SRG to offer electric car with purchase of home
05/31/07 • Posted in: Downtown Jacksonville, Eco, Springfield, Transit by Joey Marchy 15 Comments »
In my post yesterday I talked about innovative transportation ideas you won’t find in Jacksonville. Well here’s an innovative idea you will find in Jacksonville. SRG Homes plans to offer an electric car called the Kurrent, with the purchase of an SRG home. SRG is also getting into the car dealership business, they are the exclusive dealer of the Kurrent electric car in the Jacksonville area.
I took the Kurrent for a test drive yesterday and it was pretty cool. I would equate it to a golf cart with more features. Not to say the Kurrent is a glorified golf cart, just giving you an idea of the driving experience. Basically you turn a key and you’re good to go. The Kurrent doesn’t make any noise once you’ve started it. I turned the key and was like “ok, am I ready to go?”.
I was, so I flipped the switch the throw the car in reverse and took off. The car maxes out at about 35mph. It’s a totally street legal car that must be tagged and licensed, kinda like a scooter. There are limitations to where you can take the Kurrent, roads with posted speeds of 35mph, but that plays right into SRG’s plans for marketing the electric car.
They are describing this as a new form of neighborhood transportation. SRG is in the business of building sustainable, walkable communities in Jacksonville and the Kurrent is another step in that direction. They see the Kurrent as an alternative to gas fueled transportation. The idea is use the Kurrent to access all the Downtown neighborhoods. Most streets in and around downtown are accessible with the Kurrent, one exception I might be able to think of is getting over the Main Street bridge into San Marco.
A few more details:
- The cars can hold an 8 hour charge. Plug them into any outlet
- Current SRG homeowners are not eligible. The price of the car will basically be tacked onto the price of the new home
- The cars retail for about $9K-$10K
- You can buy a car without purchasing a home
- SRG hopes to get parking exemptions for the Kurrent and similar vehicles in Downtown neighborhoods
If you have any other questions leave a comment. I’m sure someone will answer your question shortly.
Here is a video of the Kurrent in action (video)
Photos from yesterday’s Kurrent test drive
So would I buy one? Hard to say. I’m the typical Jacksonville resident so I own two cars. Luckily for me both are paid for so I don’t have a car payment. That would put me in a good position to buy a Kurrent if I were looking for an alternate form of transportation. Another option I could choose would be some type of scooter, like a Vespa. Take this Granturismo which retails for about $5K. Both offer a two seat capacity. Neither have AC. The Kurrent has better safety features like a steel cage and seat belts. The Kurrent has a cooler, no cooler on the Vespa. It would be a tough decision, but I’m glad I have options.
More Info:
The Kurrent is Kute but will it Konnect with Konsumers?
AutoBlogGreen drives the Kurrent from American Electric Vehicle
tags: jacksonville, electric car, springfield, srg, kurrent
Sweet, Joey do you get one for #1 advertising, and #2 retroactive incentive for your home? You should hold out on the SRG advertising and make them be a sponser sometime, or at least throw you a bone…..or have they?
do you have to have insurance on it?
The Kurrent can go over the Main St. bridge and into San Marco, all the way down to San Marco Square and the east end of Atlantic Blvd. All streets in that area are marked 35 mph or less. About 15 yards south of San Marco Sq, the speed limit on San Jose Blvd. changes to 40 mph.
On the west side of the St. Johns, the Kurrent can travel all the way down to Ortega and Venetia, via Riverside/Avondale and neighborhood streets.
One of the funnest things about it is people actually smile at you when you’re driving by. So it’s got the no gas thing down — it’s next trick is “teaching the world to sing”.
I wonder if people have yet begun to modify these things to get a bit more zip out of them, take it a little beyond 35.
Nevertheless, a great solution for people with short commutes who are absolutely stuck on the idea of 4 wheel transportation.
Yes, it must have a license plate and insurance just like a regular car. I previously called my insurer (AAA) to find out how easy/difficult is it to insure, and they insure it as an “other” type of vehicle. Cost: between $800-$1,000 a year.
It’s cool, whether it’s going to catch on in Jax or not. $1000 a year for insurance + registration is a ’speed bump’ to the concept. Still cool though and happy it’s in Springfield, which is just another thing to help market our neighborhood.
Fucking awesome. What a great idea. This would be perfect for the day when downtown retail/dining gets even better.
I just drove it. It is very responsive and easy to drive.
It will be much better when they finish resurfacing the roads as it is light and you can feel the bumps. I like to slouch so the uprightness may take a little getting used to but I am pretty tall and there is a ton of headroom. I want one.
I had a question, any number on how much electricity it takes and average cost of recharge?
I was told it takes 8 hours for a full charge, and that nightly charges will cost about $20 a month on top of your normal electric bill.
I kinda want one too, but I need the four seat model, which according to its website, should be out in the future.
$10,000? That’s a lot of money for what is essentially a golf cart.
Get a used Prius instead.
A golf cart can’t be driven on the road legally, and it costs about the same (a little less) than a car to insure because it is a car.
And it Dan, manufacturer tells us that the extra cost per month on electric bill will be 1/2 your guess of $20 ($10/month to drive it).
It runs on 4 batteries that have to be changed after approx 6 yrs at a cost of $800-$1,200.
Total cost of 5 yrs of ownership is approx:
$10,000 (purchase)
$600 ($10/mo for 60 mos of electricity)
$16,000
Downside - no highway driving, can only seat 2 (currently). Perfect for downtown and downtown neighborhood living.
Ok, I can’t do math w/o a calculator. 5 yrs of ownership would actually cost $10,600.
Kool car, and I like seeing these in Springfield. It will hit home the close to downtown concept. Trying to be all positive on this one, but personally, I wouldn’t pay more than 4-5k. I agree with the above statement : used Prius is some stiff competition.
If you really want to be cool, buy the Honda FCX Hydrogen car with the at home energy station.
Electric motorcycle conversion:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/06/lightning_lithi.php
this must be catching on as there have been several of them downtown.