Take a Ride in an Electric Car

Joe Bonaparte had been after an electric car for years. 

Ever since he took in the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?, the Collingswood resident had been looking for a way to get his hands on a zero-emissions vehicle, even going so far as to try converting a gas-powered car into one himself.

(The hands-on approach is par for the course for Bonaparte, who also directs the borough Bike Share program: "I got close but it didn't quite work out," he shrugs.)

But when lease options on the new, fully electric Honda Fit-EV fell to the point where it was cheaper than the gasoline-powered version of the same model, which he also owned, he finally got to take one home—number 221 of an expected 1,100-unit run.

For Bonaparte, the opportunity to cut out trips to the pump and the combustion engine were an environmental priority.

"People say things like, 'well, they're burning oil or coal at the power plant,'" Bonaparte said. "They call it the long tailpipe theory. But in reality, the same amount of gasoline that moves a car one mile down the road uses more electricity than an electric car does."

The vehicle goes about 80 miles on a single charge, with sport and economy modes offering a mix of longevity or performance. To "tank up" at a traditional wall outlet, the car must remain plugged in overnight.

Such a short range makes long trips an impossibility at present, but Bonaparte said it's the perfect commuter car for his purposes.

"There are more charging stations than people really know about," Bonaparte said, and with the roll-out of a Camden County commercial charging program that will provide free power at a handful of stations locally, the infrastructure to support ZEV drivers is emerging as well.

The navigation console on the Fit-EV also taps into a map program that shows charging station locations. Bonaparte supplements that with a mobile phone app called PlugShare, which displays other, friendly locations that offer a free charge for drivers in need.

"It's not bad for a $259-a-month car," he said.

Click to play the video above, and see what it's like behind the wheel of an electric car.