I was privately asked by a person if it's worth spending 12K on a ZAP, and if it's still worth it given better EVs are on the horizon...
My reply:
Is the ZAP worth it? Depends. You can buy a lot of gas for 12K plus the monthly insurance and lead acid battery pack renewal costs every 15K miles. Economics? No. It's absolutely not worth it as a second car if one only considers economics, and it's not good enough as a single car for most of us.
But, I'd still buy one again for 12K if I had to do it all over. There are other reasons to buy an EV besides economics. I'd say for a minority of people it is worth it. Reasons like never going to a gas station, and never having to give the vehicle routine service beyond keeping air pressure in the tires and keeping battery connections tight. Demonstrating to the public there is an ICE alternative just by venturing out on the road in the ZAP. Giving Foreign Oil (and the Bush/Cheney Texas Oil barrons) the shaft, a wonderful feeling (revenge?). I have not had to gas-up my other car, a Ford Focus in a long time since I rarely need to drive it anymore.
Yes, there will be better and far more capable EVs in a couple years, but they will cost 30K and up....and you still need to wait those 2 years. That's two more years of your life spent in an ICE vehicle that has been forced on you by the likes of Chevron and GM, etc.
The ZAP is a potential choice if you don't need to drive it more than 15 miles before recharging and don't plan on driving on roads faster than 40 MPH. It's a city car.
You should be good as a backyard mechanic so as to tinker with the ZAP to make it a little nicer than stock: Plan on doing an 84V upgrade from Grants Pass EVs to get better performance:
http://www.gpev.us/
And study carefully this ZAP user's group site to see if it can be a good fit for you: Don't place blind faith in my ZAP endorsement, nor should you trust flaming posts critical of ZAP; read user's posts instead:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Xebra_EV/
ZAP is the only cheap EV that you can buy that is not classified as an NEV. NEVs are limited by law to 25 MPH. ZAPs can go 40 MPH if you opt for the larger AH battery pack. Even though I could not really afford to spend 12K on the purchase of a second vehicle, I'm glad that I did as I had no other way to get into an EV. I think of the ZAP as a kit car EV that someone else has already done the conversion for me, and now I just need to tinker with it to keep it going. A hobby.
Will I buy a "real" EV in a few years? I just might. The ZAP has shown me how nice it is to drive an EV. It would be even better to have a freeway speed EV, safety rated, larger size, and with all the creature comforts like AC, power windows, etc.... all those things the Toyota Rav4 EV had 10 years ago, but vanished when our "Human Energy" friends at Chevron bought up the patents on the battery system.
My reply:
Is the ZAP worth it? Depends. You can buy a lot of gas for 12K plus the monthly insurance and lead acid battery pack renewal costs every 15K miles. Economics? No. It's absolutely not worth it as a second car if one only considers economics, and it's not good enough as a single car for most of us.
But, I'd still buy one again for 12K if I had to do it all over. There are other reasons to buy an EV besides economics. I'd say for a minority of people it is worth it. Reasons like never going to a gas station, and never having to give the vehicle routine service beyond keeping air pressure in the tires and keeping battery connections tight. Demonstrating to the public there is an ICE alternative just by venturing out on the road in the ZAP. Giving Foreign Oil (and the Bush/Cheney Texas Oil barrons) the shaft, a wonderful feeling (revenge?). I have not had to gas-up my other car, a Ford Focus in a long time since I rarely need to drive it anymore.
Yes, there will be better and far more capable EVs in a couple years, but they will cost 30K and up....and you still need to wait those 2 years. That's two more years of your life spent in an ICE vehicle that has been forced on you by the likes of Chevron and GM, etc.
The ZAP is a potential choice if you don't need to drive it more than 15 miles before recharging and don't plan on driving on roads faster than 40 MPH. It's a city car.
You should be good as a backyard mechanic so as to tinker with the ZAP to make it a little nicer than stock: Plan on doing an 84V upgrade from Grants Pass EVs to get better performance:
http://www.gpev.us/
And study carefully this ZAP user's group site to see if it can be a good fit for you: Don't place blind faith in my ZAP endorsement, nor should you trust flaming posts critical of ZAP; read user's posts instead:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Xebra_EV/
ZAP is the only cheap EV that you can buy that is not classified as an NEV. NEVs are limited by law to 25 MPH. ZAPs can go 40 MPH if you opt for the larger AH battery pack. Even though I could not really afford to spend 12K on the purchase of a second vehicle, I'm glad that I did as I had no other way to get into an EV. I think of the ZAP as a kit car EV that someone else has already done the conversion for me, and now I just need to tinker with it to keep it going. A hobby.
Will I buy a "real" EV in a few years? I just might. The ZAP has shown me how nice it is to drive an EV. It would be even better to have a freeway speed EV, safety rated, larger size, and with all the creature comforts like AC, power windows, etc.... all those things the Toyota Rav4 EV had 10 years ago, but vanished when our "Human Energy" friends at Chevron bought up the patents on the battery system.
