ZAP Alias electric car makes its video debut

ZAP didn't have much more than some shiny renders to show for itself when it snapped up the hundred-year-old Detroit Electric brand earlier this year, but it looks like the company has now finally turned out an equally shiny prototype, which recently made its debut on the local news in Ohio. Unfortunately, the car apparently isn't capable of moving off the parking lot on its own just yet, with it reportedly now on its way to California where it'll get outfitted with a motor. While the current pace of things may seem a bit slow, the company is apparently still promising to have its first cars on the road as early as next year, when the Alias here is expected to sell for about $33,000. Hit up the read link below for the video.

[Via AutoblogGreen]

[natels @ Jun 26th 2008 1:50PM]

For 3300 everyone will have an electric car!!

[LuvMuffin @ Jun 26th 2008 3:01PM]

i wont i will have the biggest gas guzzler just to piss off all green people

[jP @ Jun 26th 2008 3:16PM]

@LuvMuffin

Hope you're rich.

[Mycroft @ Jun 26th 2008 3:50PM]

..and at $33,000 I will not!

[Mycroft @ Jun 26th 2008 3:56PM]

Seriously, though, the Venture One looks way more fun to drive, is projected to be $10,000 less, and actually functions.

I know where my money would go.

[LuvMuffin @ Jun 26th 2008 5:04PM]

@ JP i am plus an electric car for 33,000 won't pay for itself by saving on gas for about 15 yrs anyways

[cibrlx01 @ Jun 26th 2008 1:51PM]

An electric car that doesnt look like a piece of shit?
This IS newsworthy!

[NHAnimator @ Jun 26th 2008 1:51PM]

Are you seeing the same photos I am?

[cibrlx01 @ Jun 26th 2008 2:06PM]

It really depends on your monitor and eyesight, but i believe that we are looking at the same picture.
I like it, It has a nice sporty and aggressive look.

[kjb434 @ Jun 26th 2008 2:07PM]

Yeah,

It's and overbloated motorcycle.

Can I get a car that looks like my Volvo XC90? Please?

I want a real car I can actually use that has the room of an SUV.

[User @ Jun 26th 2008 2:07PM]

This thing is incredibly ugly. If it were in solid white or black it might look really cool. I can't believe this thing isn't under $20,000.

[thatrotierkid @ Jun 26th 2008 4:15PM]

Why is it that unless it looks like the car the currently drive, 99% of consumers are totally opposed to getting electric?

"I want fuel efficiency, long-range, and all of the features of my SUV that makes it so fuel in-efficient"

Seriously people, if we are going to ever move on as a society and become more efficient and have a better environment, we need to get this idea out our heads that one person driving 15 miles to work needs to be driving a tank so that they are "comfortable."

I personally think this is an extremely sexy car and I would love to have one. I especially like the fast-back, a style that has sadly diminished substantially since the 1970s.

[Krush @ Jun 26th 2008 6:11PM]

yeah ... btw these toads really DO taste good - another lick?

[Mr Epic Hero @ Jun 26th 2008 1:57PM]

The only electric car I've seen that doesn't look like shit is the Tesla Roadster. This car looks like ass. Why don't they just use the tried and true body style that's found on... you know... modern cars... instead of trying this shit that no one wanted or asked for.

[SugarDaddy @ Jun 26th 2008 2:22PM]

People are often clueless about the effect that wind resistance has on efficiency. This car looks pretty aerodynamic. The Tesla Roadster is also $70,000 more. So, you have to make some trade-offs. Less wheels => less friction on the road. Aerodynamic body => less wind resistance. Any improvement that reduces resistance will improve efficiency and get more mileage out of the battery.

[Lowest Ranked @ Jun 26th 2008 2:26PM]

Seen the Chevy Volt?

[Ace b @ Jun 26th 2008 3:59PM]

@Lowest Ranked

Last time I checked.the Chevy Volt is a plug - in hybrid.

He was asking for all electric cars that don't look like crap.

[BigD145 @ Jun 26th 2008 8:15PM]

Existing bodies are tried but not true. You can get a heck of a lot better mileage in a gas guzzler just be making it more aerodynamic. Add in some fins out back, thin things out, streamline the undercarriage; that sort of thing. Go back to sleep Mr Epic Sheeple Hero.

[Rob @ Jun 26th 2008 2:00PM]

I thought it was the Batmobile.

[joshua @ Jun 26th 2008 4:00PM]

I was thinking more along the lines of something the Green Goblin would drive.

[Al Paisley @ Jun 26th 2008 2:01PM]

ZAP always fucks over their customers and stockholders. Don't believe it for a moment.

[Paul @ Jun 26th 2008 4:06PM]

I read an article in Wired about ZAP - they truly do screw over folks, and have little actual potential for delivering anything... They promised the ZAP-X vehicle which remains vaporware, the Merlin, and the list goes on. Good concepts, but no actual engineering/partnerships to make ANY of it actually happen. Highly recommend you read the article:

http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-04/ff_zapped

[OJClock @ Jun 26th 2008 5:15PM]

The video also noted that the car is being shipped to California where they HOPE to put in a motor that goes up to 100mph. The 'car' in the video is just an empty case not exactly a cardboard cut-out like in the illustrations for that Wired article but close.

[Al Paisley @ Jun 26th 2008 2:01PM]

OH and the body looks like crap. I wouldn't ever buy one of those

[Todd @ Jun 26th 2008 2:07PM]

Looking at this and the Aptera it's plain to see that the designers aren't planning on driving these things out in the real world. The front and back fairing is going to be shattered the first time it encounters a speed bump, driveway or transition from the road up into a parking lot.

[Fahdoos @ Jun 26th 2008 2:07PM]

not bad for 33k.

[Eric @ Jun 26th 2008 2:09PM]

Someone must have been on acid when they designed this thing. I think it is funny that after everyone fails with their utopia electric golf carts for 100 years, one car company actually finds a viable business plan for a $100000 electric sports car by making it fast, fun, and expensive. Then the idiots that never learned the lesson the last 100 years all come out and ignore the one reason the Tesla car has a chance. A real business plan. That is until Elon Musk kicked out anyone with intelligence and turned Tesla into a company with a sports car with a chance and a future utopia mobile.

However, what is worse than the idiots trying to build another failure is the morons giving them the money to build it.

[SugarDaddy @ Jun 26th 2008 2:23PM]

Idiots. Morons... blah blah blah. You like to throw the insults around, don't you? But did you even stop to think that you could get 3 of these cars for the price of a tesla roadster. Who's the moron now?

[Eric @ Jun 26th 2008 2:50PM]

I can also get 4 Chevy Malibus and have myself a real car that still gets 32mpg. That is not the point. The point is that the Tesla roadster was expensive because it was offsetting the development costs of creating the car while these other cars are simply a pipe dream that will compromise too much in safety, reliability, creature comforts, and drive ability to make them a viable car. It actually had a chance to survive and eventually push the technology down to the masses. These cars and the ones like them have to subsidize the development of the car to reach the 33K price point. The battery alone must cost 20K if they expect to get any reasonable range. It is not a sustainable business plan and as such it will not succeed. I'm not a big fan of rewarding failure, are you?

[grull27 @ Jun 26th 2008 2:14PM]

That's some fugly shit right there.

[Prestwick @ Jun 26th 2008 2:18PM]

Didn't anyone read the Wired article on how dubious ZAP is as a business?

They've been promising affordable electric cars for the best part of 15 years now and doing really dodgy things like paying for costs and overheads by issuing more shares.

[Brian B. @ Jun 26th 2008 2:29PM]

Yep. That Wired article was pretty damning. I'll believe it when I see a fleet of these on the roads, and no amount of images and press releases is going to convince me they've made a real product.

[Mike @ Jun 26th 2008 2:18PM]

"Unfortunately, the car apparently isn't capable of moving off the parking lot on its own just yet."
You don't say? That's because ZAP is only interested in ripping off investors. Get the gory details at:
http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-04/ff_zapped

[ZeroCorpse @ Jun 26th 2008 7:46PM]

Sounds like exactly the same accusations that were leveled against Preston Tucker.

I guess the Big Auto Corporations don't need to develop new tricks. They have perfected this one and have learned to use it with incredible efficiency when stopping new companies from entering the market.

All I'm saying is that ZAP may be innocent, but since the MSM are all subsidiaries of the companies that would compete with ZAP, we won't hear all the details from both sides of the story... Just like with Tucker.

[DJZeratul @ Jun 26th 2008 2:19PM]

I am going to invent an electric car that looks like a toilet. I think it will sell. Ill call it the "Toiletmobile". It will have 3 wheels, and your head will stick out the top of the bowl. The bowl can close for those "wet" days into a dome of plastic that looks reminiscent of the old batmobile. The flush handle will be the horn, and when the horn sounds it will be the sound of a toilet flushing. The only thing you have to watch out for is cornering, because the tank may leak water if you take that turn too fast!

[Lowest Ranked @ Jun 26th 2008 2:27PM]

Put down the crack pipe and walk towards me slowly with your hands on your head.

[Frankenstein Black @ Jun 26th 2008 2:21PM]

In the video you look at it from the front and say, ok, yea, yea, so far so good (“D” cups and a nice face). Then the camera pans to the rear and, WHAT the HECK happened to the other wheel? You know, kinda like a chick with a beautiful face, Ds and NO ass’ets. Just sayin...

[tristan @ Jun 26th 2008 2:32PM]

only 100 miles every charge, lame

[Reid @ Jun 26th 2008 3:59PM]

Would make a nice DD. My commute is 22 miles each way. This car would be perfect.

[Celly @ Jun 26th 2008 2:35PM]

Now thats how you impress the ladies...

[Christian @ Jun 26th 2008 2:37PM]

The profile on the side is nice, the front design is ugly. wish they made it different.

[Rick @ Jun 26th 2008 2:41PM]

I have to laugh. As President Bush said "fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...you..fool. Ain't gunna fool me again!"

ZAP has had 11 earth shaking, ground breaking prototypes...which is to say plastic hulls that don't move. The number that have been brought to market or have even been potentially viable...0. The number that were fraudulent vaporware...11. And yet here we sit, with news outlets tripping all over themselves to be fooled again. This company is a fraudulent shell of a scam wrapped inside a lie. It has been for years. If you don't believe me, buy its stock. Its only 80 cents!

[aaron @ Jun 26th 2008 2:59PM]

did anyone read the article in Wired on these guys? the CEO is a con-man. they have ripped off tons of people with the promise of electric car dealership franchises and then not delivered any vehicles.

apparently the company has only managed to import a craptacular electric car from china that gets 40 miles to charge.

i think these guys are the scum of the earth and i seriously doubt they will deliver this car.

aaron

[thedesolate1 @ Jun 26th 2008 3:09PM]

listen if the tesla roadster witch is the closest to production fully electric car with a sexy chassis has yet to see full off the line production then I highly doubt zap will have anything available by next year.

[Some Kid @ Jun 26th 2008 3:11PM]

this looks a little like the Chevy Volt doesnt it?
anywho....
there is a guy out in california that you can take a prius to and he'll beef up the battery pack to give you all battery when going 30 mph or less and then have the gas moter kick over that speed-in which you get up to 150 mpg
it mostly works with the Hybrid Synergy Drive that Toyota developed and it doesnt cost too too much to charge fully
and it can go 250 miles on only battery-if you plan on traveling great distance without stopping at 30 mph
i thin k that is the future-not this
if anyone watches modern marvells it is in i think more environmental tech.....

[Chad @ Jun 26th 2008 3:13PM]

These guys are crooks! Check out this wired article from a few months back.

http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-04/ff_zapped

[Chad @ Jun 26th 2008 3:14PM]

These guys are crooks! Check out this article from Wired.

http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-04/ff_zapped

[Some Kid @ Jun 26th 2008 3:15PM]

this looks a little like the Chevy Volt doesnt it?
anywho....
there is a guy out in california that you can take a prius to and he'll beef up the battery pack to give you all battery when going 30 mph or less and then have the gas moter kick over that speed-in which you get up to 150 mpg
it mostly works with the Hybrid Synergy Drive that Toyota developed and it doesnt cost too too much to charge fully
and it can go 250 miles on only battery-if you plan on traveling great distance without stopping at 30 mph
i thin k that is the future-not this
if anyone watches modern marvells it is in i think more environmental tech.....

[Some Kid @ Jun 26th 2008 3:20PM]

damn you engadget commenting system.....
BLAST!

[Max @ Jun 26th 2008 4:27PM]

Finally a car fit for Tron Guy.