Small local group keeps hope alive for battery-powered personal vehicles

Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2003 | 11:19 a.m.

Las Vegas loves its electric lights, but when it comes to vehicles, the city prefers transportation powered by petroleum.

That doesn't keep a small band of enthusiasts from leaving the light on for electric cars, a transportation option they insist is as viable today as it was 25 years ago when the first wave of electric cars started quietly and cleanly zipping around neighborhoods.

About a dozen members of the Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association meet once a month to compare cars and notes on repairs and other issues. The members are a hardy if small group; some have nurtured their love for the battery-powered vehicles for decades.

According to Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles records, there are 107 licensed electric vehicles in Clark County, 141 statewide.

After the oil shocks of the 1970s, electric cars seemed to have a bright future. In 1996, General Motors unveiled the all-electric EV1 -- and called it the future of transportation.

But enthusiasm for battery-powered vehicles has dimmed, as technology never substantially improved upon the limits of about 100 miles of travel or a couple of hours in a typical charge for a typical vehicle. The federal government's pick for alternative automotive technology has switched to hydrogen-fueled vehicles, which are not commercially available.

Earlier this year, GM said it would be taking back all the EV1s it had leased in California and Arizona, about 1,000 in all. Those states were the only states where the car was available, and despite pleas from users, the car was only available for lease, never as a straight purchase.

Gail Lucas, who has 13 electric vehicles in various stages of repair -- or disrepair -- hasn't given up on the technology. She keeps most of the cars in her back yard, garage and driveway at her home near the Thomas & Mack Center.

Lucas, a 20-year employee of the Desert Research Institute, believes they are an environmentally clean alternative to gas-burning cars. A decade or so ago, she got one to take her to work on days when her bicycle wasn't practical.

"I just kept getting more of them," she said. "I thought I would make an impression, and people would start driving them."

Electric-car backers such as Lucas say the biggest advantage is that they are clean. Although the generating stations that make the electricity usually produce some pollution, those plants are much more efficient than gas-powered cars.

Overall, electric cars will cut about 90 percent of the emissions produced by a traditional engine, backers say.

"They don't pollute. That's the main thing," Lucas said. "There are other advantages. I never have to go to the gas station, and they are really quiet."

When she pulls her vehicle onto the road, the most surprising thing may be the noise. There isn't any. Not even the best muffler can completely silence the bass notes of the explosions of a traditional internal-combustion engine, but Lucas' electric car produces a bare whisper of a purr.

Lucas acknowledges disadvantages to her preference for electric vehicles. Beyond having a collection of cars that bothers some neighbors -- one drove by during an interview for this story and shouted, "Get rid of those cars!" -- the cars cannot go far. The one at home and running last week, a bright yellow vehicle that looked a lot like an enclosed golf cart, can travel about 40 miles, or one hour, on a single charge.

Repairs also are a problem, Lucas said.

"It's been hard to find anywhere to get them fixed," she said.

They aren't good for hauling, Lucas added. But they are good as "a niche vehicle, like my bicycle."

"This little car is perfect for most of my purposes."

The small cars generically called neighborhood electric vehicles are gaining in popularity, according to backers. The nonprofit organization Green Car Institute, based in San Luis Obispo, Calif., estimated in August that there were about 15,000 of the neighborhood vehicles in California. More than 93 percent of those are used for trips of less than 5 miles.

Jennifer Watts, a spokeswoman for the Electric Driver Transportation Association, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that represents power companies and automobile manufacturers, estimated that there are 22,000 such neighborhood electric vehicles coast to coast.

But another promising front for electric vehicles is in the next generation of hybrid vehicles, which mix traditional gasoline-burning engines with electric power.

Toyota's 2004 Prius, a hybrid vehicle which promises to deliver 55 miles per gallon of gas, is "getting more and more consumer attention," Watts said.

Watts said that the Prius has 12,000 advance orders.

Doc Lane, general manager at Las Vegas' Toyota West, said he cannot estimate how many of the new hybrids will be sold because he is not sure how many the company can supply.

"All we know is that the demand exceeds the supply," Lane said.

The car will sell for around $17,000 to $18,000, he said, making it a competitive buy compared to traditional gas-powered vehicles, especially because buyers this year can get a $2,000 write-off on their taxes and a $1,500 deduction next year. Interest in the vehicle goes up when gas prices soar, as they did during the summer, Lane said.

Most potential Prius buyers are looking for simple, clean transportation, he said.

"The person who buys them has an ecological awareness," Lane said. "They're usually very well educated. They view a car as transportation. They're not interested in glamor or glitz."

Hybrid technology, especially the new generation coming in the Prius and other vehicles, is appealing because of its simplicity, he said.

"This vehicle -- you don't have to plug it in. You don't have to do anything."

Not everyone is a huge fan of the hybrids.

Don DuPerault, a Las Vegas software developer, is proud of his pure-electric 2000 model Sparrow, one of about 400 produced by the now bankrupt Corbin Motors in California. The sleek, gray, three-wheeled speedster is perfect for jetting around Las Vegas, he said.

The Sparrow is not for everyone. It holds one person and looks like an enclosed motorcycle. DuPerault said it drives like a motorcycle too.

But it is faster and can travel farther than most electric cars. Using new batteries, the vehicle can go about 70 miles at freeway speeds, he said.

DuPerault said he bought the vehicle for a couple of reasons. The car once belonged to Apple Computer founder Steve Wozniak, he said. DuPerault likes the look of the vehicle, wanted to learn more about electric cars, and was irritated with the oil industry.

The Sparrow isn't for everybody in every situation, he admits. Like a pair of running shoes, it has a specific function. And the vehicle has a few problems, such as finding an insurance company willing to cover the vehicle on the road.

DuPerault said one problem is the vehicle's futuristic look, which can prompt police to pull it over "more out of curiosity than anything else."

Another problem is the battery pack, which demands a lot of DuPerault's time.

"The biggest disadvantage is tending to the batteries, because it's all about the batteries," he said. And even when the batteries are ship-shape, they still need time to charge.

Unlike a gasoline-powered vehicle which can be gassed up in minutes, an electric vehicle needs hours to recharge. That is not always practical, DuPerault said.

"The biggest problem is running out of power. When you're out of power, you're stuck. That's where the technology has to grow."

He is confident that a new generation of batteries now being produced could extend the range of electric cars to 300 miles or so, making electric cars truly competitive in distance with gasoline-powered vehicles.

Al Sawyer, a retired engineer, also is a fan of electric vehicles and is active with the Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association. In the early 1980s, he worked as a Las Vegas factory that converted Datsuns into electric cars for Lectra Motors Inc.

Today, he drives one of the company's vehicles, the 1981 Lectra Centauri.

"I drive it every day," Sawyer said. "It's very consistent."

It keeps a charge for a couple of hours, he said.

"It will take you out of town, but it won't bring you back," Sawyer said.

Sawyer said the future of pure-electric vehicles is bright -- if the technology only improves a little.

Although cleaner and more efficient than ordinary gas-burners, hybrid technology is not perfect, Sawyer said.

"The hybrid is not a pollution-free vehicle. It still burns gasoline."

Sawyer and his fellow electric-car fans vow to keep tinkering and working for what they believe is the clean, silent future of transportation.

"The hybrids are going to be very popular for a while," he said. "For how long is anybody's guess. If the batteries improve, then the pure electrics may come back into favor."

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