tigerhonaker
05-21-2006, 07:24 PM
Return of the Sparrow
Ohio company resurrects troubled electric car
By BOB GRITZINGER
AutoWeek | Published 05/19/06, 10:25 am et
http://static.flickr.com/33/97638424_81ef5b12d9_t.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zapwizard/97638424/)
http://static.flickr.com/34/97638167_d5a85c37a0_t.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zapwizard/97638167/)
http://static.flickr.com/38/97637947_1dc81e835d_t.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zapwizard/97637947/)
Terry Shaw says he feels safe driving his 2004 NmG to his job at Cardinal Health. "It’s like sitting in your own mobile helmet. It causes a riot everywhere I go." Steve Dewey stands with his electric car, The NmG. Every couple days, Dewey plugs the car into an outlet and recharges, rather than fill up at a gas station.
Our customers are becoming very famous as forward thinking individuals. Their communities often seek them out for comment. We would love to add your newspaper article, commercial or TV news segment to this page... please contact us if you would like to contribute to the Buzz!
The ill-fated three-wheeler formerly known as the Corbin Sparrow is back, with a new owner, a different name, revamped mechanicals and a promise the old car’s myriad problems are history.
“We took out everything people hated,” says spokesman John Dages.
Called the Myers Motors NmG Electric Vehicle—NmG is short for “No more Gas”—the single-passenger all-electric car is the result of an 18-month effort to fix problems with the Sparrow. Failures in the Sparrow led to bankruptcy proceedings for the former owner, Corbin Motors of Hollister, California. Ohio entrepreneur Dana Myers bought assets of the bankrupt company in 2004 with the idea of putting the electric car back on the road to success.
Why?
“With gas prices going the way they’re going and the oil fields petering out, it only makes sense,” says Myers. “A short-range electric vehicle fulfills a huge amount of need.” Myers sees the NmG as part of the hybrid solution—just not in one vehicle. Owners might own an electric NmG for short trips and commuting, backed up by the family sport/utility or sedan running a traditional gasoline or diesel powerplant.
Before selling his first NmG, Myers conducted an exhaustive review of the car’s engineering. Batteries, motors, electrical components and computer controllers, brakes, wheel bearings and the interior were upgraded. The improvements should make the NmG more dependable, but also have pushed the price from $14,000 as a Sparrow to $24,900 for the NmG. The car’s performance remains essentially unchanged, with a 30-mile range on a full charge, and a top speed of about 70 mph.
The NmG went on sale in February, with seven sold so far as Myers slowly ramps up production at the plant in Tallmadge, Ohio. He hopes eventually to sell 500 to 1000 vehicles per year. For more information go to www.myersmotors.com (http://www.myersmotors.com).
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060519/FREE/305190001/1024/LATESTNEWS
Ohio company resurrects troubled electric car
By BOB GRITZINGER
AutoWeek | Published 05/19/06, 10:25 am et
http://static.flickr.com/33/97638424_81ef5b12d9_t.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zapwizard/97638424/)
http://static.flickr.com/34/97638167_d5a85c37a0_t.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zapwizard/97638167/)
http://static.flickr.com/38/97637947_1dc81e835d_t.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zapwizard/97637947/)
Terry Shaw says he feels safe driving his 2004 NmG to his job at Cardinal Health. "It’s like sitting in your own mobile helmet. It causes a riot everywhere I go." Steve Dewey stands with his electric car, The NmG. Every couple days, Dewey plugs the car into an outlet and recharges, rather than fill up at a gas station.
Our customers are becoming very famous as forward thinking individuals. Their communities often seek them out for comment. We would love to add your newspaper article, commercial or TV news segment to this page... please contact us if you would like to contribute to the Buzz!
The ill-fated three-wheeler formerly known as the Corbin Sparrow is back, with a new owner, a different name, revamped mechanicals and a promise the old car’s myriad problems are history.
“We took out everything people hated,” says spokesman John Dages.
Called the Myers Motors NmG Electric Vehicle—NmG is short for “No more Gas”—the single-passenger all-electric car is the result of an 18-month effort to fix problems with the Sparrow. Failures in the Sparrow led to bankruptcy proceedings for the former owner, Corbin Motors of Hollister, California. Ohio entrepreneur Dana Myers bought assets of the bankrupt company in 2004 with the idea of putting the electric car back on the road to success.
Why?
“With gas prices going the way they’re going and the oil fields petering out, it only makes sense,” says Myers. “A short-range electric vehicle fulfills a huge amount of need.” Myers sees the NmG as part of the hybrid solution—just not in one vehicle. Owners might own an electric NmG for short trips and commuting, backed up by the family sport/utility or sedan running a traditional gasoline or diesel powerplant.
Before selling his first NmG, Myers conducted an exhaustive review of the car’s engineering. Batteries, motors, electrical components and computer controllers, brakes, wheel bearings and the interior were upgraded. The improvements should make the NmG more dependable, but also have pushed the price from $14,000 as a Sparrow to $24,900 for the NmG. The car’s performance remains essentially unchanged, with a 30-mile range on a full charge, and a top speed of about 70 mph.
The NmG went on sale in February, with seven sold so far as Myers slowly ramps up production at the plant in Tallmadge, Ohio. He hopes eventually to sell 500 to 1000 vehicles per year. For more information go to www.myersmotors.com (http://www.myersmotors.com).
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060519/FREE/305190001/1024/LATESTNEWS