks and incentives (no sales tax, plus a $7500 credit for zero pollution), the thing is still ridiculously overpriced. Which may explain why the dealer had a lot full of them. And guess who gets to pay for those incentives that make the celebs who buy them feel good about themlselves? (oops--this isn't PARF)

BTW, I had my daughter with me, who is getting her masters in civil engineering, with an emphasis in environmental stuff, especially alternative fuel cars. It was hilarious to listen to her bombard the salesman with questions about batteries, payback periods, regenerative braking, etc. He couldn't answer any of them; he didn't know anything about cars--he was just a car salesman!

I like the idea of electrics, but we've got a long way to go before they will make any sense at all.