The sports cars are being sold on the basis of speed and acceleration, an advantage that comes from having an electric motor. Marketing sedans is a bit trickier. The sedans will range in price from $30,000 to $50,000, and most will only be able to go about 100 to 150 miles before needing a charge.
Will Americans pay that much for a car that might not get them away for a quick weekend trip without conking out? Nobody knows, but Boyd notes that most Americans commute only about 40 miles a day and that a lot of people have second cars they use only for commuting.
"We don't expect this to be most people's primary car," he said.
Charge time is another issue. The battery in the Javlon will take 8 to 10 hours to fully charge. That's significantly longer than the charge times touted by other manufacturers--the Tesla Roadster, which comes with a fairly large battery, charges in about 4 hours. Boyd says that customers will become acclimated to thinking about charging every time they park.
The Santa Monica company was founded by Miles Rubin, an executive-turned-entrepreneur and a philanthropist. About three years ago, he was at an automotive conference with now-Chief Marketing Officer David Hirsch. They listened to two engineers argue about the feasibility of hydrogen cars. One said hydrogen cars would hit in about 18 years.
"He turned to me and said '18 years? I'll be dead in 18 years. What can we do in 18 months?'" Hirsch recalled.
The company has already come out with low-speed vehicles that top out at 25 to 35 miles per hour. They are sold to college campuses, industrial sites and the military. The Department of Defense is replacing a number of conventional cars with low-speed vehicles. Retirement communities, which have seen a rash of accidents among their golf cart-commuting residents, are another target market.
The company has already come out with low-speed vehicles that top out at 25 to 35 miles an hour. They are sold for use on college campuses, industrial sites and military posts--the Department of Defense is replacing a number of conventional cars with low-speed vehicles. Retirement communities, which have seen a rash of accidents among their golf cart-commuting residents, are another target market.
"There are about 70,000 low-speed vehicles in the U.S. today," Boyd said.
To date, Rubin has put about $15 million to $20 million into the company. Venture capital firms have not invested in it.
The first prototypes are currently being finished in China, and Miles hopes to bring them to the U.S. for testing and to show potential dealers by September. The company will then begin the rigorous, and somewhat expensive, process of testing required by the U.S. government and the EU.
If all goes well, Miles will begin to sell cars in the fourth quarter of 2008. For the first year of production, it has set a goal of producing 18,000 cars, and for the second year, 38,000. An SUV-like car will follow, ideally, in 2010.
If electric cars are such a good idea, what will prevent the big companies from coming in and taking over? Size, says Boyd, who has owned and run several car dealerships. Unless big automakers believe they can sell 200,000 units of a new model, they won't make it, he said.
