Story Photos
 Photo by Roger Werth David Nelson navigates Longview traffic in his electric Gizmo, which runs on six 8-volt batteries. |
Kelso teacher's electric Gizmo turns heads
Monday, July 2, 2007 6:48 AM PDT
By Tony Lystra
Printable version
E-mail this articleThere's no getting around it: David Nelson's car is weird.
It's got three tires. It doesn't have a steering wheel. It looks like an alien pod that fell from the sky.
The snappy little vehicle is so attention-getting that passersby take pictures of it with their cell phones and stop to gawk and talk. When Nelson drives it, people wave or flash a thumbs-up.
One woman, he said, recently pointed at him and laughed like a kid in a schoolyard.
But there's something special about this mini-car that goes beyond looks. Instead of a gas tank, six eight-volt batteries provide the get-up-and-go --- which makes it the most efficient car in Cowlitz County.
It's called the Gizmo, and it was manufactured by a now-defunct Eugene, Ore., company called Nevco (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle Company.) Nelson, 42, said he paid about $8,000 for his model.
The Kelso High School math teacher said he's put a little more than 2,000 miles on the car since he bought it last summer. The cost for all that driving? An extra $30 on his home electrical bill. That's about a penny and a half per mile.
Nelson said he was attracted to the car for all sorts of reasons, including the escape it offers from high prices at the gas pump and its relatively low impact on the environment. But more than anything, he was curious about electric cars and wanted to play with one.
"I've always been willing to think outside the box," said Nelson, who earned his bachelor's degree in physics. "I love experimenting and exploring."
He added that the car is perfectly suited to his two-mile commute from Mount Brynion to Kelso High each day.
The Gizmo tops out at about 45 mph and has a range of between 20 and 30 miles, he said. He plugs it into a conventional electrical outlet in his garage each evening. It takes about four hours to charge the batteries if they're especially low.
The car steers, not with a wheel, but two joysticks. To turn right, pull back on the right stick, push forward on the left. A trigger serves as a throttle, and there's a lever on each stick to brake.
To climb in, lift the front like a hatch and lower yourself into a bucket seat. There's a digital speedometer and CD player in the dash. There's also a seat belt, turn signals, mirrors and a windshield wiper, as well as room for a few bags of groceries or the Nelsons' 90-pound dog, Lady Jane, behind the driver's seat.
Nelson said the car is nimble and corners easily.
It's not for everybody, he said. The Gizmo can't go on the Interstate, and Nelson relies on his 2006 Corolla for trips with his wife, Kerry, and their two teenage children.
But for a family that can afford two cars, you can't beat it, Nelson said. Twenty miles between charges is more than enough for around town. And, he said, even using power generated by the dirtiest fossil fuel plant, electric cars are, at worst, twice as efficient as anything else on the road.
As the technology becomes more consumer-friendly, Nelson said, it will catch on with more people.
"It's coming," he said. "How many years? I don't know. I'm hoping sooner rather than later."
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