All-electric Wheego Whip hitting America in May... slowly
By Darren Murph 
posted February 18th 2009 10:42AM
posted February 18th 2009 10:42AM
posted February 18th 2009 10:42AM
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Shouldn't this have been posted as a KIRF?
Here's what I found on the little guy--
$19,000 all-electric RTEV (Ruff & Tuff Electric Vehicles) Wheego Whip will be available in the United States in May 2009.
The Wheego Whip can reach a maximum speed of about 70 mph, but until it passes crash tests by the US DoT, expected sometime in 2010, it will be released initially as a Low Speed Vehicle (25 mph maximum speed) or a Medium Speed Vehicle (35 mph max). RTEV says that the Whip can travel 50 miles on single 8-hour charge, from any standard household 110 or 220v outlet.
Did they actually use the word "Whip" in the name? ...oh no they didn't!
Another craptastic electric vehicle.
I'll consider leaning towards an electric car when it gives me the range, speed, and looks of a real car, truck, or SUV.
Let me guess - you voted for McCain?
Actually, I prefer to live in the real world.
So no, I couldn't bring myself to vote for either jokers running for president. BHO the constant liar. McCain the constant compromiser.
The reality is that Sarah Palin was the smartest and most experienced of all four of the people running.
Oh, and Joe Biden is a walking joke. He's put his foot in is his mouth so many times it can be considered a fetish.
holy $hit, did you just say that palin was the most intelligent and most experienced person involved in the '08 campaign?
way to completely discredit all future comments.
brilliant.
At least she made sense.
BHO changed his position so many times that a good drinking game can be made from it. Everyone of his statements had an expiration.
McCain was racing to be like BHO. Joe Biden was kept off the trail at all cost because he's horrible at speaking without saying something stupid.
So yeah, to anyone who really observed this campaign outside to the the sphere of the idiots in the news media, you see a completely different picture.
To anyone who has a large knowledge of history can see the 2008 as a scary version of history repeating itself again. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then your knowledge of past world events is worthless.
http://www.aptera.com/ Electric vehicle of the not so distant future.
made sense? look, this is an article about electric cars, so I won't get all tangled up in politics. but, just for your records, here are some amazing things that sarah palin said that "make sense."
-"They are also building schools for the Afghan children so that there is hope and opportunity in our neighboring country of Afghanistan."
-"They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska."
-without a proper quote, she was documented as not knowing that Africa was a continent.
So, to anyone who would dare suggest that sarah palin was "intelligent" and "experienced" i'm incredibly glad that you DID NOT vote.
Come on people... lets stop feeding the troll.
At least she made sense.
"The bank bailout is all about healthcare"
BHO changed his position so many times that a good drinking game can be made from it. Everyone of his statements had an expiration.
McCain was racing to be like BHO. Joe Biden was kept off the trail at all cost because he's horrible at speaking without saying something stupid.
-How many interviews did Palin do? Outside of the tough questioning of Hammity
So yeah, to anyone who really observed this campaign outside to the the sphere of the idiots in the news media, you see a completely different picture.
- That's why I get my news from WND.com, With such articles as " Soy is making kids 'gay' "
To anyone who has a large knowledge of history can see the 2008 as a scary version of history repeating itself again. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then your knowledge of past world events is worthless.
- Great argument... The fact is by your wackoness I don't know what you are talking about because you could be referring to anything.. are you going to bring up Hitler? Are you going to say the Russian civil war? Or are you going to say FDR... Or are you just going to say Jimmy Carter and start to foam at the mouth as you worship Reagan as he raised taxes? Throw us a bone, because this argument is all about healthcare
BHO changed his position so many times that a good drinking game can be made from it. Everyone of his statements had an expiration.
-Like accepting the bridge to nowhere and then accepting it. Damn that BHusseinO
(My bad.. missed one)
I don't know, seems a bit 'sketchy' for me. Take a look at their website: http://rtev.net/wheego/
Ouch 4 them
Looks like SmartCar.
http://images.motortrend.com/features/auto_news/2006/112_news060628_01z+daimler_chrysler_smart_car+passenger_side_view.jpg
When the economy goes back up (if it goes back up) someone should really start to make a car(s) that looks sexy, goes fast, but still is fuel efficient. AND IT HAS TO BE INEXPENSIVE (so i'm not talking to you Telsa, and Venturi). But to the Toyota FT-HS, Citroen C-Metisse concept, and Saab Aero-X, keep up the good work.
If you'd know something about economy, you'd know, it WILL go up ! its like a wave....
Just saying the possibility's
I wouldn't buy an electric car from a company that can't even afford to hire a web designer!
Thank you, you have to have a good website to sell.
Smart car , anyone???
This is a Smart FourTwo
so, this is basically a golf cart with a smart car body?
http://rtev.net/ruffandtuff/street_legal.php
Here's what I found on the little guy--
$19,000 all-electric RTEV (Ruff & Tuff Electric Vehicles) Wheego Whip will be available in the United States in May 2009.
The Wheego Whip can reach a maximum speed of about 70 mph, but until it passes crash tests by the US DoT, expected sometime in 2010, it will be released initially as a Low Speed Vehicle (25 mph maximum speed) or a Medium Speed Vehicle (35 mph max). RTEV says that the Whip can travel 50 miles on single 8-hour charge, from any standard household 110 or 220v outlet.
so, it's just a golf cart with doors then. Lame.
and basically useless to anyone in Southern California, where you need to get on a freeway to get pretty much anywhere.
I would buy an electric car that does 70mph, has at least 50 miles per charge, and seats 4.
But probably not from a company named Wheego.
Come on, who comes up with these awful names?
The same cracksquad that designed their website
Plugin electric makes no sense. The best alternative fuel out there for cars, that can realistically be deployed now, is natural gas. It is the cleanest alternative (60% less emissions than gasoline), can be filled at many/most homes, and is a natural resource the US does not have to import. Electric does not help the environment and since it still relies on oil and coal at the power plant for most of its production. For the same reason it does not make as big of an impact on getting off of foreign oil. If the coal and oil plants were shutdown and replaced with nuclear, solar, and windmills, then electric cars might make sense. Many public buses already run off of natural gas, so the technology is ready and just needs to be adopted by the car manufacturers.
Just because it's the "cleanest" alternative in your view doesn't mean it's clean. 60% less emissions still means that they are emissions, and as the number of drivers in the US will only increase then in a few years after we've hypothetically converted every car to natural gas we will find ourselves in the same ecological problem.
"If the coal and oil plants were shutdown and replaced with nuclear, solar, and windmills, then electric cars might make sense." Well, that's the whole point - electric cars have what I like to call "power source portability", which is to say that electric cars can get their energy from what was originally oil, coal, solar, geothermal, nuclear fission, cold fusion, or even the glowing lava running on a planet that we'll explore in 50 years of which just 1 drop can power an entire city - it is much easier to convert power plants than it is to not just convert, but continually convert with each new technology, every car on the road AND the subsequent infrastructure (hydrogen fill-up stations anyone?).
And of course, electric cars can run off electricity produced by power plants converting natural gas, so either way we'd be getting off our addiction to foreign oil.
Does not have to import? Huh? US is a net importer of Natural Gas. http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/feature_articles/2009/ngimpexp/ngimpexp.pdf
Facts, use them.
Engadget, having researched this Chinese rip-off of the Smart FourTwo, can you please add this to your 'Keepin' it real fake' series? Check out just how fake this is:
http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2008/02/shuanghuan-noble-chinese-smart-fortwos.html
http://www.motorauthority.com/clones-are-perfectly-legal-says-shuanghuan.html
Nevermind the fact that it's still a limited resource that is near-vital to keeping us warm at home. If we all started using natural gas in our cars, we'd run out in a pretty big hurry.
A company claiming to have product available in just three months would normally have a photograph of it on their website and available for PR.
Well grifmusic, you can get that here: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/11/the-imiev-is-a.html
Good looking electric car (depends on the eye who's looking) and has room for 4 persons. Drives 100 miles (160 km) and has a max speed of 80 m/h (130km/h) and recharges to 80% in 30 minutes at quck charging stations; otherwise 5 or 6 hours in a 230 or 320 outlet.
Sounds nice? Yes it damn sure sounds nice!
Except you can't yet, unless you're in Japan. (And maybe not yet there, either; sometime this year or next.)
Well, yes, but he asked for it, and I saw it as a good answer to his "prayers". It's being tested here in Denmark this summer, and arriving on the market next year in Europe and this summer in Japan. For all I know, it's soon available compared to so much else out there. Just rejecting everything that is approaching something useful and sometimes more than just useful, but actually ready for replacing a gasoline car for many people.
@MakeMeHuman: but the Aptera has 3 wheels, which means it's exempt from some important safety regulations. I'd want to see proof that it met those requirements anyway.
I *think* it is going to be a relatively safe vehicle... I recall reading that they are making it to federal crash standards, and I know it has a very strong body (read this article that shows how strong the body is: http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=10&article_id=7651)
They also claim safety on their website:
http://aptera.com/learn.php
of course, the proof is in the pudding but the signs, at least, point in the right direction.
*sigh* We here in the US are not suffering from a lack of Low-speed electric vehicles. We need EVs that can drive with the rest of traffic. Why do companies keep producing these things! It's a limited market, and it's already flooded! My EV doesn't need to go 100mph, and it doesn't need to drive 300 miles on a charge. Give me something with 4 wheels, looks like a car, has a range of 50 miles and a speed of 80 and I'm set. I will probably never drive faster than 60mph, or go further than 20 miles in a day.
All-electric, low speed vehicle available now: http://www.zenncars.com/
How much??
Am I really the first one to ask whether the "Wheego" is supposed to be a play on words on the old 1980's economy "Yugo" car, as well as the old joke "Yugo will be introducing a 4-door version called a "We Go"."? Seems they wouldn't want to associate yourself in any way with the piece-o-junk Yugo.
I'd hit it.
I live out here on the Outer Banks. No malls, no long daily commute, just need a lift to the dock and enough room for some gear.
It's possible that there are more people than you'd expect that need just something to get to the store, the bank, the pharmacy around the corner.
Might be ideal for the older folks.
And how many people are actually going to buy one of these things? I think such innovations are great and all, but manufacturers need to be more consumer oriented.
The biggest hurdle I see is the price. I'm not going to pay $19,000 for basically 1/3 of the capability of a real car. It only goes 25MPH and has a 50 mile range. I can buy a real car for $1900 that will do that and a lot more. Now, if they get down into the sub $10,000 range where you can't buy any new car, then they might be able to move some of these things.
The safety issue is eventually going to have to be a concession (by the government first and then consumers). If we want small, lightweight, super fuel efficient cars, then they are not going to do well when T-boned by an Escalade. Pure and simple. If safety is at the the top of your list, above all other priorities, then stay home, that's the safest place for you.
Acceleration is another concession. I don't really care if the 0-60 time is 5 seconds or 30 seconds. I'm trying to save fuel, not win drag races with teenagers. 0-60 time is very near the bottom of my list for selecting a fuel efficient or even a zero emission vehicle.
@Martin Andreas Kruse - We've just landed 2 Mitsubishi iMiev prototypes here in New Zealand (my wife is the EV project leader). The iMiev is awesome. Once you drive it you've changed. The feeling is like when you first got your iPhone - I couldn't take the smile off my face. The iMiev is the same. I've had a good drive in it and it rocks. Easily hit 125km/hr (private road) with more room in the engine (and three people in the car). They are ultra quiet, no vibration, no noise, awesome pickup. EVs are the future - I'm convinced.
Check out: http://www.imiev.co.nz/
Cheers
@Matt
Thanks for the info :) I sooo envy you! I'm going to buy one of these when they land next year here in Denmark. I would so like to try one out now though ;) Well if the feeling is like when I received my iPhone, then I look very much forward to it :D Thanks for the head up! Wish you and your wife all good luck with testing the vehicle out.
KR, Martin Andreas