Zig's Amazing Photos of the Alameda Electric Auto Expo
On Saturday, September 27, 1997, a whole bunch of electric auto folks descended upon the airfield previously known as Alameda Naval Air Station (now Alameda Point, but nobody really calls it that yet).
Zig and Carolyn Zichterman shot a roll of film at the expo, and here are the photos.
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Bob Wing's beautiful EV. Towed to the expo from last week's Stanford expo. |
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Carolyn Zichterman gets a ride in General Motors EV-1. Zig shoots a lot of film. |
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Zig Zichterman gets a ride in General Motors EV-1. |
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Carolyn Zichterman checks out the Pivco Citibee. |
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The beautiful Zebra Motors Model Z. These cars are the press darlings at Calstart events: many politicians have taken these cars out for a ride around Hangar 20. Some day, maybe, Zebra will find manufacturers and financing to actually produce these cars for the buying public. I know I want one.... |
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Those of us lucky enough to drive in the rally were treated to an amazing view off the end of the runway. You can't get much closer to San Francisco without getting wet. |
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Honda's EV Plus |
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Toyota's EV RAV4: the only 4-wheeled electric vehicle that the general public had a chance to drive at the expo. All other vehicles were driven by trained professionals, with the general public riding shotgun. Everyone who drove the RAV4 walked away wanting one. Toyota isn't selling the RAV4 to individuals yet (fleet only). |
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Ford's EV Ranger. The truck bed is not filled with batteries. The batteries are below the bed, and the bed height is raised (about level with the top of the wheel wells). |
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Solectria's Force. |
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The "Lectra", an electric motorcycle. The motor in this bike was the noisiest thing at the expo. It sounded like a gas-powered motorbike. When questioned, the motorcycle's owner said that was the first VR motor they'd built, and the motor's been reassembled and tweaked so many times that it vibrates really loudly. |
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An EV Fred Flinstone would love. Clare Bell's latest project. Going one step beyond
"cute", this car is genuinely pettable (really: many expo attendees couldn't resist
stroking the little car's fur). You can also see an electric Fiero in the picture. |
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An electric car powered by a fuel cell. This car made it into the Alameda Newspaper Group's newspaper article. |
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An electric Honda Civic that participated in the rally. |
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Margaret's white rabbit. |
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A beautiful Midget. |