Zap Xebra

On Tuesday I flew down to Grants Pass, Oregon, where I visited Sean and Tiffany at Grants Pass EV (www.gpev.us) to test-drive the Xebra. (Which I learned is pronounced zebra, not eggzebra.) I drove several different configurations of both the sedan and the pickup. Following are my impressions. This is all subjective:

The car is not especially easy to drive. Steering is hard. You have to really stomp on the brakes and you can lock them up, which would be very dangerous on ice. The fit and finish will tell you right off the bat that it's not a Toyota. However, having said that, it's a fun little car to drive, and it never uses gas. Imagine being in EV mode all the time!

The sedans were unsettling to drive at first, but as I spent several hours throughout the afternoon driving different configurations, I got more used to them. The one with larger tires was harder to steer (Sean said that was due to the larger tire area on the ground). There was a small but noticeable difference in power between the 72 v and 84 v versions. None of them accelerated away from a stop as quickly as the Prius does, but all of them accelerated as quickly as the average car driver, so that the Xebra will not be seen as holding up traffic. We took several of the vehicles up a steep hill, and while they slowed down considerably, they all made it up the hill. I think the 72 v PK slowed to about 20 mph, and the 84 v stayed a bit over 20 mph. On the very steepest of hills, you will slow down the traffic, but it looks as though the "hill climber" version (the one with the more powerful controller and 84 v) will still make it up the hill okay.

The 2006 model pickup (PK) has a narrow cab, so that the door crowds your leg. The 2007 pickup seems to have a wider cab, as there is enough room for your leg. (The very first 2007 Xebra PKs arrived the day before I was there, so I may have been the second person, after Sean, to drive one.) The 2006 pickup drives much more nicely than the sedans. Steering and braking both feel nicer and smoother, and the pickups seem to accelerate faster than the sedans, though nobody seems to know why, as they are about the same weight. It might be an illusion, but the sense is strong of peppier power and nicer handling. However, the 2007 PK handles much like the sedans. The pedals on the PK are very awkward, so much so that it is difficult to operate the brake pedal with the right foot. That, and the fact that I have no need for a pickup, are why I ended up prefering the sedan.

The seats in the PK are very comfortable. The seats in the sedan are not.

The turn signal stalks are touchy. Sometimes they don't want to engage, and on some (but not all) of the vehicles, they do not automatically turn off after the turn, so you have to disengage them manually. And the turn indicator lights on the dashboard are difficult to see. This is an example of the Chinese quality, and it generally describes the vehicle.

Instead of a shifter, there is a rotary switch on the dashboard with three positions: F, N, R. To back up you turn the switch to R and press a red button, then step on the accelerator. On level ground, at a stop, you can remove your feet from the pedals and the car does not move. I.e., it does not creep as the Prius does. There is no regenerative breaking (a disappointment in an EV!) and taking your foot off the accelerator does not apply any braking other than the normal friction of the car.

Visibility is good, though the front post on the driver's side in the sedan is very wide, and blocks the view somewhat. On the plus side, Sean says that this makes the whole cabin stronger.

The car would be disappointing to drive if you were expecting a normal car. But considering the dearth of choices available today, if you want an EV and you can live with the speed and range limitations, this in my opinion is an acceptable car. I ordered the sedan, and Sean thinks he can have it ready for me in about a month. I ordered the biggest, most powerful batteries Sean has available, in the 84 V version, with the more powerful controller, plus the air ride suspension and more comfortable seats.

Tracy pointed out to me that my points of comparison, my Prius, and before that my Honda, are really an unfair comparison. Probably if I'd been driving an older car, the Xebra would have felt better. So keep in mind when reading this, that I am fussy and I want the best. I am used to the best. And this car was made in China.

On the other hand, Darell points out that there is no reason for an EV to be less than stellar in every respect. The EV-1 was an excellent car, and EVs today could be just as good and go a lot farther.

I take a middle ground: I won't hide the Xebra's faults, because if you're going to try one you should know beforehand that it has its weak points, but on the other hand, this is a tiny, start-up company, trying to do what the big auto makers won't, and if we want to drive an electric car NOW and help boost the fledgling industry, we can't expect Toyota quality from a company like Zap. (Though I expect very high quality of the Tesla when it finally goes into production.)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA @ Apr 12 2007, 09:08 AM) [snapback]422035[/snapback]</div>

Real-life experience will have to wait. With luck I'll get the car in a month or so. But the other questions I can answer:

I got the biggest batteries Sean offers, for added range, the extra battery, for 84 v., which adds power and range, and the bigger controller, for added acceleration and hill-climbing ability.

I also got the air-ride suspension and upgraded seats and LED lighting, none of which would actually be necessary. I expect the price will be around $17K, but I don't know for sure yet, because they didn't have a definite price on the seat upgrade or the detailing.

For hills you'd want the extra battery for 84 v and the bigger controller, but I suppose you would not need the big batteries. I'll be able to tell you more about hill-climbing ability once I have mine. If you don't mind going 15 or 20 mph up the hills, you should be okay. Also, going down the hills you'll be working the brakes hard. There's no re-gen braking, and there's no power assist on the braking. Your braking leg will get a workout.

For speed, I don't think I got any of them quite up to 40 mph on level ground, but I got pretty close. I have no way of knowing the range, but Sean claims about 40 miles. He also points out that with an EV you get a significant difference in range depending on how you drive. And I assume that, in the absense of any re-gen, having a lot of stops will reduce the range, compared to a route where you don't have to stop as much.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tracysbeans @ Apr 16 2007, 02:58 PM) [snapback]424263[/snapback]</div>

I certainly will. And since we get our electric energy from hydro, my Xebra will be water-powered!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tracysbeans @ Apr 16 2007, 06:36 PM) [snapback]424353[/snapback]</div>

I highly doubt it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tracysbeans @ Apr 16 2007, 11:24 PM) [snapback]424492[/snapback]</div>

I know it!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Apr 16 2007, 11:26 PM) [snapback]424494[/snapback]</div>

And I am joking when I say my Xebra will be water-powered. All our energy except nuclear comes from the sun, and nuclear comes from suns whose explosions created the heavier elements from which our solar system was formed.

Language is not logical. We pick the item we consider most significant. Petroleum ultimately derives it's energy from the sun. Is an EV powered by batteries? Or by the electric motor? Or by solar panels (in your case)? Or by the power plants that sell most of us our electrons? Is a bicycle powered by the human rider? Or by the food s/he eats? Or by the sun, whose energy was converted into carbohydrates by the plants?

In my opinion, it is perfectly acceptable to use the form that is most significant in the context of our lives as social and political animals. It is understood that "gas-powered" refers to the entire mechanism and process of converting gasoline to motive force; that human-powered refers to the entire process and biology of converting food to motive force; and that electric-powered refers to the process and machinery by which some arbitrary source of energy is converted to electric power, transfered to a vehicle, and converted to motive force.

And it is understood that "solar powered" means that the motive energy was obtained from the sun in a more direct way than the biological processes that produce food so you can ride your bike, or the combined biological and geological processes that produce fossil fuels. These are all linguistic conventions, and they are useful as long as people understand what they mean.

Anything else is semantic quibbling. Your bike is human-powered, and your EV is solar-powered. And our Priuses are gas powered, because these are the terms most important in our social relationships with these devices. My Xebra will not really be water-powered, but I indulge my whim for silly humor.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ Apr 17 2007, 08:58 AM) [snapback]424655[/snapback]</div>

Basically, it'll put a tiny trickle charge on to help keep the batteries warm. And you'd have to leave it parked in the sun all day to get any benefit out of it. Keep it in your garage and you've wasted some perfectly good solar cells.

I think the Zap Zero is more of a "statement" than anything else.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ Apr 17 2007, 12:36 PM) [snapback]424810[/snapback]</div>

The speedometer on the Xebra is notoriously inaccurate, and I do not know if Sean had made corrections in the ones I drove. However, the only time I got one up to 40 was downhill. We went up a pretty steep hill, and I think it slowed to 22 mph or so. In my opinion, 35 mph is more realistic, on flat ground. I do not know if the speedo is high or low. These numbers are just what the speedo said.

The more-powerful controller that I am getting has more acceleration, and more power to maintain speed uphill, but I'd still not expect to do better than 25 or 30 on a moderate hill.

This is a nice little car if you want to kick the gas habit, and your short commute is an excellent candidate for it. But it does not go fast on the uphills. If you do not mind slowing down on the uphill, and then speeding up again when you get to level ground, it could work for you.

Or you could wait for the Tesla and take that bridge at 130 mph, and zero to sixty in four seconds.

 

I just got the word that my Xebra is at the upholsterers. This could be the last step of the modifications that Sean is making for me. It means there is some hope I could get it this Sunday or Monday.

And then I can be as smug as Darell!

His RAV4EV is powered by sunlight. My Xebra will be powered by water, since our grid power in WA comes from hydroelectric.