You probably didn’t know that around thirteen years ago the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration approved the classification of LSV (low-speed vehicle). This was for neighborhood, low speed driving (25 mph) and really couldn’t be classified as a standard vehicle. While it may be legal in around 44 states in the United States, the price of gas at that time was $1.10 per gallon and very few paid attention to the little LSV.  At that time, GEM (Global Electric Motorcars) was the main source of LSV’s and most people viewed them as closer to a golfcart than an actual car. There was one exception, the Zenn electric car.
Zenn Motor Company is a French company and so named the company for ‘zero emissions-no noise’. The imports are from France to Quebec, Canada, where they have set up a successful manufacturing plant. The Zenn electric car is the commercial answer to electric car conversions and the hybrid electric car. This is a completely electric vehicle, no hybrid, and the price is very affordable and does have some additional accessories.  According to the website for the automaker this car gets an amazing two hundred and eighty miles per gallon in the city. This number can be confusing because no gasoline at all is required. The estimated mileage is done comparing the energy required for the travel, rather than the amount of gasoline the vehicle needed to travel this many miles.

Unlike the other electric cars and electric car conversions, you do not have to build or install anything with the Zenn electric car. The price even includes delivery in the USA, and there are several colors and many accessories to choose from. The Zenn electric car may very well be the car of the future, and it offers a number of safety features and amenities as well. Driving will cost around two hundred dollars a year if you drive forty miles a day, and your cost for electricity is around ten cents for each kilowatt hour. There is one disadvantage though, and that is that this vehicle was not intended to be driven on the highway, and it does have a maximum speed capability that is regulated.  This little gem of a car can be recharged in an hour and does include an air conditioning option as a choice for your car. The cost of the battery replacement is about $9,000.
The downside to the car is that it doesn’t have much of a suspension, so you will feel every bump in the road. This can be a tolerable situation if you realize that you can fit two standard sized people rather comfortably.  There are lots of extras being added on – so that you have some of the luxuries of a standard vehicle: power windows, carpeting, keyless entry and more. If you want a stereo – that’s going to be extra.
Since many of our daily and weekend trips are just around-town, we anticipate seeing more of the Zenn cars on the road each year.

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