(Published Saturday, August 11, 2007 10:56:23 PM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Imagine living in and starting a business in a city where the product you sell isn't even legal.
That's what Tim and Pat Thompson and their son, Chris, are up against in Janesville.
Well, it's legal to buy a neighborhood electric vehicle, or NEV, in Janesville. You just can't drive it on city streets.
In fact, the city staff and council have reacted coolly to the cars. The Thompsons opened a small showroom, facing Matheson Street, for Green Autos in the former True Value complex on Milton Avenue. But Tim Thompson admits he never would have done so had he anticipated such a cold reception in this City of Parks.
The elder Thompson asked the council to consider permitting the vehicles on streets. Council President George Brunner asked the city staff to research the issue. The staff recently recommended that the council pass no ordinance at this time. The staff apparently was concerned about time and expense to register the vehicles. But the Thompsons have offered to donate $150 needed to buy 50 license plates and stickers.
No council members have shown a willingness to put the item on an agenda. Tim Thompson says no council member has driven one.
The council often jumps through many hoops to nurture new business. Its snub might cost this city a new one.
Tim Thompson drives a gas-electric hybrid car, getting about 60 mpg. When he bought it seven years ago, it was one of few hybrids on our nation's highways. That has changed.
Likewise, few NEVs run city streets in Wisconsin. State law allows for municipalities to pass ordinances permitting their use. Stoughton, La Crosse, Waupun and Reedsburg have done so. Thompson figures Madison will soon. It seems inevitable, only a matter of time before NEVs become as common as hybrid cars.
They hold much value in this era of $3 gasoline and global warming. An NEV is useful only in cities; state and federal law limits their speed to 25 mph. But they make no noise, spew no emissions and offer cheap transportation. Electricity for an NEV costs less than 2 cents per mile, compared to about 15 cents a mile for a car getting 20 mpg on $3 gas.
To someone who might argue they're nothing but glorified golf carts, Thompson notes that the models he sells-built in the United States and Canada-have doors, windows, locks, seat belts, wipers, lights, heaters and defrosters. Prices range from about $10,000 to $17,400. Air-conditioning is a pricey option.
Sure, power plants pollute the air to produce electricity needed to charge an electric car's batteries. But a ZENN-zero emissions, no noise-model reduces greenhouse gases by 77 percent, according to a federal study.
Another study showed that owners used electric cars for up to 90 percent of city trips previously made with conventional cars. Gas engines create the most pollutants during short trips.
The first time someone gets clobbered at an intersection driving an NEV, critics will say they told you so. But motorcycles and even mopeds are legal on Janesville streets, and riders willingly risk their lives, many without even helmets.
Janesville's council should be more open-minded about electric cars. At least test drive one, even if you must do so in a parking lot to do so legally.
