The parking lot in front of Palo Alto High School became a showcase of all cars electric Aug. 29 during the 2009 annual Electric Car Rally sponsored by the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Electric Auto Association.
On display were sleek new production models including the Tesla roadster and Triac, quirky one- and two-seat vehicles more commonly seen in Europe and Asia, and formerly gas-powered classics converted by electric enthusiasts.
The event also featured electric-powered scooters, Segways, bicycles, motorcycles and many green-themed vendors. Attendees to the free event also got to take a few test rides in the vehicles.
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Comments
Greenmeadow
on Sep 4, 2009 at 11:20 pm
on Sep 4, 2009 at 11:20 pm
A truly awesome job on this story. Kudos to the reporter for putting this together.
Maybe next year you can get a ride in the T-Zero, Tesla or an Aptera which should be there.
Registered user
Midtown
on Sep 5, 2009 at 4:08 am
Registered user
on Sep 5, 2009 at 4:08 am
Agreed. This show has always impressed me with it's no BS honest approach to the E-car. While the electric is not THE car of the future, it is definitely A car of the future.
Professorville
on Sep 5, 2009 at 7:07 pm
on Sep 5, 2009 at 7:07 pm
And there is an electric van called "The Moose"!
Greenmeadow
on Sep 7, 2009 at 9:47 am
on Sep 7, 2009 at 9:47 am
>> Agreed. This show has always impressed me with it's no BS honest
>> approach to the E-car. While the electric is not THE car of the
>> future, it is definitely A car of the future.
I think of these shows at the equivalent of the "Homebrew computer groups" back in the late 70s. Back before the time of PCs it was just a bunch of hobbyist making stuff from scratch. But among that group of people were some kids with the names "Wozniak, Jobs and Osborne" all of home founded companies that lead home computers we have today.
If you look at the designs of cars like the Tesla and Aptera today both of which get over 100 miles per change I do think that are sufficient as a "commute" car for an everyday consumer. What needs to have though is the price needs to drop by a factor of 3. Something that I think is possible about 10 years out (i.e. 2020).
Registered user
Midtown
on Sep 7, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Registered user
on Sep 7, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Does anyone have a trailer mounted generator to hook up to an E car for extended touring? And what does AC do to mileage?
Greenmeadow
on Sep 8, 2009 at 8:21 am
on Sep 8, 2009 at 8:21 am
The T-Zero which was the yellow car and the proto-type for the Tesla cars today, had such a trailer.
See the wikipedia article. It has a picture on the bottom right.
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