VIDEO: New charging post juices old electric GMC van
Click above and scroll down to watch the video
While perhaps not as spectacular as San Francisco getting a fancy Smartlet charging station in front of City Hall, the addition of two charging posts at Truckee Meadows Community College in Northern Nevada are a welcome addition to the nations slowly-growing charging infrastructure. The posts, which use a traditional parking meter interface and ask for only 10 cents an hour, are getting put to good use, as we learned from a bit of video by the local NBC affiliate, KRNV. As interesting as the posts were, the station found one of the vehicles regularly using them was just as interesting: a 1991 GMC Van.
Around the time GM was refining the Impact prototype that would go on to become the EV1, some GMC vans were built with an electric drivetrain for the Department of Defense, according to the vehicle's owner (Southern California Edison got some too). Able to go 70 miles on a charge, the vehicle requires little maintenance and its driver seems very happy with his old EV ride. If you are thinking that you'd like a van like this yourself, you may be in luck. A nice looking 1989 copy is listed on the EV Album by someone who says, "I'm considering selling this, contact me with offer." If that doesn't pan out and you're good with a wrench, there's another in need of extreme TLC on eBay for the next few days. Video after the jump.
[Source: YouTube / eBay / EV Album]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Stan Wellaway 4:22PM (2/20/2009)
Here in the UK we have electric vans of similar size, and bigger, and smaller, made by Smith Electric Vehicles. Check out the Case Studies page on their website http://www.smithelectricvehicles.com and watch out for a new American website being launched within the next 10 days or so, by a new company called Smith Electric Vehicles US Corporation (SEVUS). This company is majority American owned and will be assembling 7.5 ton all-electric Smith Newton delivery trucks on US soil under licence, with US labor and using US component suppliers, starting this summer. They will also have a significant presence at The Work Truck Show in Chicago, March 3-6th.
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jpm 6:13PM (2/20/2009)
nice little story. pat on the back to that CC.
that news caster is scary.
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Max 6:48PM (2/20/2009)
Nice story indeed.....and yeah the news caster is creepy looking.
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Fred Flintstone 7:04PM (2/20/2009)
She's HOT!!!!!!
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DRoseDARs 9:07PM (2/20/2009)
Yeah, I noticed these two electric parking spots back last Fall when I was heading to my MacroEcon class. Even saw someone plugged in at the time. Pretty cool, though I usually parked elsewhere so my route to class didn't always take me past those two spots. I've no idea how often the spots were used or when they were installed. As for the anchor, that's Karen Reuter and she's been creeping me out since 1991.
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