Drive Green

Miles Automotive Keeps Shuffling the Deck

2009-05-17T09:41:00.000-07:00

As easily evidenced here , the indomitable Miles Automotive group continues to rearrange the chairs on the beautiful large ship with which they are masterfully circumnavigating Atlantic icebergs.

The latest helmsman to join the maritime foray is Big Mac Heller, Former Goldman Sachs Executive, and John Bryson, Government Man extraordinaire. More Stanford, Harvard, and Yale, blah, blah, blah: forgive me Kara Saltness, but it appears that Heller is on board to get banker/investment money and Bryson is there to grease the government. It's cool. Finally a strategy that will work! A bit of a departure from free press releases and terrible SEO, but hey, who's gonna blame'em?

I have a friend that is a paid distributor and he is fed up with the waiting game he says is being played by Miles from day one. The battery issues, the Chinese Quality Control issues, the Deliverable issues, the Deadline issues - you get the point. It's been a helluva ride waiting for the XS500, and we may never actually see one...

You know, something just occurred to me: Big Daddy Mac Heller is a former Goldman Sachs Executive. Really - another one? Mr. Rubin: are you worried that Czinger is stacking the deck against you in preparation for a Haitian-style coup? You've got to watch the Yale guys, you never know who might be Skull-and-Bones! I'm just sayin'...

XS500 by Miles Electric Vehicles

2008-09-28T18:06:00.002-07:00

XS500 Electric Vehicle by Miles Automotive
Uploaded by WebDealsInc

MILES XS500: Electric Vehicle

2008-09-28T18:06:00.001-07:00

XS500 Electric Vehicle by Miles Automotive

The XS500 all-electric sedan by Miles

2008-09-28T18:02:00.000-07:00

AFVI 2008: Miles, GEM and Phoenix share EV product line-ups

2008-08-02T11:41:00.000-07:00

FROM http://www.autobloggreen.com/ :

This week, at the AFVI Expo, I moderated a panel on the roll-out of electric vehicle products from Miles EV, Phoenix Motorcars and GEM. The representatives were Bryon Bliss, vice president of sales and marketing for Phoenix, Jeff Boyd, COO of Miles, and Richard Kaspar, GEM's president and COO. Oh, and our friend Ed Begley, Jr. was there as well, continuing his relationship with Phoenix.

The purpose of the panel was for each company to present their case not only for EVs but for their particular products. Since these companies all offer vehicles with quite different capabilities and styles, they're not really competitors, and it was a congenial event. Since I expect our readers to be pretty familiar with the vehicle line-ups of these three companies, I won't go into details about them. There were a few things said during the 90 minutes that caught my ear, though, that I think you'll want to hear about.

The Miles EV offices are in Santa Monica, CA. To commute to work, Boyd drives a prototype of the XS500, Miles' upcoming highway-speed battery-powered sedan. The price target is still $35,000 and deliveries should start in the third quarter of 2009. The sedan will be followed by an electric SUV. I told Boyd that the next time I'm in town, I'll be knocking on the office door, begging for a ride. I mean, it worked for the Roadster.
Phoenix expects deliveries of its all-electric SUT to start at the end of June (yes, in six weeks). Certification should be finished June 1, Bliss said and the company has orders for 600 vehicles to fill as of today.
GEM's big news is the addition of new options to the back cargo space of its work trucks. Since GEM vehicles have been selling for over a decade, GEM has had plenty of time to listen to customers and find out what they want/need. New covers and door types are now available, and you can see a list of GEM vehicle options here.

Greentech media was also in the room, and wrote up this account of what happened. Both Miles and GEM had vehicles on the show floor, and I've included galleries of their displays below. The Phoenix photos are from the 2007 AFVI Expo. For those of you keeping score, Zap and Dynasty were nowhere to be found at the Expo this year (unlike last year).

Gallery: AFVI 2008: Miles EV booth

Gallery: AFVI 2008: GEM's new cargo options

Gallery: AFVI Ride & Drive Phoenix SUT

Zero Emissions Work Truck

2008-08-02T11:34:00.000-07:00

The zero emissions, AC motor MILES ZX40ST work truck is being showcased publicly for the first time at the Green California Summit at the Sacramento Convention Center now.

“We’re pleased to partner with the Green California Summit as a Gold Sponsor and show the production AC motor ZX40ST for the first time publicly,” says Jeff Boyd, Miles Electric Vehicles COO. “We believe that as the only truly affordable, light duty, all electric LSV truck on the market, the ZX40ST fills a product gap and also performs on par with its gas powered counterparts.”

The MILES ZX40ST, which functions especially well in a fleet environment, is already in high demand with many units pre-sold to university and municipal fleet users throughout the country. Even with a production rate of 200 units per month, the ZX40ST is on backorder until June. With a newly structured sales force that spans the country, the ZX40ST and other MILES vehicles are now available for demonstration nationwide upon request. The base MSRP for the MILES ZX40ST is $18,400, and can be seen on the Web at www.milesev.com.

Founded in 2005 by activist/entrepreneur Miles Rubin and headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif., Miles Electric Vehicles is marketing a line of low speed, all electric cars and trucks, which combine the best of U.S. electric motor and controller technology with China’s advanced battery and vehicle manufacturing capabilities.

http://motorage.search-autoparts.com/

City takes a look at electric cars

2008-07-31T09:01:00.000-07:00

SARASOTA - Several electric cars and trucks were on display outside Sarasota City Hall Monday afternoon.

Miles Electric Vehicles produces small cars that reach a top speed of 25 miles an hour. Most are sold to businesses, colleges and cities working to go green...like Sarasota.

"I actually had the chance to talk briefly with Mayor Palmer, and this is the way they're headed. They want more information on the ability to go green in different areas, and automotive is an area they're looking at strongly," says Rusty Evans of Miles Electric Vehicles.

Prices for their small electric cars start at about $19,000.

100 MPG Trucks: A Not-So-Distant Reality?

2008-07-21T09:03:00.000-07:00

Is it possible? Is it believable? Or is it just the old smoke and mirrors? Working with technology similar to that of the Chevy Volt, a company called Raser Technologies is developing a solution for achieving better mileage in new pickup trucks such as the Chevy Silverado and Ford F-series that are already on the market. Raser has announced that it will have a 100 mpg pickup and a 100 mpg SUV in testing with Pacific Gas & Electric Company's vehicle fleet in the near future. Equipped with a 200 kW electric motor, Raser's concept hybrid truck will run on electricity for its first 40 miles, after which a gas motor kicks in to recharge the lithium-ion battery. Since most truck owners typically use their vehicles for commuting and recreation for trips of less 40 miles, they'd benefit hugely from the opportunity to save gas. It's especially good news for the many companies that rely on trucks for their business, which are increasingly struggling under the massive fill-up costs for their work vehicles.

Miles Electric Vehicles, one of the startups using Raser's symetron technology, is offering a low-speed "work truck," but none of its specs are all that convincing. While it has a decently-sized bed, the ZX40ST is only indicated for tasks like landscaping and "light hauling", and with a top speed of 25 mph, I don't think they'll exactly be flying off the dealer lots, literally or figuratively.

Clearly, the Raser system is still in its infancy, but the idea of a successful independent EV solution is cool. Here's hoping that this company does well and doesn't get gobbled up by the major automakers.

Electric vehicles a possibility for Roanoke

2008-06-30T09:04:00.000-07:00

The city of Roanoke is looking for alternatives to the high gas prices.

Two electric vehicles, a car and a pick-up truck, sat outside the city’s municipal building and drew quite a bit of stares.

Both vehicles are from Miles Electric Vehicles from California.

All you have to do to refuel it is plug it in to a 110V outlet.

They are low-speed vehicles and only run about 30 mph. If used by the city, they could mostly be used for tasks like parking enforcement.

Michael Hayes is a spokesperson for Miles Electric Vehicles:

“The city has been taking a leadership role in recognizing that there are a lot of opportunities to for the city to show the taxpayers what they can do with alternative vehicles,” said Hayes.

Hayes also says the company is working on an electric car that can run 80 mph.