TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Highlands Today

Avon Park Test-Drives GEMs To Save Gas Money

ADVERTISEMENT

By DOUG CARMAN

Highlands Today

Published: July 16, 2008

AVON PARK - In the near future, you may want to make sure your lawn's mowed and you don't have your car gathering cob webs out front when you see anything resembling a stylish golf cart drive by.
Avon Park Code Enforcement Capt. Donald Simmons said he is looking into buying small electric vehicles for the three-man department in order to cut back on gas bills.

Called GEMs, the utility vehicle is manufactured by Global Electric Motors.

They are the size of a large golf cart and the roof's shaped like a bubble. Doors and rear cargo space are optional, and it doesn't have any air-conditioning, but its motor is nearly silent.

As Simmons and Mayor Sharon Schuler pulled into City Hall's parking lot late Tuesday morning, Simmons thought it handled well in their test drive around town.

"It's quiet and it rides good," Simmons said.

Though Schuler mostly agreed, she had a complaint. "Me, I prefer something with doors," she quipped.
Schuler and Simmons had more to say about how the ride was, but they were seriously considering the energy costs behind them. Faced with a budget crunch, Simmons and Schuler have asked about the car as a way to save the city's tax dollars.

Lenny Szabo, a GEM regional sales manager from Fargo, N.D., said the car uses about $380 a year in electricity if it's driven 14,000 miles. Each code enforcement officer drives roughly 16 to 28 miles every day, Simmons estimated, and fuel costs amounted to about $1,800 annually for their current vehicles.

The utility vehicles cost $8,000 each.

"This is new, so we haven't committed to anything," Simmons said.

Sales representatives from Alan Jay Automotive Network left Simmons one electric car for him to test out for 10 days, but otherwise he and Schuler said they wanted to wait until Saturday's budget hearings before they try bringing it before the city council for such a decision.

If the city buys the cars, they would need to spend six to eight hours charging them through a regular wall socket. With a special cord, the cars can recharge in 40 minutes, Szabo said.

Since they can only drive 25 mph, they wouldn't be suitable for most other city functions, but Schuler believed it would handle a code enforcement officer's duties. Even if the cars don't have anything other than an optional vinyl cover for a door.

"It's not like we have hailstorms," she said.

Doug Carman can be reached at 386-5838 or dcarman@highlandstoday.com

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT