May 5, 2008 10:02 pm US/Eastern
Electric Cars Spotted In South Florida
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ―
The demand for cheaper personal transportation is through the roof these days, so some people in South Florida are hopping onto two-wheel, three-wheel, and even custom four-wheel rides.
It's a Zap Xebra pickup truck and it operates 100 percent on electricity. Contracor Matthew Quinn says he couldn't be more excited about owning it, especially when he sees other gassing up.
"I beep the horn and wave at everybody as I'm passing by," said Quinn. "I get the biggest smile just passing by and kind of snickering while they're filling up at $85 per tank full or whatever."
The cost of running his electric pickup truck is 40 cents a day in electricity.
"It does about 45 miles per hour, that's it top speed; the range on it is about 40 miles on a full charge," said Quinn.
The price of his Zap Xebra Vehicle is about $11,500. And if the pickup is not for you, there's a four door sedan.
There's also a cart that can go up to 35 miles per hour.
"[It] have blinker, like a car, horn like a car; it just drive like a car," said Giuseppe Urso.
A model like hi runs about $15,000. Urso runs a beach rental company, and he says people have been testing it out before buying.
And then there's the smart car. Why's it so smart? It costs about $11,500 and gets 40 miles per gallon and goes up to 90 miles an hour.
And if you want that outrageous gas mileage, check out the scooters. There are all shapes and sizes but they have one thing in common.
"I put one dollar in yesterday and I'm still riding," said Jonathan Broader, as he laughed.
If you'd like to get a better idea about some of these vehicles, you can look for yourself on their web site:
www.zapworld.com.
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