{"id":474727,"date":"2010-03-02T13:59:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-02T17:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16432059.post-8065087612042756393"},"modified":"2010-03-02T18:09:04","modified_gmt":"2010-03-02T22:09:04","slug":"all-electric-cars-%e2%80%93-the-impact-of-the-little-guys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/474727","title":{"rendered":"All Electric Cars \u2013 The Impact of the Little Guys"},"content":{"rendered":"

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by John Voltz<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

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Recently, I made a small diversion from my walk to the office in <\/span><\/span><\/span>San Francisco<\/span><\/span><\/st1:place><\/st1:city> and took a ride in a <\/span><\/span>Wheego<\/span><\/span><\/a>. The Wheego was being showcased at <\/span><\/span>Justin<\/span><\/span><\/st1:placename> <\/span><\/span>Herman<\/span><\/span><\/st1:placename> <\/span><\/span>Plaza<\/span><\/span><\/st1:placetype> right across from the <\/span><\/span>Ferry<\/span><\/span><\/st1:placename> <\/span><\/span>Building<\/span><\/span><\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> not far from my office in the heart of the city\u2019s Financial District. The Wheego is a brand new all-electric car from an interesting manufacturer in <\/span><\/span>Georgia<\/span><\/span><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>. Locally, the Wheego is sold at <\/span><\/span>Ellis<\/span><\/span><\/st1:placename> <\/span><\/span>Brooks<\/span><\/span><\/st1:placename> <\/span><\/span>Auto<\/span><\/span><\/st1:placename> <\/span><\/span>Center<\/span><\/span><\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>. This intrigued me. Ellis Brooks is a venerable car name in <\/span><\/span>San Francisco<\/span><\/span><\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, having been around for 40+ years. I still remember their radio jingle from my childhood, <\/span><\/span>\u201cSee Ellis Brooks today for your Chevrolet, corner of Bush and Van Ness . . .\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/a> The Ellis Brooks dealership now sells pre-owned cars and is no longer associated with GM. It has just begun selling the Wheego. Before I took my test drive, I had a chance to talk to Ellis Brooks\u2019 grandson, John Brooks, about why they decided to sign up with Wheego. He seemed comfortable with the manufacturer in large part because the car was assembled from components made by manufacturers already in volume production of vehicles. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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So how was the ride? Pretty good. It was quite roomy with a nice, quiet ride and a firm feel of the road. Allowing for the fact that it is a small two-seater coupe, it had the feel of real a car \u2013 not a golf cart or an experiment. <\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Now I should back up for a minute and explain that I have long been a skeptic that there will be significant adoption of all-electric vehicles any time soon. But this car changed my mind a bit. <\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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My skepticism about this has been based on looking at the passenger car market and thinking about what it takes to succeed in that market. Then I compared the passenger car market to other potential electric vehicle markets.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Passenger cars have been the province of integrated high volume manufacturing, low margins, very high quality expectations (especially fit, finish and amenities), and very high service and support expectations. In short, the barriers to entry for this market seem quite daunting, especially when compared to the delivery truck market or the ATV market. These markets have significantly lower volumes, less integrated manufacturing (many manufacturers are essentially final assemblers), much lower quality expectations on fit, finish and amenities, and lower service and support expectations.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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There are some low-volume passenger car manufacturers, but all make vehicles aimed at high priced specially markets, not low to mid priced daily drivers.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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There is another big difference between the passenger car market and the delivery truck market \u2013 what delivery truck buyers want fits really well with what electric vehicles do best:<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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