Bikes & Cars...

The latest issue of Wired magazine features an article about Zap Corporation, which has built or imported electric and fuel-efficient gasoline vehicles since the mid-1990s. Or, at least, has promised to build or import these cars. Turns out their track record might not be so great.

The article, "Hype Machine," is in Wired's April 2008 print issue. The gist of the story is that Zap has let down franchisees with inflated sales expectations while at the same time letting down consumers by not delivering the cars its PR department announced with such fanfare. Of the eight models Zap has said it would sell, including the Smart ForTwo, only two are currently available from the company. (The Smart deal went to the Penske Group last year.)

To be fair, the ZAP-X and Alias models listed by Wired were recent announcements; it would be a miracle for any company to churn out an electric SUV (like the ZAP-X) a year after making the idea public. Just ask Chevy and its Volt. Or ask Telsa, who announced the roadster in the summer of 2006 and, after much hubbub, finally fired up the factory this year on March 17, to the joy of speed and Earth lovers alike. As gas prices climb, any emerging-technology company would do well to learn Zap's lesson, via Wired, to not promise the sky then deliver dirt.

There are a few disgruntled dealers in Wired's article, and it seems they have every right to be, having complaints like vanishing profits after out-of-pocket battery upgrades to get the cars to deliver the speed and charge the company said they would. These dealers wanted to believe Zap was the way of the future as badly as Zap did.

On the other hand, I recently wrote an article for the New York Times on EV dealerships having to forge a market where previously none existed. I spoke with three EV dealerships for the piece, including the shop with the highest Zap sales in the country, Ecomotion of Portland, Oregon. None of the dealers that I spoke with had anything ill to say of Zap when I spoke with them, though it wasn't the focus of my article. All three dealerships sold Zap vehicles, but all three also had EVs by other manufacturers, like Zenn, Miles, and Myers, on the showroom floor.

Any business that lets people down regularly needs to be called on the carpet. The problem is if all EVs get painted with that same brush, a scenario brought up by several people in the article. Not all battery-powered cars are manufactured by squirrely, pie-in-the-sky outfits. But the personalities at the cutting edge of new markets are likely to be big talkers and risk takers. We can't let that make us afraid to let go of the gas pedal and embrace alternative fuels.