Business Week: Mike McQuary gets ready to launch the Wheego Whip
After co-founding Mindspring, McQuary takes over an electric car company
As told to Amy Barrett for Business Week
I always want to be part of something i think can have a major impact on society. My friend Charles Brewer founded [Internet service provider] MindSpring Enterprises in 1994. We wrote the business plan together and I came on board the next year. I was president for seven years.
By early 2007 I was a partner at a merchant bank when Bo Huff, founder of Ruff & Tuff Products, came to us for money to expand as a golf cart company. We weren’t very interested in that business, but Bo had a lot of great technology. We invested and I became CEO.
The green element is what really drew me to car design, and now I have an appreciation for the old classic cars. I caught the fever late in life. When I was growing up, my dad, who had been a mechanic, was a Ford loyalist. My mom used to say the only competition she had for his affection was a 1955 Ford Mainline. Now I find myself online studying hybrid cars and comparing them. I have a driveway full of electric cars—the Wheego Whip, two rejected prototypes we developed, and a Lexus hybrid. We still have a Honda minivan for the kids.
The Whip is the best electric vehicle in the world. I think the acceleration is going to surprise people. It’s a very peppy car. Although I’m the most conservative driver around. Whenever we go on a trip, I volunteer to drive, and my friends say, “No way. Don’t let Miss Daisy drive.”
When will the full-speed cars be available? Do you know about and are you interested in the Ee-stor technology? can I order a car now? What requirements do you have to become a reseller? Do you need any sales help from your offices?
I hope this takes off, but I have to say very few people are going to take a car seriously unless it can go 300 miles minimum on a charge, charge (or change out) the batteries in less than 10 minutes, and and cruise comfortably at 70 MPH.
That said, I did drive a Zenn for two days, and LOVED it.
It is a horrible roller skate (the really old fashioned kind, all metal) of an automobile, but it plugs into the wall, it’s quiet, and CHEAP.
And, 90% less polluting than any gasoline powered car.
It’s performance for the thinking person…
all the best of luck.