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The Galveston Daily News
Published July 12, 2009
Editor’s note: Eilleen and Bob Hern, of Galveston, recently bought into a hot trend by buying a neighborhood electric car. Bob Hern talked about the change in commuting technology.
 Q: What is a Zenn?
A: A Zenn is a Zero Emission No Noise neighborhood electric vehicle. It’s manufactured by Zenn in Canada.
Q: How far does it go before you have to recharge? How long does that take?
A: When the batteries have been cycled through discharge and
recharge a few times, I think it will go about 40 miles on a charge.
I’m still in the process of doing the “breaking in” of the batteries. It takes about eight hours to fully charge the batteries when they are drained, plugged into a standard, three-prong 110-volt outlet.
Q: Top speed?
A: According to Texas law, currently neighborhood electric vehicles are allowed top speeds of 25 mph on a 35 mph street.
In September, the law will change allowing 35 mph on a 45 mph street.
Q: Do you drive it on the island only? Are there any places you don’t drive it?
A: We bought it to use as an island runabout. We can’t take it down the island; speed restriction limits how far along the seawall we can take it.
Past 61st Street, the limit goes to 45 mph. Other than that, it zips around the city just fine.
Q: How did you decide to buy it?
A: I wanted something that was more environmentally friendly than my Silverado pickup and saw an article about electric vehicles.
I saw one in Houston and started looking on the Internet to learn more. There, I found the Houston Electric Car Club and a link to Houston Electric Cars.
We went up there, talked with Rick Ehrlich, drove a Zenn and decided it was the car we wanted.
Q: How does it fit in to your lifestyle?
A: It provides a fun way to get around to do our errands here in town — groceries, doctor visits, dining out, etc. — in a way that doesn’t require stopping at the gas station.
We have an air conditioner in it but have found that it stays cool with the windows down as we drive around.
Of course, now there’s the discussion of who gets to use the electric car. My wife never wanted to drive the truck.
Q: What are the rules of the road for electric cars? Your car has a sign on the back indicating it’s a slow-moving vehicle.
A: It is a motor vehicle licensed in the state of Texas, so there is a safety inspection required, and we are restricted as to the speed we can travel; but other than that, we just need to follow the normal rules of the road — drive defensively and trust the other drivers on the road are doing the same.
It took some adjustment to get used to seeing the grills on pickups fill the rear-view mirror when I was used to sitting higher than other cars driving the Silverado.
Q: Tell us a little about yourself and your family.
A: Eilleen and I are both now retired, she from Galveston Independent School District, and I from the University of Texas Medical Branch.
We were blessed to have little damage from Hurricane Ike, which has now been taken care of. Eileen is an IBC who moved here in time for Hurricane Alicia’s arrival.
I call myself a B-BOI as I was born here (St. Mary’s), ran away for 25 years and am now Back On the Island.
We’re looking forward to seeing more cars that use extension cords instead of exhaust pipes on the island streets. |
