... hopefully it's not! I am really excited about electric vehicles, and, despite the fact that a rational thought process says they won’t be a significant share of the market for a long time, I sincerely hope that a technological breakthrough comes along quickly and shatters that line of thinking. And, with all of the development work and investments being funneled into this area, there is a small part of me that believes it will happen and soon. There are companies out there that are so close to making the viable electric vehicle a reality! Take Saba Motors, for example….
The company’s Carbon Zero roadster is a plug-in electric that will be available in the second half of 2010. According to Saba, the vehicle has a low-manufacturing cost, can be easily ramped up to production volumes, is affordable, offers high-performance, and costs an average of $7.04 per week to charge and operate. The Carbon Zero can go from zero to 60 mph in five seconds, with a top speed of 105 mph, and has a driving range of between 120-140 miles between charges.
Saba’s product certainly sounds too good to be true. But, the Carbon Zero made it onto the list of final contestants for the Progressive Automotive X-Prize. This is significant, because the X-Prize foundation applies very strict and rigorous selection criteria and only vehicles that are truly viable are selected for the final phase of the competition. The vehicles must be available for the spring competition and testing events and they must be production capable. The winners of the competition will be selected in September 2010. Saba Motors is still looking for additional investors – any takers out there?