Purely electric vehicles designed to be used in the city without
polluting it will soon be available in downtown Morgan Hill.
Purely electric vehicles designed to be used in the city without polluting it will soon be available in downtown Morgan Hill.
Eco-Sparc, the San Jose-based manufacturer of the miniature cars that run on rechargeable batteries, will open its first retail dealership and showroom in the Downtown Mall at the corner of Monterey Road and First Street by the end of this month, according to the company’s president, Kurt Sebben.
Six different models of Neighborhood Electric Vehicles that have been on the market since 2007 will be sold at the store. Sebben said the store will not be a “conventional kind of dealership,” as the inventory won’t be at the site. A demo version of each model will be available for potential customers to test drive and learn enough about the autos to consider a purchase.
“It’s a new technology, and we’re trying to introduce it in Morgan Hill, and see if anyone is interested in purchasing it,” Sebben said.
The cars were displayed in Morgan Hill’s Fourth of July parade Saturday, as Sebben and Eco-Sparc employees rolled out their products for tens of thousands of spectators. Considerably smaller than most gas-powered vehicles, Sebben said they are “perfect” for short trips around town.
And in fact, the vehicles will not be permitted for highway use, as the fastest one on the market now only reaches a top speed of 45 to 50 miles per hour, Sebben said. They have a range of 60 miles on a fully charged battery, which can be plugged into a standard wall outlet to charge overnight.
The vehicles not only reduce carbon emissions that pollute the air, they can also save thousands of dollars per year on fuel costs, Sebben said. It costs about a penny per mile if users take advantage of a Pacific Gas & Electric rebate program, and two cents per mile otherwise, he added.
“They pay themselves off in about two to three years,” Sebben said.
The vehicles range significantly in retail price, with the smallest version that Sebben described as a “three-wheel motorcycle” and can maneuver inside spacious indoor settings costing about $600. The most expensive Eco-Sparc vehicle, a four-wheel-drive model that resembles a pickup truck, costs up to $12,000.
However, Sebben said the company will discount the prices by up to 25 percent during startup in order to get the product onto the streets.
Eco-Sparc is in the process of testing its design for highway vehicles that have a longer range and can approach speeds up to 80 miles per hour, but those won’t be available to the public for at least another year.
The city of Morgan Hill, which owns the Downtown Mall space where Eco-Sparc’s shop will be located, signed a lease with the company earlier this month. The unusual retail store will help with the city’s efforts to revitalize downtown, according to a city official.
“They expect most of their customers to come from outside the area, and that’s good for downtown,” Senior Project Manager for Economic Development Tammy Brownlow said. “It’s a newer concept and we thought it would fit nicely with the mixture of businesses we have there.”
City regulations will not allow Eco-Sparc to service their vehicles at the downtown location, but the company’s Marketing Manager Eric Chan said they hope to open a service center nearby in the future. Until then, they will direct customers to existing factory-authorized centers around the Bay Area.
Since 2007, Eco-Sparc has mostly marketed the vehicles for corporate and government use. Sebben said UPS purchased 1,800 of the smallest model available to make deliveries in shopping malls. The truck-style buggies would be ideal for municipal use in recreation services or public works, Chan said.
Various Technologies, Inc., Eco-Sparc’s parent company, has designed and marketed technologies and products focused on pollution control since 1986. They produce other low-emissions vehicles, including a model that runs on compressed natural gas, that will not initially be available at the Morgan Hill store, Sebben said.
