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Filling the Honda at a public charger
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But instead of slowing down, the car stalled completely on a dark street a mile from
my home. Panicked, I jumped out, pushed the car to the side of the road and began
scrounging for coins to call a tow truck.
But after turning the car off for a few minutes and then restarting it, the RAV4-EV
moved again, though only for another block before stalling again. It took about 15
minutes of starting and stopping, including a heart-pounding dash across busy Wilshire
Boulevard, to make it back to my garage.
Running out of charge is the worst nightmare for an electric car driver. There
are few places for recharging, and it is not possible to walk to a service station
and buy a can of charge to get you moving again. In this case, however, I had ignored
low-battery warnings for 20 miles and deliberately run down the batteries -- part
of my road tests of three electric vehicles, in an effort to assess their everyday
practicality.
Southern California is the nation's test-bed for electric vehicles. Spurred by
a state rule that will require 10 percent of the vehicles sold in the state to be
emission-free starting in 2003, manufacturers have introduced several electric models.
And a network of public charging stations, which would be the gas stations of the
electric age, is beginning to sprout.
I spent four weeks using electric vehicles for all of my driving, with a few exceptions
for distances beyond the cars' range. In addition to the Toyota, I sampled the General
Motors EV1 and the Honda EV Plus.
So far, few of these cars have been leased. (Manufacturers, worried about the
batteries' longevity, are generally offering the cars for lease rather than purchase.)
G.M., the first to market in December 1996, had leased just 430 through the end of
June. Honda, which is making its EV available in New York this month, has leased
177 in Southern California since the car's debut in May 1997. Toyota, having decided
that EV's are not suited for general consumers, is leasing the car only to fleets,
but on a nationwide basis. Since November it has received orders for 382.
Besides a limited driving range that makes it difficult to visit distant suburbs,
the cars are expensive. The electric RAV4, for instance, leases for $457 or sells
for $42,000. It has a top speed of 78 miles an hour and can travel about 100 miles
on a charge. The conventional, gasoline-powered RAV4, which sells for about $25,000,
can go more than four times that far on a tank of gasoline, and at much higher speeds.
G.M.'s car leases for $399 a month for three years, a steep price for a two-seater
that goes 70 to 90 miles -- at most -- on a charge. (The price includes towing to
a charger if the need arises.) The Honda EV Plus, a four-seat hatchback that looks
like a small minivan, leases for $455 a month.
On top of that, one needs to have a charger installed. The construction required
for that generally costs $800 or more.
Despite these drawbacks, the electric cars were perfectly suitable for commuting
and moving around town for appointments. And they offer some advantages. The ride
is quiet, and there is something nice about not having to go to gas stations -- one
can just plug in the car at home for recharging overnight. The power I used was scarcely
noticeable on my monthly electricity bills. I normally spend $10 to $15 a week on
gasoline.
Driving an electric car is similar to using a gasoline-powered car, but there
are differences. Turning on the car requires flicking a switch rather than igniting
a spark and turning over the engine.
While Honda and Toyota still require drivers to turn a key, this is largely a
nod to tradition. G.M. has done away with keys altogether. One unlocks the doors
and starts the car by punching a numeric code onto keypads. In all the cars, the
dashboard lights up -- but, eerily, there is no sound or vibration, making it hard
to believe the car is running.
Driving is quiet, as well, although a high-frequency whine from the motor rises
in pitch during acceleration and falls during deceleration. The EV1 is quick, but
the Honda and Toyota are sluggish.
Although Southern California is the nation's electric-vehicle capital, most people
still have never seen one. I had driven only half a block in the G.M. EV1 when the
driver behind me pulled alongside at a red light and asked, "What kind of car
is that?" For the whole month I found myself being stared at and questioned.
This is especially true for the EV1, which looks like a space-age sports car --
like the Honda, it does not share its body with any other vehicle -- with an unusual
tapered rear end. By the time I got the RAV4-EV, which looks virtually the same as
the regular RAV4, I was pining for some anonymity. But my hopes faded when I saw
that Toyota had painted "Electric Vehicle" in big letters across the sides.
The lack of familiarity resulted in more than stares. Valet parking attendants,
ubiquitous in Los Angeles, generally did not know how to handle these cars. I usually
gave a quick lecture and hoped the attendant would remember enough to retrieve the
car later. At one restaurant, the attendant listened to my explanation, got in the
Honda and turned the key. After a few minutes, he said, "I'm sorry, I can't
get it started." The car was actually on, but he did not realize it, because
of the lack of any engine rumble. At a hotel, the attendant, after hearing my explanation,
just left the car parked in front.
I had a sense that driving range would be a problem when I got into my fully charged
EV1 for the first time and saw on the dashboard readout that I had 36 miles left.
While G.M. advertises a range of 70 to 90 miles, the computer in the car estimates
the actual range based on how the car had been driven recently. After driving 9 miles
to work, the range gauge still said 36 miles, some small comfort. But even after
a week of conservative driving, the most I could get the gauge to read on a full
charge was 42 miles.
I was so scared about wasting electricity that I wouldn't turn on the radio or
use the electric windows. The G.M. car, the first to market, uses lead-acid batteries,
but will get more efficient nickel-metal-hydride batteries this year. The Honda EV-Plus
and Toyota RAV4-EV already use those batteries. The Honda can typically go 60 to
80 miles; the Toyota gave me 103 miles before I entered limp-home mode. Both are
four-seaters with more cargo space than the EV1. In these, I felt more at ease using
the air-conditioner.
But if G.M.'s car lacks range, the company has done more than the others to allow
for recharging away from home, even providing a portable charger than can be plugged
into a household outlet. More important, it subsidized the constrution of 165 charging
sites around Southern California, at places like airports, hotels and shopping centers.
For now, the electricity is free.
I pulled in for a fill-up at a Ralphs supermarket one evening. Sure enough, just
in front of the store, right next to the blue-striped handicapped parking area, were
two choice parking spots painted green and marked for EV's only. To my surprise,
both spots were full -- but not with EV's. After all, why waste a good spot? Parking
without authorization in a handicapped spot brings a big fine, but not so for spaces
reserved for EV's. The people using these spots were equally astonished to see a
real electric car show up in need of a battery charge.
When I finally got to the charger, I inserted its paddle into the slot in the
front of the car and was told by an electronic readout that my batteries were 66
percent full and would require one hour and 15 minutes to charge fully. So I wandered
inside the store and bought ice cream, cookies and other things I didn't need. (Now
I see why Ralphs installed the chargers.) But after I killed 25 minutes shopping,
the charger said another hour would still be required. I gave up.
Each used a different charging system, which impedes the development of public
charging stations. (Imagine if different brands of cars needed different gas stations.)
Indeed, there is a Betamax-versus-VHS battle between the inductive charging favored
by G.M. and Nissan and the conductive charging favored by Honda and Ford. Toyota,
which now uses a conductive system -- one different from Honda's -- plans to develop
an inductive system with G.M.
I found all three systems easier to operate than a gasoline pump, although G.M.'s
was most elegant. But it almost doesn't matter whether a standard is set or not.
The stations will be of little use unless charging can be done nearly instantly.
It now takes three hours or more to fully charge a nearly depleted EV1, and six hours
or more to fill up the Honda or Toyota.
In summary, electric cars are fine, even fun, for those with a short commute,
a predictable driving pattern, a willingness to be stared at -- and a gasoline powered
car in reserve. Limp-home mode is a small comfort, but it's not enough to put one's
insecurities completely to rest.
Keeping Current: Electrics in New York
 EW YORK -- There are few
charging stations. Cold winters shorten the range of some batteries. Aside from dedicated
environmentalists, the public has been slow to embrace electric cars, given their
comparatively high prices and short leashes. Yet a New York state law requires seven
major auto makers to sell a total of 7,800 zero-emission cars in the current model
year.
The law is being challenged in court, and hardly anyone expects auto companies
to end up paying billions of dollars in penalties for failing to meet the mandate.
Still, a number of companies are offering EVs in New York, partly to demonstrate
how advanced -- and how limited -- their technology is, and partly to convince politicians
that few New Yorkers are ready for EVs.
Here is a list of the electric vehicles that leading manufacturers currently offer,
or soon will, in New York state:
CHEVROLET S-10 ELECTRIC:
Compact pickup; lead-acid batteries. Range: 40 to 60 miles. Available from seven
dealers in the state. Base price: $34,289 including delivery; leases available.
CHRYSLER EPIC VAN:
Minivan, nickel-metal hydride batteries. Range 80 to 90 miles. Available this
fall to fleets only from participating Chrysler-Plymouth and Dodge dealers. (Available
to consumers this winter.) Lease is $450 a month for 36 months.
FORD RANGER ELECTRIC:
Compact pickup; lead-acid batteries. Range: 50 to 60 miles. Available at eight
dealers. 1998 price: $27,795. Lease: $637 a month for 36 months.
HONDA EV PLUS:
Subcompact hatchback; nickel-metal-hydride batteries. Range: 70 to 80 miles. Available
from Paragon House of Honda, Woodside, Queens. Lease: $455 a month for 36 months,
including insurance and maintenance, with no down payment.
SOLECTRIA FORCE:
Subcompact sedan, lead-acid batteries (others available). Range: 40 to 50 miles.
Available from Solectria, 33 Industrial Way, Wilmington, Mass. (978) 658-2231. Price:
$33,995 plus delivery charges.
TOYOTA RAV4-EV:
Compact sport utility; nickel-metal-hydride. Range: 125 miles. Fleet sales through
Toyota Motor Sales USA. Lease: $457 a month for 36 months.
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OS ANGELES -- A turtle icon suddenly lit up on the dashboard of my Toyota RAV4 Electric Vehicle. The car's batteries were exhausted and I had entered "limp home mode," which would allow me to putter along at a reduced speed for a few miles to make it back to a charger.
