I saw the prototype chassis at ZAP HP in Santa Rosa. I understand the prototype is drivable, but test drives are not open to the public yet. You can put down a $5k deposit for when it comes out in 2009 for around $30k.
Several years ago I spoke with one of Zaps Execs as he were demoing
The Smart Car
inside Costco. He said that there was government regulation resistance to have these cars imported to America. I may be wrong, but this issue seems to be side stepped by simply importing the parts and assembling them it in the United States. This is what appears to be what will enable Zap to get these cars out the door sooner rather than later.
One thing to be said about Smart Cars is that I was not impressed by the demo I saw several years back. Although I applaud the engine being made by BMW the rest of the car was the quality of Saturn. I owned both both brands and will never buy one of them again. I understand that zap was not responsible for designing the product and I still applaud them for trying to give us something that gets 60+ MPG long before the Prius left the drawing board.
This time ZAP has the opportunity to do it right. Please, please don't skip on quality of the interior, convenience of controls on the steering wheel, sound insulation from outside noise, quality and functionality of plastic switches, sturdiness of all moving parts, and of course a good sound system with auxiliary input.
If ZAP does it right, at $30k people will be lining up to get one. If the quality is there I will be the first in line. I guess for now the only other cool option is Tesla for $100k. I am going to have to hold off, at least until ZAP releases their Allias.
