MAR 25

WIRED Magazine published an absolutely scathing denouncement of Zap! Electric Car Company in their most recent issue. The feature article is a long and in-depth review of what the EV manufacturer has promised, and what it has actually delivered.

Auto manufacturing has pretty much the highest barrier to entry of any industry...aside from (maybe) making nuclear submarines. And attempting to take the world by storm with all-new technology while struggling with limited resources is probably even more difficult. Among Zap's eight car lineup of heavily promoted vehicles, only two have actually been created. Though that doesn't stop them from charging dealers to create.

It seems that Zap's business model is mostly based on giving the founders stock, printing out press releases, waiting for the stock to rise to a couple of dollars, and then selling the stock. The company's board of directors is controlled by the owners and they have made a practice of paying for all of their expenses (right down to janitors) with stock in the company.

Zap has managed to create a couple of products, including a three-wheeled, low-power car, the Zebra, and a truck built on the same platform.

You don't have to run out and buy a copy of WIRED (though, it's a nice thing to have around); the full article is now online.

Comments (8)

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Tu opinion
written by Maximo Vazquez, March 25, 2008

He desarrollado una TV Backlight (que simula un plasma) de 78¨. Me gustaría que lo veas, está publicado en mi blog personal www.maxcreativo.com
El modelo es el AV 1200 se comercializa solo en Paraguay (por ahora). Pero es un producto novedoso, además en mi www.maxcreativo.com podes ver como fabricar uno, están todas las instrucciones, y como es un blog, puedes consultarme cualquier detalle sobre el mismo


Atentos Saludos

Máximo Vázquez

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written by josh, March 26, 2008

That was a very long article. I'm surprised the company heads aren't guilty of insider trading after reading it.

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fascinating
written by Dave, March 26, 2008

I'd been following Zap for a while and am glad I read this before buying into the fraud... I feel so bad for the victims in the article!

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written by Zor, March 27, 2008

Wired is so wrong. they got it wrong with apple, they sure got it wrong with ZAP. I've done the real research. Every auto company including GM, Ford, Tesla have been promising electric cars for years. The only one actually delivering them is zap. Check out everyone elses website, and PR for years. Then try to buy one. Only at ZAP www.zapworld.com can you buy one. Is it curious that Carb is now also telling us electric cars are not practical?

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No shortage of ZAP criticisms
written by Cristina, March 28, 2008

Between Paul Niedermeyer's ZAP Xebra review (which wasn't exactly flattering) and Wired's article...ZAP is getting pretty abused. But it is interesting to consider what the company has actually achieved. Two users on the Green Home Huddle reviewed the ZAP Xebra EV also. Seems to be a little love hate relationship even there.

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wired is so right
written by tergidodo, April 12, 2008

the desire to believe, the belief in conspiracy left some ripe for exploitation by these flim flam men. one must admit, the electric car is not currently viable. delivering an imported golf cart like the xebra is not an achievement. and people not calling the xebra for what it was, a piece of junk is what led so many delusional folk to invest in this company.

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ZAP = The Original Eco-Geeks
written by Alex Campbell, April 17, 2008

C'mon! The Wall Street Journal was making fun of ZAP in 1998 when the Google founders were scooting around Palo Alto pre-IPO. ZAP has been selling electric bikes, scooters, motorbikes, ATVs, dirt bikes, go-karts, seascooters, airboards, NEVs and Xebras since 1994. We even delivered over 300 gas smart cars. ZAP has delivered over 100,000 EVs and is a fully reporting public company. Today the company issued a press release that it has delivered 700 Xebra city-cars and trucks so far. How many electric cars have been delivered by others?

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I own one.
written by Rob, July 02, 2009

I bought my first electric vehicle in 2002, the Nevco Gizmo. I bought the Zap Xebra PK in February of 2007. I wish I would have kept my Gizmo. The quality of the Zap is so horrid, that I'm surprised that a class action suit hasn't been brought against them. In the two years I've had it the following things have broken: front brake switch, metal shavings in the axle 'gear box', the CV joint, both 12v inline fuses, the parking brake switch, the charger, the window trim has fallen off, the radio has stopped working, the passanger side door lock, the turn signal (recent), and I've had to replace some wiring. The only thing this vehicle would be good for, would be to buy it for the metal chassis- then replace every part on it.

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