4000 Watt Mini Roadster Electric Car

This is not a gadget necessarily but with all the talk about alternative energy and ‘green’ products that are good for the environment I thought it appropriate to showcase this little electric roadster from Hammacher Schlemmer.

It is not every day that you see a little car like this on the road.  Occasionally I see those new Mini cars (from Mercedes?) on the road but that is a rare event.  Now if I were to see a little one like this on the road I can almost guarantee you that I would be laughing.  I mean you almost have to laugh at a little buggy like this one.

It holds two people and is ideal for local errands or travel in small communities.  Officially classified as a ‘low speed vehicle’ the top speed is no faster than 25 mph.  It operates on an electric AC motor with 4000 watts of power which are provided from 6 lead acid batteries.  I am bit surprised that they chose to use lead acid batteries on this puppy. I would think lithium ion batteries would have been way better. But probably this is a cost issue.

The rear compartment can hold 6 bags of groceries or two sets of golf clubs.  The car plugs into a standard wall outlet for charging and a full charge takes 8 hours.  There is also an AM/FM radio and an MP3 Player. Comes in Red, Blue, Black and Yellow. The price? $13,000.

Gee if I got one of these in yellow someone might mistake it for a bumblebee, hehe.  I wonder if it makes a buzzing noise too?

But seriously this car might be ideal in some localities.  Actually my commute to my day job is about 60 miles.  So I could possibly take this baby to work, plug it in while I work for 8 hours, and then drive back home when the day is done.  A 60 mile range is pretty good I would say.

But can you imagine how this little one looks like right next to a hummer truck, or God forbid how it might look after an accident with a hummer?