Beat Skyrocketing Gas Prices With ZENN: Zero-Emissions-No-Noise Electric Cars

Are hybrid or electric vehicles the wave of the future? High prices at the pump continue to add to our current economic woes. With gas prices skyrocketing and no end in sight, how long can we afford to keep driving? A friend joked to me that soon we'd be issued a mortgage card to use at the pumps. Instead of swiping debit or credit cards to pay for a fill-up, we'd use our new card to take a out a second or third mortgage. Joking aside, though, if gas prices continue to rise, many will have to make some tough budgeting choices so they can continue to drive.

One thing we can do to make driving more affordable is to embrace hybrid vehicles. Most hybrids give far better gas mileage, and offer the option to switch from electric to gas power. They are proving to be far more economical to operate than conventional gas-powered vehicles. Given these circumstances, one wonders what happened to the ZENN, a car that was manufactured in Canada.

Intended to be a city car, best used for short hauls and local driving, the Canadian designed and built ZENN car was not meant to fill every driving need. With a top speed of 40 kilometers per hour (about 25 mph), the ZENN, manufactured in St-Jérôme, Que., was not intended for highway driving. Nor was it intended for long distance driving, or off-roading.

The ZENN car was brilliant as a local run-about for local shopping, resorts, gated communities, airport parking lots, and college campuses. This all electric vehicle could be plugged into a regular power outlet, and fully charged in eight (8) hours. The ZENN averaged up to 80 kilometers, or roughly 35 to 60 miles per charge, which made it perfect for weekly grocery shop, and running about campus. As well, the ZENN could be charged up to 80 percent capacity in a mere 4 hours.

The ZENN saved an average of 6 metric tonnes of carbon emissions per year, per user. With a larger cargo capacity than the Smart Car, the ZENN offered the added benefit of noiseless performance - imagine the reduction of noise pollution in a large city filled with these amazing vehicles!

This amazing entry into the eco-car field ceased production mainly because of its speed limitations and inability to be useful for highway driving. In September, 2009, Toronto-based Zenn Motor Company CEO, Ian Clifford, announced that his company would halt production of the ZENN, a car that had been hailed as a "mini-revolution" in the automotive industry.

One of the biggest problems the ZENN car faced was legislative, not technical. It was argued that the ZENN's lightness provided no protection for its passengers, therefore, the Zenn was required to be slow by law. Legally limited to 40 mph, the vehicle was not attractive to regular commuters, or most city dwellers, even without highway drives.

The Department of Transportation touted safety concerns as a major reason for regulating the speed limits and availability of the zero-emissions vehicles, however, a special license is issued for motorcycles, a class of motorized transport that offers no protection for passengers. Arguably, with concern for the environment as a priority, a special class of vehicle could be created for light, zero-emission cars.

The second problem the revolutionary vehicle faced was financial. It wasn't widely available; it was over-regulated; and the company didn't sell enough units to recover costs. Also, the financing was simply not available to take the vehicle from its limited application into more mainstream usage.

Conspiracy theorists argue that the ZENN car was another Avro Arrow - another example of cutting-edge Canadian technology killed by government indifference and short-sightedness. The main points that the ZENN and the Arrow have in common are that both were over-regulated and under-funded, revolutionary technology, and both technologies ended up being transferred south of the border, where money and government regulations were more favorable to the growth of innovation.

Can the ZENN technology be resurrected? Is it possible to develop it further into more widely useful vehicles that maintain the same high standard of eco-friendliness?

Other hybrid technology does exist, and is beginning to make inroads into the sale of traditional gas-powered vehicles. Hybrids are proving to be not only eco-friendly, but they also growing in popularity with the car-buying public.

If technology exists that will allow us to dramatically reduce, or almost completely eliminate carbon emissions, while saving us money at the pumps, more will move to embrace such green initiatives.

Some feel that rising interest in these technologies will trigger serious investors to become involved. Once financing is readily available, advances will be made in hybrid technology at a comparable rate to the technology of personal computers.

Some feel that is a "pie in the sky" attitude, and that the greenhouse gases we are not emitting by driving electric vehicles will be emitted by the companies that generate the electricity these vehicles use. Though we are personally being eco-friendly, and using less gas, we are ultimately doing as much harm by using more electricity.

Neither side has collected enough data to back up a definitive argument as yet, but if the savings of 6 tons of emissions in one year is not offset by an increase of the same amount by the companies that generated the electricity the vehicle used, then I would have to give the edge to the zero-emissions vehicle.

Though we currently cannot purchase a ZENN car and thumb our noses at the gas pumps while we whiz by on our way to work, there is hope. Interest is on the rise for such vehicles, and as gas prices continue to soar, consumer pressure will eventually force more companies to take another serious look at this technology.