Little Juice Coupes

They still use their regular vehicle to get around...so why are some local motorists saying goodbye to gas stations and hello to electricity?

By Steve Sanders
Anchor/Reporter

May 14, 2007

With gasoline prices expected to hit all time record highs this summer, we found a few local motorists who drive every day and never, ever stop at a gas station.

Their vehicles look just like yours and mine but with one big difference: their fuel comes not from Saudi Arabia but an electric outlet. We call them little juice coupes.

These are sparks of what may be a revolutionary change in the way we travel. And it's not happening in D.C. or Detroit, but in an out of the way garage in southwest suburban Lemont.

"I've been wanting to get a vehicle that's more economical since gasoline went to 35 cents a gallon," says John Jeide, electric truck owner.

That was back in the 70's. But, John Jeide's wish is about to come true.

"Got to get all the shop dust off if I'm gonna take a ride," John says. "Okay, we have solenoid! Whoo whoo. That's what we wanna hear."

What they're hearing is the whine of an electric motor, just installed in Jeide's 14-year-old ford pickup truck. And it's almost ready to roll.

Jeide has worked with garage owner John Emde and fellow EV enthusiasts. EV is short for electric vehicle, to convert the old pickup from gasoline to electric.

"I love to sit under trees, but I'm not a tree hugger," Jeide says. "We got full power."

80 hours of labor, most of it in the last four days and the moment of truth is here.

"We got one that worked first time this time so we're pretty proud of ourselves," Emde says.

"Four days it went from not being able to move out of it's track to squealing it's tires," Jeide says.

"Alright, and away we go." Jeide says. "We're in 2nd gear now. And we're running about 35 miles per hour. It feels great."

Especially when he discovers he's turning around in the driveway of a company whose products he'll no longer need.

"Bye bye petroleum," Jeide says. "It costs me maybe 10 percent as much to use electricity as gasoline."

Back at the garage, Jeide's new EV goes up on the rack for some fine tuning by John Emde, its chief designer. Since 1980, Emde has converted about 25 cars and trucks from gas to electric.

"The parts alone for conversion, including batteries, controller, motor, and all the cables and things that go with it are somewhere between $8,000-9,000. And then we figure about another $5,000 of labor," Emde says. "It's totally silent, no pollution, no oil changes, no filters, no exhaust system no radiator,"

And no gas stations.

"In the last two years, think I went once and that was just to get ice for my cooler," says Ted Lowe.

It looks like an ordinary pickup truck in every single way. Even the place where you fill her up's the same, only here, the fill-up is with electricity.

Ted Lowe's EV is a '92 Chevy pickup which requires almost no maintenance..

"Well I have to wash it," Ted says. "The main issue in electric cars is the range. My car gets 50 miles on a charge."

But what gives Ted a charge is driving past gas stations, and getting that "EV grin".

"It just feels good to drive an electric you just smile," Ted says.

The Fox Valley Electric Vehicle Association has been around since the 1970's but its ranks have grown in recent years due to high gas prices, a push for energy independence, and lower greenhouse gases. The state of Illinois now offers a rebate of up to $4,000 for electric conversions. Their website has a ton of information complete with pictures.

For more information, go to www.fveaa.org, 630-260-0424 or contactfveaa@fveaa.org.