IRON MOUNTAIN -- I have to admit the Kandi Coco Electric Car was not what I expected.
While I enjoyed my test drive, apparently I'm far from alone.
Tool Time owner and electric car retailer, Tim Hallenbeck, has had 100 percent electric cars in stock for a little more than a month and said interest has peaked across the region.
"You're not going to have any fuel to put in it. It goes 50 miles on the charge; you plug it into your regular household 120 volt current," said Hallenbeck. "It cost me $1.49 the last time I plugged it in."
But one drawback is the speed. Since it is classified as a low speed vehicle, the electric car can only travel 25 miles per hour under Michigan law.
While avoiding gas stations has caught the attention of some drivers, other U.P. dealerships aren't expecting an electric boom anytime soon.
"About 50 percent of our sales are the big, full-sized trucks and the full-size SUVs," said Edwards Automotive salesman Wade Edwards. "In the environment that we live in with hunting and boating and all the things that we do, it's going to stay that way."
The electric car may never outsell the Ford F150 or the Chevy Silverado here in the U.P., but Hallenbeck thinks this vehicle is here to stay. He is targeting people who use their vehicle primarily around town but said that could change quickly.
"As of today with the technology they have, it would be a compliment or an addition to a primary vehicle," Hallenbeck said. "But I believe down the road with our economy, it's going to be a primary vehicle, especially if technology makes it a faster vehicle."
The electric car costs $10,000-$12,000.
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