Get Your First Electric Car From…Sam’s Club???
Who is the first to the American mass market with an electric car? Would you believe…Sam’s Club?
Hybrid Technologies starts with a smart fortwo® and “amps up” the car by removing the gasoline engine and replacing the fossil fuel systems with a Lithium Ion Electric Drive system. You will receive the only STS 128 to be built by Hybrid Technologies.
You have a range of over 100 miles and if you need fuel you don’t panic you just plug in. Hybrid Technologies developed space based battery technology into a 100% electric car. The Hybrid Technologies Smart fortwo is changing the way people think about commuting.
That name is a bit of a misnomer - Hybrid Technologies isn’t producing a hybrid here, it’s purely electric. This is a pretty cool offer, because not only do you get a car:
The Package includes a Once-In-A-Lifetime experience where you will strap in for a day of space exploration at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, the gateway to NASA’s launch headquarters and one of Central Florida’s most popular destinations. Get vertical on the new Shuttle Launch Experience to discover the sights, sounds and sensations of launching into space and participate in ATXSM-Astronaut Training ExperienceSM accompanied by a former astronaut. Be prepared for an inspiring experience with tours venturing into NASA’s spaceport facilities, towering rockets and IMAX® space films. Top off the visit with a viewing opportunity of a Space Shuttle launch from a premium viewing area location, including Lunch with an Astronaut on that day.
The new Shuttle Launch Experience is an incredible journey of launching into space and orbiting Earth aboard the Space Shuttle. Guest “crew members” strap in for this all-too-real simulation, which immerses visitors in the sights, sounds and feelings of a Space Shuttle launch, designed under the guidance of NASA and veteran Space Shuttle astronauts. The launch experience in the one-of-a-kind custom-designed crew cabin culminates with a breath-taking view of Earth from space.
Interesting that they are associating a lithium electric car with the space program. This branding exercise is pretty innovative - rather than forcing the car to rest on its own merits, there’s an attempt to establish an emotional connection to something high-tech and futuristic.
Poking around on the internet I see that the previous version of this car had a top speed of 70 MPH. With a 100 mile recharge range this makes the fortwo EV a more than 80 percent solution. No data on what this would cost without the NASA jaunt.
I’m hoping that this pushes others to develop similar performance commuter cars with the battery technologies of EEStor, Firefly, A123 Systems, and Altairnano. But I’m thinking the pricing sweet spot for this performance class is probably $15-18,000.
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