Category Archives: GEM

What’s Cooking On The STOV

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Highlighting some of the many applications for small, task-oriented vehicles

GEMs At San Diego International Airport

GEMs At San Diego International Airport

Airport Transport & Utility – As part of celebrating the upcoming Earth Day San Diego International Airport recently highlighted their use of electric powered LSVs and utility vehicles.  Their fleet of fourteen vehicles include 10 GEMs and 4 Taylor-Dunn vehicles in two and four passenger configurations, as well as utility configurations.  The vehicles are part of the airport’s overall “green” strategy.  Officials estimate that the vehicles save them 80% in fuel costs compared to using gas-powered vehicles for the same work.  Learn more:  Examiner.com

Hoboken LSV Purchase Revisited

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Earlier in a What’s Cooking On The STOV post I had covered the city of Hoboken’s purchase of LSV utility vehicles for their parking department. The city manager behind the purchase has recently blogged about the process and the reasoning behind it. Some of the key factors influencing the decision to switch from pick-up trucks to LSVs included:

  • Limited use criteria: restricted operating area in terms of miles driven, flat terrain, low payload requirements, no emergency response requirements
  • High mileage pick-ups with increasing maintenance costs
  • High fuel costs for pick-ups driven by idling
  • Narrow LSVs don’t block traffic
  • LSVs have significantly lower fuel and maintenance costs

As an added bonus the vehicles attracted press coverage which highlighted the department’s cost effective and forward thinking purchase. Learn more: Ian Sac’s blog

Dealer News

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Arnell Auto Group A New GEM Dealer – Arnell Auto Group in Burns Harbor, IN recently became the only dealer for Global Electric Motorcars in Indiana.  The GEM line includes six vehicle models that operate on a chargeable 72-volt battery and can seat between two and six passengers.  David Arnell is the president of the Arnell Auto Group, which sells new and used vehicles, also sells Chevrolet, Chevrolet Commercial, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep and Ram brands. Learn more:  NWItimes.com

North Shore Auto Group Provides Solar Charged Vehicles – North Shore Auto Group of Highland Park, IL has partnered with The Solar Electric Vehicle Company (SEVC) to provide solar-charged Cruise Car NEVs. The vehicles travel up to 60 miles on a single charge using a solar panel system that provides constant supplemental charging throughout the day.  The line-up of vehicles includes 4 and 6 passenger NEVs and multi-passenger shuttles, security and utility NEVs as well as solar-canopied golf carts.  Learn more:  EVworld.com

5 Star Mini Trucks To Market Chinese Brand – 5 Star Mini Trucks of Yukon, OK recently announced an exclusive contract with Shandong Liangzi Power Co. Ltd. of China to market their trucks and set up dealerships around the U.S.  The vehicles are street legal in Oklahoma except on highways and can travel 40 miles on a gallon of gasoline. Owner Rick Opitz said “...the partnership could also lead to an Oklahoma assembly plant or parts warehouse for the mini trucks.”  Learn more:  OKNews.com

What’s Cooking On The STOV

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Highlighting some of the many applications for small, task-oriented vehicles

Specialized Agriculture Applications – Oregon based manufacturer Barefoot Motors is selling electric utility vehicles for use in orchards.

Karen Lewis with Washington State University Extension in Ephrata, Wash., said many orchard owners are shifting to a two-dimensional and three-dimensional row setup, enabling human or robotic hands to access the fruit by any type of technology. They are looking for smaller, electric utility vehicles to harvest or apply pesticides, she said.

The electric UTVs are also well suited for the frequent stop and start nature of the work. Learn more: Capitalpress.com

Advertising Based Transportation Service – A pair of Florida State University graduates have launched Green Operated Transit Carrying Humanity Around, or GOTCHA, a free, environmentally friendly transportation service. The company has a fleet of five GEMs to service the FSU campus and plan for similar fleets for the University of Florida and the University of Georgia. The company generates revenue by placing advertisers logos on the vehicles. Learn more: Tallahassee.com

GEMs for the Hoboken Parking Utillity

New GEMs for the Hoboken Parking Utillity

City Parking Department Application – Hoboken, NJ has taken delivery of two GEMs for use by the Hoboken Parking Utility. The vehicles will be used to put up signs, place bags over meters and install and remove boots. They replace pickup trucks which frequently needed maintenance. and their compact size are a good fit for the city’s tight streets. Learn more: NJ.com/hobokennow

Mobile Marketing Campaign – L’Oreal Paris is using two GEM vehicles as part of a mobile marketing campaign that will visit ten college campuses this spring. The promotion will…

…provide students with a range of brand engagements creating a motivating product trial platform while generating buzz. Utilizing a branded Airstream trailer and two battery-operated GEM cars, (Global Electric Motorcars) trained product specialists will invite students to use mobile face washing stations featuring Go 360 Clean, enjoy two-minute upper back massages and a professional makeup application.

L'Oreal Paris Promo Vehicle

L'Oreal Paris GEM promo vehicle

Learn more: Drugstorenews.com

California Clean Vehicle Rebate Project Update

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The list of eligible vehicles for California’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Project are now available and includes LSVs from GEM and Miles Automotive.  Five GEM models for model years 2009 and 2010 are eligible for rebates ranging from $1,000 to $1,350 depending on the model.  The two Miles vehicles (model years 2009/2010) are eligible for $1,500 rebates.  See the complete list. – Marc Cesare

Original posting about the project.

California’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Project Starts Today

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Funded by the California Air resources Board, the rebate project provides $4.1 million to promote the use and production of zero emission vehicles.  Individuals or business owners of eligible vehicles purchased or leased after March 15, 2010 can receive up to $5,000 per light-duty vehicle until the funding runs out. Certain zero-emission commercial vehicles are eligible for rebates up to $20,000.  The list of specific eligible vehicles has not been released yet but categorically the list will include “…cars, trucks, commercial medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, motorcycles, neighborhood electric vehicles”.  A related California alternative fuels program had provided funding for NEVs from GEM, ZENN, Miles EV and ZAP in the range of $1,000 to $1,500 per vehicle. – Marc Cesare

Learn more:  Avoid-global-warming.com

GEM Recalls 142 Vehicles

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GEM is recalling 142 vehicles manufactured in 2009 to fix a problem with the parking brake cable which may have been improperly crimped. The 2009 models affected include the e2, e4, e6, eL,eL XD and eS.

The following is from NHTSA:

NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 10V080000
Summary:
GEM IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2009 NEIGHBORHOOD ELECTRIC VEHICLES. THE PARKING BRAKE CABLE MAY HAVE BEEN IMPROPERLY CRIMPED. THIS COULD CAUSE THE PARKING BRAKE CABLE TO SEPARATE FROM THE ACTUATOR HANDLE WHILE APPLIED.
Consequence:
THE VEHICLE COULD ROLL AWAY ON A HILL CREATING A RISK OF CRASH OR INJURY.
Remedy:
DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE PARKING BRAKE LEVER ASSEMBLY FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING MARCH 2010. OWNERS MAY CONTACT GEM AT 866-764-0616.
Notes:
OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION’S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV .

Electric Truck Developments

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ZeroTruck Corp. – The company’s ZeroTruck, an all-electric zero emission medium duty truck based on the Isuzu N series chassis, was recently added to the GSA schedule for government purchasing. The ZeroTruck features a low cab-forward design, a fully automated transmission, a range u to 100 miles and is fully highway capable. The vehicle is available at Central Truck Center of Landover, Maryland and through select Isuzu dealerships in California, Colorado, North Carolina, and New York. Learn more: Your-story.org Comment: While in theory a vehicle like this could offer competition to utility vehicles that are displacing pickup trucks in certain market segments, at a cost of over $100,000 this is not likely to happen anytime soon. – Marc Cesare

Electric Motor Cars – The company has just introduced a two-seat electric pickup which is based on the Dacia Logan. Dacia is a subsidiary of Renault and the trucks are built in Romania. The company reports the vehicles may be assembled in Florida or Iowa in the future. The pick up sells for $33,950 and van and station wagon versions will also be available. The vehicles are powered by nickel sodium chloride, “ZEBRA” batteries, which will charge in 3 hours on 220 volts or up to 8 hours when powered by 110 volts. The company claims a range of 260 miles and reports that around 100 vehicles will be available in about one month. Currently three dealers distribute the vehicles. Learn more: Trucktrend.com

Zap – According to this post Zap is rolling out a larger electric truck for industrial and fleet use. Learn more: Hybridfriends.com

India Electric Truck Market -Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Reva Electric Car Company are planning to launch electric trucks and passenger carriers in the sub-one-tonne segment. Tata Motors has developed an electric version of the Ace which could debut soon. M&M, likewise, is working on a variant for the recently launched 0.9-tonne Maxximo.  The sub-tonne segment in India numbers 100,000 vehicles annually.  The companies are targeting applications for large shopping mall and residential complexes, airports and  intra-city transport.  While there is no mention of  exporting the vehicles to other markets , previously Tata and GEM announced they were working on an electric version of the ACE for the US.

Learn more:  Thehindubusinessline.com

A GEM Of A Super Bowl Ad

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GEM Vehicle Appears In Audi Super Bowl Ad

If you looked closely at Audi’s Super Bowl commercial you would have noticed  that a GEM vehicle was featured prominently in the ad.  In fact someone took the time to measure exposure time and GEM beat the Audi vehicle 11 seconds to 8 seconds.  Learn more:  Leesfreeriff.blogspot.com

GEM Reaches Milestone

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Global Electric Motorcars recently announced that the company has produced over 40,000 vehicles.  The Chrysler owned company estimates that CO2 output has been cut by more than 93,000 tons through the replacement of gas powered vehicles with the electric powered GEMS.  Learn more:  Canadiandriver.com