This picture, from the city of Minneapolis, shows their two newest vehicles... both of them are pure electrics, which is why the photo was taken with the bank of solar power panels in the background.
The microphone stand in the foreground is for Mayor R.T. Rybak, who held a press conference to introduce the two additions to the city's "green fleet".
These cars each cost around $20,000 and have a top speed of 25 miles per hour.
The one on the right, which looks like a miniature Hummer military truck, is an e-ride EXV4... built in Princeton, Minn.
It uses a 72 volt, 16.5 horsepower motor to drive the rear wheels. Even with its nine eight-volt deep cycle batteries on board, the EXV4 only weighs a little more than 1800 pounds. It uses an aluminum frame and fiberglass body work.
The silver car on the right is called a ZENN, for Zero Emissions, No Noise. It is a small French car that is converted to electric operation in Canada.
The ZENN is front wheel drive, and uses regenerative braking (step on the brake pedal and the motor becomes a generator to put power back into the batteries) like more-expensive hybrid cars.
The city is anxious to see how these things work in a Minnesota winter. They both have electric heaters/defrosters, but a city employee told me he does not expect drivers of these cars to be taking off their coats for the ride.
The mayor drove both of the cars at the press conference, and it is odd how quiet they are.
I have read that Japan (where pure electric cars are more common) is considering some kind of noise generator for electric cars. The things are so quiet, pedestrians don't know they are there.
