by Ken Edelstein for My Green ATL, June 8, 2010
Wheego, the Atlanta-based electric car company, will bring its first full-service road vehicle to market next week, when it begins to accept reservations for the new Wheego Whip LiFe.
“I’ll give you a sneak preview,” company spokeswoman Susan Nicholson writes me. “The reservation form goes live June 14 ($100 refundable deposit) and the cars will ship September 1. We’re really excited about the car – it will go about 100 miles on a charge and be fully crash tested and highway ready.”
Although Wheegos are assembled in California, the company is based in Midtown and is headed by former Earthlink CEO Mike McQuary.
The Wheego in the photo looks like a Whip LiFe, but it’s actually just a plain ol’ Whip. The old Whip had some drawbacks — a range of only 40 miles and a top speed of only 35 mph. It’s not even allowed on the highway (the sales guy didn’t mention all that as he was showing off this standard Whip runs lists at $18,995 plus shipping and options, but federal and state tax credits will drop the price by more than $6,000.
The LiFe is a big improvement: It’ll go up to 60 mph and run for up to five hours (or 100 miles) on a 115 volt lithium pack batter — still pretty much a city car but a step up from the old Whip’s “neighborhood” classification. It reportedly will list $32,000, but it qualifies for $7,500 in federal and $5,000 in state tax credits. More datas on this Whip LiFe spec sheet.
Jim Motavalli, my colleague at the Mother Nature Network, is the only journalist I know of who’s taken a spin in the LiFe. He liked it. Here’s his article and video.