Electric Cars in San Francisco

[moni]

San Francisco has these cute little electric cars that tourists rent to get around town. Parking is nearly impossible in the city and these little cars can park in the space small enough for a cycle. They can hold 2 or 4 people depending on the model. Wonder if they would work in Houston?

http://www.etcars.com/press.html

[webdude]

San Francisco has these cute little electric cars that tourists rent to get around town. Parking is nearly impossible in the city and these little cars can park in the space small enough for a cycle. They can hold 2 or 4 people depending on the model. Wonder if they would work in Houston?

http://www.etcars.com/press.html

They get crushed by our pickups and suvs.

We are so spread out and have lots of parking, it makes sense to have a regular car. IMO

[brucesw]

San Francisco has these cute little electric cars that tourists rent to get around town. Parking is nearly impossible in the city and these little cars can park in the space small enough for a cycle. They can hold 2 or 4 people depending on the model. Wonder if they would work in Houston?

http://www.etcars.com/press.html

As a rental or for ownership? There's a dealership in Austin for these, on Lamar around 11th street. I stopped to look at them one time. They're very basic, only get about 40 miles on a charge so they'd be impractical for most commutes and rentals since Houston is so spread out.

I'd be reluctant to even get on one of our busy thoroughfares in one, much less a freeway.

I wondered how they'd handle the hills in Austin, much less SF.

[sevfiv]

a max speed of 29 mph would be quite dangerous here, too

[Vertigo58]

They get crushed by our pickups and suvs.

We are so spread out and have lots of parking, it makes sense to have a regular car. IMO

Sounds neat as far as a tourist trolley kind of deal, like maybe use in Herman Park but your right, Houston drivers are too wild. People in these little cars would get wiped out. I have to credit SFO though, the West Coast has always been and always will be very innovative IMO. Houston needs to get with it.

[RedScare]

They are only legal on city streets with a maximum speed limit of 35 mph. No freeway or major road driving. They are becoming popular in resort communities and gated communities for short trips. They really are not any more dangerous than mopeds or motorcycles, which are common in inner loop neighborhoods.

[CDeb]

They are only legal on city streets with a maximum speed limit of 35 mph. No freeway or major road driving. They are becoming popular in resort communities and gated communities for short trips. They really are not any more dangerous than mopeds or motorcycles, which are common in inner loop neighborhoods.

As with anything else, they'll probably work just fine in the proper context.

[moni]

As a rental or for ownership? There's a dealership in Austin for these, on Lamar around 11th street. I stopped to look at them one time. They're very basic, only get about 40 miles on a charge so they'd be impractical for most commutes and rentals since Houston is so spread out.

I'd be reluctant to even get on one of our busy thoroughfares in one, much less a freeway.

I wondered how they'd handle the hills in Austin, much less SF.

These are very cute. I was thinking of purchasing one. My grandchildren rented one of the little electric cars in SF and said they had no trouble going up those very steep hills. I noted in the Houston Biz Journal today, that UPS has ordered 50 electric trucks for Houston. Someone told me that Houston had more smog than any major US City, which seems odd since there are no mountains to trap the auto emissions. Switching to electric might help. My guess is that any place where mopeds, bikes and golf carts can be ridden would be the proper setting. Maybe on streets in the Woodlands, Galveston or around TMC? Maybe someday. Could be an opportunity for someone to start a new business.

[brucesw]

My grandchildren rented one of the little electric cars in SF and said they had no trouble going up those very steep hills.

That surprises me. I use a rechargeable battery powered lawn mower and tall or wet grass really slows the motor down and runs the charge down a lot faster. I would have thought the same would happen to those cars trying to climb hills.

I was intrigued by them but assessed my driving needs; where I live I basically couldn't go anywhere except around the neighborhood without getting on a major thoroughfare where people drive 50 even though the speed limit is 35.

The place in Austin had another model by another company apparently that was like a mini-Hummer stylistically, about the size of a WWII Willys Jeep, which were smaller than today's Jeeps. That was the one I was more interested in.

Edited May 23, 2007 by brucesw

[Houston1stWordOnTheMoon]

Lets see, I think i can get one of my arms in that thing and maybe half of one of my legs

My big ass isnt comfortable riding around in or attempting to get inside a vehicle that i can lift with one arm and flip over

[Talbot]

There is a dodge dealership in Katy that sells these.