Hank [BS/MSEE,
MSM $$$, Ph.D. Mgmt] teaches 
While recently browsing for real estate in the Corpus Christi, Texas area, I ran across a web site named www.corpustv.com. On this web page, someone had for sale a funny little electric car named the GEM, short for Global Electric Motorcars. Turns out this company has been producing battery-powered vehicles in Fargo, SD for over 10 years. These little fancy golf carts are limited to a top speed of 25 mph, and have a range of up to 40 miles, making them ideal for locals such as South Padre Island. Takes up to 8 hours to fully charge after use, and costs about 25 cents to do so [@ $0.05/KWH]. Get this - they are street legal!
The link to their web site is here:
I also noticed realtors are using YouTube to stream info about homes including virtual tours, and corpustv.com above is using uStream.tv to host live area tv shows.
Petrol @ the Pemex stations in Mexico was $2.80/gal US, and the exchange rate was still 10 pesos per US dollar - hasn’t changed in years. Picture of our little yacht docked in San Diego below - Holland Cruise Lines. Hank
Now thats a serious boat. I like the idea of the GEM car/cart but I got to tell ya, I don’t feel a great urge to go out and buy one haha. Maybe if it looked less like a jelly-bean, but hey, that’s just me. That being said, I know that there are a lot of smaller communities (i.e. retirement communities) that use golf carts, and I’m sure carts like these, to get around all the time. 25 mph just doesn’t quite cut my need for speed.
The local shopping mall back home in Allentown Pennsylvania actually bought a little fleet of those GEMs for the mall cops to drive around the parking lot with. Paired with the Segways that they ride around in the mall, it is literally impossible to look at the mall cops and not laugh.
That’s probably one of the funniest looking vehicles I’ve ever seen. If I needed a small vehicle to tote small things around, I’d probably just buy a golf-cart. It’s neat to see other companies using the technology that you’ve mentioned in class as well.
I have used the GEM before and i really liked it! The only thing is, is when the battery power becomes low its very hard to keep a charge…then you get stuck. My friends and i would use it to haul our stuff from the horse trailor to our horses stalls, it was really nice
Its great that these GEM vehicles are street legal, but are they safe on the road with other cars around? I know that I wouldn’t want to be in one of those when there is one of those gigantic F-250 trucks next to me, or possibly getting into an accident with a GEM. There wouldn’t be any surviving that. Still, they seem like a good idea to go around the beach town in. I’ve seen some of these around here even, either that or the Smart car, which looks just as minuscule. Oh, and that is an awfully small yacht. You must have been cramped inside that tiny thing.
I think its a good idea to produce these electric powered GEM vehicles, but was wondering how they compare to the standard golf carts. I used to caddy at Medinah Golf Course, and the standard golf carts we used satisfied the job plenty. If only these electric powered vehicles could be upgraded (battery life, speed, mileage), or the technology could be used in our motor vehicles. …Wishful thinking, but that would be a huge innovation.
Its nice that there are starting to be alternatives, but that thing is ugly.. if they could work on that or something i bet they would sell a few more!
Thats pretty neat. They just need to make a little larger scaled version for us to use for cars.
How I look forward to the day where those are produced and have speeds that can run on any US road.
My grandparents have a golfcart that is very similar to the GEM that you talk about. They absolutely love it when they drive to the golf course and even nearby errands. I don’t think it is the most stylish of things, but I think that the GEM does have its place in tight communities.
The GEM looks to be pretty handy and are definitely efficient($.25) in usage of energy. Only being to go 40 miles and having to charge for 8hrs is not enough. I guess I expect too much from technology. maybe getting the charge down to 4hrs and increasing the range a little more to 50mi would be a little better. I am sure the engineers that are paid so much can introduce and alternator or something to prolong the life of the battery on wheels.
During the summer my family and I take our camper to Sullivan Lake which is a huge camping spot. Those GEM carts are everywhere. Some people even put rims and a system on their cart. I’ve never seen anything like it.
I had a talk with my dad over break about electric cars and he brought up two points he said that people who need them most will not be able to afford them and the number one issue he had with them more than efficency or cost or reliabilty was looks. So thats two markets that have been eliminated unless GM can come up with something.
That GEM is pretty neat. I’ve heard it called a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (pronounceable acronym: NEV), because they are designed for the neighborhood, not for distance travel like we do in our cars. They are common in planned communities like Celebration, Florida. You can get larger NEVs. I drove a 4 seater, which is slightly larger than the 2 seater in the picture. They are enjoyable to drive. 25mph is fast enough for traveling short distances (think driving around the Purdue campus, not driving across town), but I hear they will go 35mph if you remove the governor. Because of the max speed, they are only street legal on roads with a speed limit of 35mph or lower. They are not highway legal . . . yet. If Purdue would let me drive this on campus, I’d be tempted to buy one.
This reminds me of the ZENN (Zero Emission, No Noise) zenncars.com. They recently started making more legit cars, but they started as cars that were designed to be just like the GEM. I don’t know how willing people will be to pick up these cars right now, but to you nay-sayers, just wait until gas hits $6-$7 a gallon! Then maybe your gas car will look just as ridiculous!!
As far as safety is concerned, I cannot speak directly for the GEM, but it has a general shape of the SMART car. That shape is an extremely rigid and VERY strong and will do very very well in an accident. Its momentum that you have to worry about, so yes, at higher speeds you done, but it only goes 25mph so unless you encounter something traveling a lot faster, your going to be just fine. Keep in mind that highway driving would actually be illegal in some (if not all) states as they have a minimum speed limit of 40mph. It is also not really designed to go outside city or community driving, so getting into a place where the speed limit would make a crash dangerous is not what this car was designed to do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju6t-yyoU8s - that is a link the the strength of the smart car (70mph crash into a concrete wall). You don’t have a chance in hell of surviving that, but that is not because of the car, that is simply because your insides get slammed forward, decelerating at only a little slower than the car. There again, if your not going 70mph, the safety of a car like this (if properly designed) is just fine.
Jim
I’ve seen many people driving around in cars like these. They are a lot cheaper and they’re kind of weird looking, but still they are saving a lot of money. It’s also helping the environment and atmosphere, I think that this would be a great investment! :]
The GEM is a great idea for the niche market needing that vehicle to get them from point A to B in a small area. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Chrysler use this technology and make it work in their future cars. It kind of reminds me of a Smart Car but I am going to guess that this is more affordabl e than the Smart.
Yup GEM does look like Mercedes Smart Car. Check this recent featured post by Wired on Smart car: http://www.wired.com/cars/coolwheels/multimedia/2008/03/gallery_smartcar_review
It is unfortunate that we are just now hearing about this little car. Technology like this should be known around the world. Not that it is anything revolutionary, but the fact that you can drive a car for 25 cents should draw some attention. If only we could put some more money in this, the technology could only improve.
This is pretty cool. I’ve seen cars like this in France. I would totally get one if it were suitable for were I live.
The GEM sounds like a great idea, especially for those smaller communities. It’s an easy way to get around and can save lots of money. If I lived in a small area I’m sure I would be up for using it. It’d be much cheaper than paying $3.51 a gallon to fill up my gas guzzling Trans Am.
It looks like it would be a lot of fun to ride around in. I would drive it if someone gave it to me. Perfect for when you need to go somewhere when you dont need to haul anything. I don’t think I would buy one though. Id rather see a trunk instead of having a truck bed and 25mph is definitely a set back. It would be nice if they could bump it up to at least 35 so you could handle the 30mph zones without becoming a target too easily for impatient car drivers.
I think it’s a neat idea. It would definitely be a good little cart to drive around in small neighborhoods or it would also be a good tool for the universities to have for their cleaning/maintenance crews. That would even be a good idea for the Purdue Memorial Union’s Catering & Events when they need to make small deliveries or run extra supplies out to someone at an event somewhere on campus.
I love the battery-powered car. It’s small size and relatively low speed are perfect for what it is currently being used for on the S. Padre Island. I’m curious as to how that will/ may translate into a larger vehicle sometime in the future as there is the huge push for “green” cars. And with what Will Peterson has posted - I have seen those cars and Segways in action at the Lehigh Valley Mall
… it’s a pretty interesting sight! Also - amazing ship, Hank! Hope you enjoyed the cruise!