By Lloyd Frazier
After some deep thought on what to do to overcome the high price of gasoline, I began to research ways to convert my existing Chevy S10 to electric. There are several companies that offer kits or do the actual conversion. The problem is that they all use lead acid battery technology. I might as well buy a golf cart and be done with it. It would be cheaper and the range about the same. I found that the average range is between 40 and 50 miles. Not bad for around town. Not really practical if you are doing a day trip to a nearby city.
As any red blooded American would do, I started on a Googling expedition. I found Tesla. For a mere $100K you can have yourself a two-seater sports car that can travel at speeds up to 135 MPH and a 200 mile charge range. Oh, and you have to be put on a waiting list indefinitely. It is a great looking car, but still not a practical alternative.
Another company popped up on my Google radar – Zap Car. Hmmm…looks interesting. Looks like all they have are some cheaply built Chinese renditions of 3 wheeler golf carts. There is a picture of a sleek looking crossover vehicle with the Lotus Engineering name plastered all over the page. And, a Brazilian derivative of a small VW Beetle knock-off. Ooh, ooh! You can also sign up to be a ZAP dealer. After perusing that site for awhile, I noticed that the company filed for bankruptcy protection and has begun to reinvent themselves. Looks like we have bit of a wait before there are some serious products from them.
The Chevy Volt was another alternative. That isn’t looking promising for a few years. GM claims they are seriously looking at a 2010 release. The great thing about this car is that it has its own recharging system. The system can be equipped with a gasoline, diesel, ethanol, or hydrogen powerplant to charge its batteries. It claims to have a 40 mile charge range. With the powerplant recharging, it gives it a much broader appeal. It is not a hybrid because it is only driven electrically from the batteries. It is a great looking vehicle with a large corporate budget behind it. Whether or not it actually sees the light of day is another matter.
I kept trudging along in my virtual search for the ultimate replacement for my reliable, but expensive gas dependent transportation. I ran into several other glorified golf cart companies. Nothing really sparked my interest.
Wait! Could it be. By golly, I think I found the answer to my gas guzzling ways. And its a small, sporty looking 4 door pickup. The perfect replacement for my S10. AND…its all-American baby!! Phoenix Motor Cars out of Ontario, California has developed a great looking truck and SUV for the retail market. It is already being sold for fleet usage in California, this year. In 2008, it will be available to the public. Around 6000 vehicles will be produced. By 2009, they will hope to ramp up production to supply the heated up EV market. The secret is in the battery technology. Altairnano has developed a nano technology that replaces the carbon graphite. Carbon apparently is the weak link in current battery designs. It causes heat and stress which shortens the life of the battery. The batteries developed for PMC (Phoenix Motor Cars) have a 20,000 charge cycle life which translates to 12 or more years of usage. The electric motor is produced by UQM Technologies of Colorado. Another plus. A company right in my own backyard. Boshart Engineering did the certification. They do work for several government agencies and major corporations. Put this all together and you have a practical, great looking truck for around $45K. It can be charged at home on a 220v dryer outlet in 5 or 6 hours. A commercial, 480v charging station can do it in 10 minutes. It has a 130 mile range on a charge. That can handle my needs just fine. I’m saving a downpayment as of this writing!
Lloyd, signing out…
With the Canadian auto supplier, Magna International, inching ever closer to clinching the Chrysler deal with Daimler-Chrysler, comes other complications. 
It appears that Toyota is about to claim the title for being the number one producer, in units, of automobiles in the world. The General has held that title since 1931. Toyota outproduced GM by several thousand vehicles the first quarter of this year. Now that Toyota has taken the mantle of ‘Numero Uno’, maybe they can appreciate what comes with that. Toyota and Honda have finally come under more scrutiny over issues with quality. Honda has been having ‘fit & finish’ and transmission issues. Toyota has been dodging issues with their engines sludging up by blaming it on customers not performing routine maintenance. Guess what Toyota? You get the responsibility of proving your worth on a daily basis and the wrath of the media when you make one ltty bitty faux pas. General Motors can breathe a sigh of relief for getting that monkey off their back. Let Toyota be the big man on campus. The General has been creeping up in the ‘look who is making a better car’ limelight over the last few years. Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac run neck-and-neck with Toyota in the initial quality and dependability departments. Ford is making huge strides there, too. The Mercury Milan is the rated right there next to the Toyota Camry in quality. General Motors is consistently in the top 10 ratings and they plan to stay there. Toyota will start to feel the sting of rapid growth and quality issues for years to come. It took General Motors 20 years to re-gain the confidence of their customers after producing questionable product during the late 70’s and throughout the 80’s. Toyota may be winning the hybrid war, but GM is looking to trump them with plug-in hybrid technology. Things are starting to get really interesting in the automotive world. Maybe we should call this the CAR 2.0 era. So, congratulations to Toyota for stepping up to the plate and being the fall guy…and probably for quite some time.