When GM and Ford killed off their prototypes for electric cars, everybody assumed that the concept was dead and buried. Now, a company from Santa Rosa, CA is trying to change that. ZAP! (an acronym for Zero Air Pollution) is introducing a line of electric and alternative-fuel vehicles with an eye toward making a substantial improvement to our environmental impact when we're on the road.

     Introduced at December's L.A. Road Show, ZAP's Xebra is an entirely electric micro-sedan, aimed at city-based drivers. A light truck, the Xebra PK, is also available. While the vehicles' speed tops out at around 40 mph (65 kph), their operation is clean and quiet, and the company estimates that they can run at a cost of approximately 3 cents per mile. Using the current national averages ($2.40 for a gallon of gas and 22.2 miles per gallon for 2007 vehicles), today's cars run for 10.8 cents a mile, three and a half times the operating cost of a Xebra. When you consider the fact that many currently-running vehicles are rather older than 2007 models, and thus not subject to the recently-revised standards set by the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) program, the numbers are much greater. And to top it all off, ZAP have pledged to plant new trees for every Xebra purchased, with the goal of planting a million!

     Of course, not everybody can go about their daily tasks at 40 miles an hour. For these customers, ZAP are about to introduce a second line of vehicles born of their collaboration with Brazilian manufacturer Obvio. The Zap! Obvio line are known as Trybrids - vehicles which can run on three entirely different fuels, or any mixture of the three. ZAP's Trybrids can run on pure ethanol, compressed natural gas or standard gasoline. These have a theoretical maximum speed of 120 mph (200 kph), and attain an average fuel efficiency of 32 mpg in the city and 43 mpg on highways (using an equal mixture of the three fuels).

     As if it wasn't enough to be driving greener, the Obvio cars feature 5.1 surround sound and a full Windows-based multimedia "CarPuter" with GPS, personal organizer, Internet access, XM satellite radio, Wi-Fi connectivity, multi-format digital media player, and even 4 USB ports right in the dashboard for your favorite peripherals.

The Obvio 012

     Now, you can browse The Green Room and listen to our audio content right from your car, and download each month's MP3s straight to your iPod. And if you still have any questions about the cars' "coolness" factor, just ask Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio, who arrived at the Academy Awards ceremony in one.

     More information, including ZAP's other ventures into solar power, portable energy technology, electric waterscooters and more, can be found at http://zapworld.com.

The Xebra