Rocket Sled

The inspiration for the world’s fastest electric scooter can trace its origins to a singular moment in Brad Baker’s life. After cresting a hill on his cross-country bicycle ride from Virginia to Oregon, while soaking in the beauty of the Teton Mountains for the very first time, he was suddenly overwhelmed by a vision: A […]

Beyond The Zombie

“It’s the battery, stupid.” Everyone who designs and builds electric vehicles understands this axiom, John Wayland included. “It’s all about the battery.” But John isn’t just anyone involved with electric vehicles. He’s the man behind the legendary White Zombie, the all-electric Datsun 1200 that has been blowing the doors off of gas-powered competitors at the […]

Invisible Chinese Cars

Los Angeles, near the Staples Center. A Chinese automotive manufacturer has opened a showroom for its electric car. The showroom is empty, except for a few displays which are verboten to photograph. Look, but do not click. The woman manning the reception portal is polite and somewhat bemused by my arrival. Behind her and to […]

Ions in La La Land

I am in the land of the automobile. The City of Angels and McLarens. A place where you ARE what you drive. A city with more exotic luxury and sports cars per square mile than there has a right or need to be. Cars are king. They are everything. From Pinto to P1, if you […]

Rising from the Ashes

In “Fisker Falling, Detroit Rising” – published in July of 2012 – I wrote about Fisker Automotive and the then undecided fate of the company. On October 29 Hurricane Sandy helped seal that fate with 6 to 8 feet of seawater. Fisker’s entire European shipment of 338 Karmas were destroyed at Port Newark, New Jersey. […]

T • is for Torque

I have sinned, and it’s Elon Musk’s fault. I covet the Tesla Model S P85D. Don’t get me wrong. I love the Chevy Volt. I think the Zelectric Bug is the best thing on earth. But Tesla has hooked me with this two-motor model that makes me want to go out and race a Ferrari. […]

The More Things Change

When I was a kid, building an electric vehicle that would go farther than a few miles seemed like such a simple thing: just put a generator on board. When the batteries needed charging, fire up the generator et voilà: just keep on driving. It was a simple-minded solution at the time. Weight, energy density, […]

Build Your Dreams

A plug-in hybrid – an electric car with an onboard generator (aka “range extender”) – was available to the Chinese public eight months before the Chevy Volt could be purchased in America. In fact, the BYD F3DM had been available for purchase by Chinese government agencies and corporations since its official release in December, 2008 […]

Electron Bug

e·lec·tric·i·ty /əˌlekˈtrisədē/ noun 1. a form of energy resulting from the existence of charged particles (such as electrons or protons), either statically as an accumulation of charge or dynamically as a current. 2. a state or feeling of thrilling excitement. In the case of the ZelectricBug, both definitions apply. Tesla, and other modern electric vehicles […]