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Zap Electric Car:Is it any good? The Zap electric car or the Zap Xebra has turned into a full range of cars over the years.
There are now vans, trucks and even scooters and they don’t seem to be slowing down.
I had a look at what they had to offer and here’s what I came up with:
Why should I buy a zap electric car?  Well these cars are pure bred all-electric.
They are technically classed as motorbikes (except the Zaptruck XL) because they only have three wheels which means it doesn’t have the same restrictions that other similar cars with the same type of performance would, like the GEM electric car. You can get a Xebra sedan, a Xebra truck, a Zapvan shuttle (a van/minibus), or a Zaptruck XL. Yes that’s Xebra with an X because its Xtra cool! The big advantage with these, is that they’re electric cars available now, unlike most electric cars out there that exist only to create waiting lists and broken deadlines! Another great thing is that you have the option of getting a solar panel that attaches to the roof of the car or truck to add to the cars range by about 5 miles on a sunny day. What are the specs?  The Xebra sedan version will get up to 65 km/h and has a range of up to 40 km.
It’s powered by a DC motor and a lead acid battery which keep the price down.
It can seat 4 people and weighs 1272kg. It also comes in right-hand drive so can be used in Ireland and the UK.
It costs $11,700.
 The Xebra truck is about the same except it seats two and has a weight capacity of 227kgs.
It costs $12,500.
 The Zaptruck XL gets 40 km/h and a range of 48 miles.
It’s got an AC motor and a lead acid battery.
It costs $14,500.
 The Zapvan has the same speed and range as the Zaptruck XL.
It can seat 5 or can be changed to be used as a van with two seats that can handle a payload of 400 kg.
It costs $14,700.
Is there anything new on the horizon?  Funny you should ask because they have a new car coming out in the near future (supposedly December 2009) called the Alias.
It’s set to be more of a sports car (or at least a car you can feel comfortable in on the motorway) and is supposed to blow the rest out of the water.
It was partly designed by Lotus at the start, who are rapidly becoming the go-to people for designing electric cars like the Tesla electric car.
 This means it looks modern and much more stylish than the rest of the range.
It claims to have a top speed of over 75mph a range of over 100 miles.
It is also said to get from 0-60mph in 7.8 seconds and like the other cars it’s going to be classed as a motorbike too.
Zap are taking reservations now and it will cost $35,000 total.
Even though a lot of these zap electric cars, like the van and truck, seem like they came straight from the 80’s they seem to be pretty good cars. The only problem I can see is that since they were classed as motorcycles they didn’t do any crash testing. This is what keeps a lot of the cost down but also would make you feel pretty insecure in it. I think this would deter many potential buyers and probably me too. The zap electric car is a supercar compared to an NEV like the GEM cars though, as it comes with everything you would expect in a normal car and has no speed restriction. I hope the Alias makes it to production though as that’s a car I would seriously consider! Back from Zap Electric Car to Electric Cars Back from Zap Electric Car to All Electric Vehicles Homepage. |
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