Neighborhood
Electric Vehicles
Up to 35 mph in Montana!
What
is the Neighborhood Electric Vehicle?
The Neighborhood Electric Vehicle or NEV is a battery powered vehicle that
has been federally approved as street legal as a "slow speed electric
vehicle." In Montana, NEVs can be equipped with doors, windshield wipers,
headlights, and other safety features to be categorized as "medium speed
electric vehicles" to meet the basic functions of a fuel-powered car
at speed up to 35mph. Running on batteries and a standard electric outlet
the NEV only uses 10% of the fossil fuels as a standard car. Already available
with a common range of 40 to 60 miles, NEVs are a practical transportation
alternative for typical daily urban use, such as commutes to work, running
errands or carpooling. The NEV has no tailpipe and no tailpipe emmissions,
cuts down on pollution, and easy to park around town.
How
Do they Work?
Under the hood of an NEV there is only a battery pack (its voltage differing
between different styles of cars), windshield wiper fluid, and a separate
battery for the radio and headlights. There is no oil or complicated components,
which also cuts down on maintenance of the vehicle. The battery powered engine
also means the car starts and heats up much faster in the winter. The Miles
electric vehicle, which can comfortably fit four people, with room in the
trunk, runs on six 12 volt batteries. These batteries can power the car for
40 to 60 miles on a full charge. The full charge takes about 7 to 8 hours.
The battery pack needs to be replaced about every 25,000 miles or about every
four years. The car is charged by using the outlet on the side of the car
to plug into any standard 110V outlet.
Legal
Status:
Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs)have a federal speed limit of 25mph and
can travel on any street with a speed limit up to 35 mph. These vehicles are
categorized as "slow speed electric vehicles." In 2007, Montana
became the first to state allow NEVs to travel up to 35 mph on roadways marked
up to 45 mph if they meet certian safety criteria. Washington state has also
passes such a law. In these two states, car dealers NEVs governed to the federal
limits of 25 mph, with the buyer being able to easily and inexpensively modify
the car to the legal state limit of 35 mph. The NEV 35 laws thus allow for
"medium speed electric" vehicles; a clean, affordable transportation
alternative for urban areas.
Neighborhood Electric Vehicles by AmeriCorps VISTA Kim
Degner
Just noticing electric vehicles myself over the past
couple of months, I am very excited to write this article not only to educate
myself more on this simple transportation alternative, but also to reach out
to others exploring the opportunity to learn more about the amazing world
of NEV's or Neighborhood Electric Vehicles. NEV's are engines that run on
batteries, and while may not be able to travel quite as fast as your standard
automobile, yet, can do pretty much everything else you would need a motorized
vehicle for. They are also less toxic for the environment through zero emissions
and its small dependency on fossil fuels. In fact, with its simple battery
operated engine, the driver does not have to worry even about oil changes,
which can lead to toxic substances in our water and air.
Instead
of adding up miles on a standard car, that has to be pumped up with expensive
and dirty fossil fuels every couple hundred miles, an NEV only needs a fraction
of this cost by simply plugging the car into a standard outlet at the end
of the day. And on those days that the weather conditions may not be suitable
for my personal favorite, the bicycle, an electric vehicle can be equipped
with windshield wipers and even heat. While an NEV cannot be driven say from
Montana to Minnesota (they are not allowed on highways) this is the perfect
vehicle for driving around town, which most of our trips may include such
as running errands or just short commutes to work.
NEV's
are designed for traveling short distances and at slow speeds especially in
urban areas where air pollution and traffic may be a problem. NEV's are emission
free and are more compact than a regular vehicle, which makes them really
easy to park, and provides more space on the road. An NEV can be as simple
as a golf cart and can contain features up to the luxury of a standard car
such as mirrors, turn signals and tail lights, windshield and doors. Street
legal NEV's include the ZENN (Zero Emissions No Noise) electric car, which
is gaining popularity through its zero-emission status and low-cost and easily
accessible energy sources. With modifications, the electric cars have the
potential to go 50-70 mph, but have a 25 mph federal restriction. In Montana,
however, you can now legally drive the ZENN 35 mph, the speed limit on many
streets through town, and even drive this speed on roads up to 45 mph. The
S.A.V.E. Foundation is working to allow the ZENN to go faster and make it
more practical for the average Montanan through policy work and environmental
advocacy. The electric engine lasts 500,000 miles, but only gets 40 miles
on a full charge, which takes 6-8 hours. The car can be plugged into a standard
outlet at home to recharge even just overnight.
Even
electric trucks are available for purchase. A small electric powered truck
was recently purchased from EcoAuto Inc. of Bozeman to do maintenance work
around the Capitol Complex here in Helena. The truck costs $17,695 and runs
on an electric charge of 70 cents per day and will soon run off of solar powered
batteries from the campus boiler plant. Under the truck's hood there are simply
six batteries for the truck with a seventh for heating and air conditioning.
Electric cars run on lead-acid batteries, which are
similar to those in regular automobiles. Since car batteries are a sealed
unit most are recycled in the U.S. Also, with no engine oil, or radiator fluid,
the electric engine is less toxic and the carbon lifecycle impact is much
lower. This means that it uses less resources and has less of an impact on
the environment to ultimately produce and use. In Montana, we currently use
both hydroelectric and coal power for electricity, which means fossil fuels
are used when we plug these cars into our houses. However, this equals out
to only 10 percent of what we are currently pumping into our cars. And if
solar or wind energy is used to get the electricity generated in your home,
your car could virtually be fossil fuel free. The advantages of the electric
car clearly make it an understated option to many commuters around town. And
while we still need our regular fossil fuel cars to leave the city, a lot
can be done to make the electric car a more viable option. With community
interest and the work of S.A.V.E. we will soon forget about miles per gallon
of fuel and be able to lessen the impacts we have on the environment on a
daily basis. We can instead work towards making electric cars even more efficient
and enjoy the simplicity of the vehicle we need just to get from point A to
point B.
Links:
EcoAuto Inc. in Bozeman
The Zenn of Driving (By Bill Schneider - New West - 11-17-07)
Miles Vehicle Homepage
Wikipedia information on the NEV
SAVE celebrates fourth birthday (Helena Independent Record November 2007)
Saving
the World (Helena Independent Record July 2008)
