WIRED sticks it to Zap!

[tjts1]

ZAP sells a lot of hype both to its customers and investors.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2008-zap-xebra-review/

[TomEV]

I went by their 'place of business' a few years ago with the intent of buying a Xebra. They were doing a photo shoot with the 'zap girls' and a gasoline Smart Car in the back parking lot. I went around to the main entrance, and it was locked. The three or so employees inside at their desks wouldn't even come to the door.

Made my mind up then that that company wasn't really in business to sell actual products.

[Christopher Jordan]

Shame, really. The Xebra wasn't good with aerodynamics, weight distribution, batteries; but it seemed useful, then be a great project base. My thought of using it as a hauler then adding a "kit - car" body later seemed to make sense. All the thumbs down reviews and commentaries made me seriously think twice.

countersTrike

[Izzyp]

I read the article and I thought one of the worst things was that they needed constant repair. So that even if the range wasn't limiting you enough there would be periods where it would be completely out of commision.

[tjts1]

Most of the vehicles zap sells are made in China. What do you expect?

[cfg83]

Hello -

What do you think of their competition, the Zenn cars? :

http://www.zenncars.com/

They don't seem to be a "hype-machine" like Zip.

CarloSW2

[TomEV]

We have a Zenn owner / dealer that is a member of the EV club here - it looks like a well made car. Only problem is that it is classed as a NEV and thus limited (legally and thru computer programming) to 25 MPH. It can probably do 35 or so (if re-programmed), but there are still legal issues in many areas. Would be nice if the Xebra had the same quality as the Zenn, but there is a big difference between Canadian Quality and Chinese -ahem- quality... China might follow the same pattern as Japan - used to be that people considered Japanese products junk. Time will tell.

[bennelson]

Originally Posted by TomEV

We have a Zenn owner / dealer that is a member of the EV club here - it looks like a well made car. Only problem is that it is classed as a NEV and thus limited (legally and thru computer programming) to 25 MPH. It can probably do 35 or so (if re-programmed), but there are still legal issues in many areas. Would be nice if the Xebra had the same quality as the Zenn, but there is a big difference between Canadian Quality and Chinese -ahem- quality... China might follow the same pattern as Japan - used to be that people considered Japanese products junk. Time will tell.

I am thinking the exact same thing. I have invited both the ZENN and Zap dealers out to our Earth Day Alt Car Show.

Will be nice to have the both together to check out.

[Juiced]

I just purchased a ZAP Xebra for the sole purpose of running around the beach/local events. For the price I paid for it, I could not have built it. Too bad the Company has such a crappy history. This one runs well and since I have built several other EVs, I can make it into something useful. It is a later model so the main components are better than the earlier ones, which given the companies past seems opposite to the info put out in article.

[DManuel]

I am new to this forum but I hope understanding more on the views from American customers since here in China this company is showing a different picture.