Doing something new often requires taking baby steps, and this axiom seems to ring true when it comes to the excruciatingly slow proliferation (or not) of electric vehicles in the U.S.
Another one of those baby steps was announced the week of June 21st in Baltimore. Ironically, ExxonMobil announced the sponsorship of a car sharing program called AltCar. After reading about the details of the program, the AltCar program seems to be more of a PR stunt than any type of serious car sharing, energy saving initiative.
According to a release and reports on the program, a fleet of five electric low-speed NEVs (neighborhood electric vehicles) is available for rent for short periods by the public at the Maryland Science Center. Another five vehicles will become available later in this year. The cars are called the Maya-300 and were supplied by Electrovaya, a Canadian producer of lithium ion SuperPolymer batteries.
Electrovaya's lithium-ion battery technology contains manganese and is currently used in battery packs for laptops, military applications and gardening products, such as lawnmowers. The company is also working with Raser Technologies on the battery packs for that company's plug-in electric H3.The Electrovaya's batteries use a proprietary component (a battery separator film) supplied by ExxonMobil, rationalizing the energy giant's sponsorship of the AltCar program. Such a program could not sustain itself without such sponsorship.
The base for the Maya-300 is a four-door, four-passenger microcar produced by China's Chana International Group. Depending on which of Electrovaya's battery packs are installed, the cars have a range of 60-120 miles. We don't much about the Maya-300, but we did note the lifted suspension that is typical of Chinese microcars, a characteristic necessary for domestic vehicles because of that country's rough roads.
We'll bring you a drive report and more product information on the Maya-300 after we get behind the wheel. If you beat us to Baltimore, send us a note and tell us what you think of the vehicle.