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Akron owner says three-wheeler among first in Ohio
By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Dec 22, 2007
Catherine Park is dealing with lots of strange and quizzical looks when she drives around Akron.
That's because she's driving a three-wheeled, battery-powered pickup truck in an eye-popping Kiwi green.
The electric truck has two leather seats and is 10 feet long, 5 feet high and 41/2 feet wide. It weighs about 1,800 pounds, can hit speeds of 40 mph and can travel up to 30 miles between charges. It can carry 300 pounds.
''No gas! No pollution! No noise! And it's a cool vehicle,'' the 45-year-old Park said of her China-made Zero Air
Pollution (ZAP) Xebra PK truck with a base price of $11,900.
''I could have had a convertible for my midlife crisis vehicle, but I decided to do this,'' she said with a laugh. ''It's a pretty cool little truck and it's totally different. It's perfect for my everyday needs.''
Park plugs her truck into an electric outlet in her garage and it's ready to roll in four hours. The cost is pennies a day.
The vehicle's power comes from seven 12-volt, lead-acid marine batteries under the bed on the pickup behind the cab. There is no tailpipe and no exhaust.
It is a strangely quiet vehicle. There's a click when the key is turned in the ignition, but no other sound.
The truck has a small hood over the single front wheel, the fuse box and the small motor for the single windshield wiper.
The vehicle's sides and tailgate fold down to create a flat bed for hauling.
It has three headlights, a sound system and heat, but no air conditioning. There are no air bags.
Park paid a little over the vehicle's base price to get one additional battery, larger tires (13 inches instead of the standard 12 inches) and an improved suspension system.
''I get in, turn the key and step on the pedal,'' she said. ''It's easy and nothing is complicated.''
Park plans to use the truck to do grocery shopping, run errands and get to and from Akron General Medical Center, where she is manager of clinical laboratory services.
It's about four miles from her North Hill home to the hospital. She intends to take the Y bridge and avoid the steep hill on Howard Street near St. Thomas Hospital because she isn't sure the ZAP could climb it. Highways are out, too.
Winter weather also might limit her driving — road salt and the truck's exposed batteries could be a bad mix, she said.
Park said she started looking for a battery-powered vehicle to replace her 1995 Saturn SL2 after seeing the 2006 documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? She joined several Web groups as her investigation deepened.
She and her husband, Jerry, went to Pittsburgh to test-drive the vehicle. That's where the dealership closest to Akron was located.
But they ended up ordering the truck from an Oregon dealership. It was loaded on a flatbed and shipped to Ohio.
There are an estimated 500 to 600 ZAP vehicles in the United States, and Park said hers is among the very first in Ohio.
''I feel like a pioneer,'' she said.
She has already received several telephone calls from potential buyers elsewhere in Ohio who want to come to Akron to test-drive her truck.
ZAP vehicles are made in the city of Ling Xian in Shandong province in northern China by Shandong Jindalu Vehicle Co. Ltd. ZAP, which is based in Santa Rosa, Calif., markets the cars and trucks that are designed for city use.
Being environmentally responsible and saving money on $3-a-gallon gas were among the reasons Park chose her truck.
And she points out that the vehicle is much cheaper than a $28,000 Toyota Prius.
Asked if she considers herself to be an environmentalist, she replied: ''I'd like to think we're getting there.''
Park has nicknamed her truck Yertle, after the famous turtle in a Dr. Seuss story.
''It's slow, green and has delusions of grandeur,'' she said with a laugh.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
Catherine Park is dealing with lots of strange and quizzical looks when she drives around Akron.
Get the full article here.
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