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Dec 4, 2008 5:48 pm US/Central
Electric Cars: A Charge From Innovation
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
American automakers are feeling more pressure than ever to create more fuel efficient vehicles.
Electric is one way to go and it turns out some creative people in the Chicago area have been way ahead of Detroit on that road.
At first glance it looks like an ordinary pick-up truck, but a quick lift of the bed and you quickly realize this isn't your grandfather's Chevy.
"I just plug it in and flip the switch," one owner said.
In a year when gasoline topped $4 a gallon at one point, switching over to electric from gas adds up to significant savings.
"My car costs $2.11 to go 50 miles. So it's pretty economical," Ted Lowe of the Fox Valley Electric Auto Association said.
Charging six batteries and the 14 underneath the flatbed takes about six hours. However, Lowe says the technology is available to do it in about 15 minutes.
At Jessup's Automotive in LaGrange Park, they sell zap cars which charge in an ordinary plug and go up to 40 miles an hour at a cost of about three cents a mile.
"Commuting and day to day driving that people do, electric is really a viable way to go," Mike Jessup, Owner of Jessup's Automotive said.
Nathan Stowe, an electric car enthusiast thinks converting regular cars into electric vehicles is also financially viable because of governmental sweeteners which have dramatically lessened his $6K price tag.
"The rebate from Illinois I'll get, basically most of the money I will put back into the car. So essentially it's a very negligible cost for me to convert from gasoline to electricity," Stowe said.
He also believes by leaving the gas tank on the outside of the car instead of in it, he's doing his part for the environment and for the country as America attempts to wean itself off of foreign oil.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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