EVLN(Florida Power and Light promotes use of electric cars)-long

[Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter <BruceDP@iname.com>]

EVLN(Florida Power and Light promotes use of electric cars)-long
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WHEELS Electrical charge Florida Power and Light promotes use of
electric cars Dan Scanlan, Times-Union staff writer 09/23/1999 The
Florida Times-Union CITY G-1 (Copyright 1999)

It sort of makes sense that one of Florida's biggest electric-utility
customers is also the state's biggest user of electric cars, right?

Florida Power and Light, which has customers in South, Central and
North Florida, also has 62 electric vehicles including 15 General
Motors EV1 coupes, six Ford Rangers and six Chevrolet S-10 EV trucks,
17 Toyota RAV4-EV and various other makes.  They are used by employees
to see what benefits an electric car might have in daily use, and to
teach consumers about the benefits like no pollution. It also takes
them on the road, including a recent pollution conference in
Jacksonville.

"Because of the environmentally sensitive area we live in, it is our
position to be the advocate in Florida to bring electric vehicles to
the road," said FPL Electric Vehicle Manager John Lachance. "We show
them to our commercial and industrial customers to show them how they
can be used in various business applications and make an environmental
statement on behalf of their corporation. We also have an employee
loaner program where they can take it home and show the electric
vehicle is viable transportation."

WHEELS has tested most of the electric cars on the market now,
including a Solectria Force (a converted Geo Metro sedan), the
experimental $100,000 Ford Ecostar, the Ranger EV and the Toyota
Prius, the first production hybrid battery/gas sedan. But the GM EV1
and Toyota's RAV4-EV have escaped us until now, so we jump-started at
the chance to drive each on a 10-mile test loop with a bridge and
interstate thrown in.

The EV1 is the George Jetson rocket ship of the pair, with a
coefficient drag of .19, so low it practically glides through the air.
The first real production electric car offered anywhere, it was born
from a concept called the Impact, then redesigned and introduced to
California consumers in late 1995. Composite plastic hood, trunk and
fenders over an aluminum frame keep the weight down to a wisp-like
2,970 pounds, 1,175 pounds of that 26 lead-acid battery packs arranged
under the center spine and rear of the car.

There is no grille, just oval headlights and turn signals on a
bullet-shaped nose, a steeply raked windshield, then a curving roof
that tapers back to a truncated tail with a rear track nine inches
narrower than the front for lowered wind resistance. The trunk is deep
and roomy, even with the small-home charging unit strapped inside. All
this is powered by a 102-kilowatt, 137-horsepower, three-phase AC
electric motor with low-rolling-resistance 14-inch Michelin Proxima
radials pumped to a rock-hard 50 psi.

This EV1 is a first-generation 1997 model. The latest version with
better batteries costs $43,995, but you can only lease one at 33
Saturn retailers in California and Arizona for $499 per month for 36
months.

A security key pad on the door pillar unlocks it. The driver faces a
small, four-spoke steering wheel, the digital display far away on the
center base of the windshield. It offers a power use and energy gauge
that tells you whether you are pulling too much power as well as a
miles-to-empty gauge, big-digital speedometer and idiot lights
flickering on slim-dark plastic panels on either side. The wide center
console has neatly integrated a/c, fan, power window and defrost
switches as well as a preset for the a/c system. To start, punch in a
code on the center console key pad, then hit "run" and drive away.

The EV1 has a slight turbine-like whine as it pulls away, and the
powerful motor will burn rubber easily, getting to 60 mph in under
eight seconds, although the miles-to-empty gauge drops fast when you
are heavy with the pedal. This car easily climbed the Acosta Bridge,
passing anything there and on the highway up to a speed-limited 80
mph. It's so slippery in the wind that you can pull your foot off the
pedal and almost maintain speed as it slides through the breeze.

The sleek coupe has a projected range of up to 80 miles on a four-hour
charge from the inductive charging system, a magnetic paddle that
slips into a slot on the sleek nose. Our almost-fully charged version
showed a range of only 33 miles when we buckled in. Lachance said the
low range on our tester is because the previous users in hilly
Tallahassee drove it aggressively, and the computer based its range on
that performance. Newer versions with Nickel Metal Hydride batteries
can get about 75-130 mile range from one 8- to 10-hour charge.

"I like it because of the ability to get on the expressway and go at
speed without any problem," he said. "When I get home, I have a range
of 40 miles left on the car. I don't need to wait for a recharge if I
need to go anywhere. I can go and do it."

With 5,000 miles on the EV1, the car was solid, with a slight rattle
in the driver's door. The EV1 offers a stiff ride and average handling
with minimal lean in turns. Flip a switch on the gearshift and the
electric motor switches to generator mode on deceleration, and we were
able to gain a mile or two of range back.

"If I know I have a signal at the bottom of a hill, I take my foot off
the accelerator," he said on the ride. "See, we just went back to to
23. We were at 22, and if you apply the brake, you may go up to 24."

On the plus side, the EV1 we tested offers a slick style and
almost-Camaro speed with adequate handling. But with the 33 miles of
range we had when fully charged, it wouldn't even have enough juice to
get me to work and home again. That is about one gallon's worth of gas
in a comparable four-cylinder sports coupe.

If the EV1 looks like a sleek electric car of the future, the Toyota
RAV4-EV looks just like its gas-engined version except for battery
vents on the rear flanks. About 515 have been made and leased to power
utilities nationwide on a limited production run, making it the
best-selling EV in the United States now. Price tag -- $42,000, or
$457 a month lease.

Out goes the four-cylinder engine, gas tank and gas gauge. In goes a
50-kilowatt (67-horsepower) permanent magnet electric motor,
single-speed transmission and 24 sealed 12-volt Nickel Metal Hydride
batteries (950 pounds) mounted under the seats and rear cargo area.
Those NiMH batteries offered a more livable 125-mile range after a
six-hour recharge in the case of our 3,439-pound, rear-wheel-drive
sports ute.

You sit up high like the gas RAV4, with an almost standard dash before
you. The speedometer only goes up to 80 miles per hour, while the
other gauges have been replaced with a battery and a voltage-use
gauge. One click of the key fires it up, although nothing runs except
the a/c fan. Hit the "gas" pedal and it pulls away briskly and whisper
quiet, the motor almost silent as it gathers speed to 60 miles per
hour in an estimated 18 seconds.

The RAV4-EV easily maintained speed up the steep Acosta Bridge,
although it had less passing power than the EV1 and strained to gain
speed uphill with an accompanying drain on batteries. The rock-hard
tires made the ride a bit stiff, but not too much worse than a
standard RAV since the batteries probably damped down the ride.

"The battery packs are under the passenger compartment, so it gives
the RAV a bit less body roll and a bit more stable ride," Lachance
said.

The brakes are a bit touchy but hauled the RAV down well, aided by
regenerative braking as well to gain back some range. In fact, the
RAV4-EV was an almost transparent electric, offering decent
performance for commuting plus room for four and good cargo space. The
battery gauge had barely budged after 10 miles of aggressive
power-pedal use at speeds up to 70 miles per hour and lots of passing.
Still, the batteries, the best on the market, only give you the
equivalent range of about four of the 15 gallons of gas the regular
RAV offers.

Lachance said it works well in his daily Miami-area commute.

"With the a/c on high, I go home 75-80 miles per hour with no
problem," he said. "On a 30-mile commute, I use a little bit more than
a quarter of the range. ... I go to Home Depot and put 15 to 18 bags
of sod back there and it does the trick."

Ultimately, technology has improved in electric vehicles, offering
improved range, more creature comforts and true usefulness. But unless
they are driven very gently to hoard battery power, they still don't
have the range of even the most basic economy car. They also cost more
than their gas counterparts, especially with the more expensive NiMH
batteries.

Give them a chance, especially as more recharging stations pop up,
said Lachance.

"The EV's are in their infancy, seven or eight years old truly," he
said. "The 1999 EV1 has a second-generation lead-acid battery system
under the hood with 33 percent less parts and a range of between 90
and 120 miles, or the NiMH of between 150 to 200 miles per charge."

Photo;Dan Scanlan/staff 1. Photo: (c) The General Motors EV1 coupe has
a projected range of up to 80 miles on a four-hour charge from the
inductive charging system, a magnetic paddle that slips into a slot on
the sleek nose.2. Photo: (c) The General Motors EV1 coupe looks like a
sleek electric car of the future.3. Photo: (c) Battery vents on the
rear flanks set the RAV4-EV apart from its gas-engine version.     
 ...
 http://www.jacksonville.com/  jaxstaff@jacksonville.com
Copyright 1998, The Florida Times-Union. All rights reserved.
 ---
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