APR 21

With a grinning grill, the Peapod "car" awaits customer orders, starting April 22. The Peapod is a member of the growing class of Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs), handy for packed city traffic, college campus jaunts, or for short neighborhood treks. The quirky ride tops out at 25 mph -- the official speed limit for NEVs.

The car is a product of a Peapod Mobility, a spun-off division of Chrysler subsidiary GEM, which has been producing small electric vehicles for 10 years. GEM has had strong sales in retirement communities and college campuses.

Peter E. Arnell, who designed the new Pepsi logo (which purportedly is supposed to represent a grinning face), is the company's director and brand guru, which perhaps explains the weirdness attached to the vehicle. Not only bulbous, the car is a real eye catcher with a clear smile complete with headlights on the vehicle's bumper. The smiling theme is repeated inside the car.

The car, according to Mr. Arnell was inspired by "Japanese bullet trains, storm troopers from the film Star Wars, space helmets and turtles."

The car retails for $12,500. It comes with some cool computerized perks -- it reports the carbon and gas money savings from each trip, once you arrive home.

Interestingly, Mr. Arnell defiantly refuses to have his vehicle referred to as a NEV, despite that being what the National Highway Transportation Safety board calls it. He calls it a "Mobi", a new brand name he dreamed up. He imagines the brand replacing the term NEV, much as "SUVs" replaced the term 4x4.

Interestingly, the WIRED story reported that the Peapod will “require” an iPod to start up. This, understandably, caused some confusion and prompted angry retorts in the comments below. However, this post from Engadget makes it clear that you certainly have the option of just using a plain old key.
The vehicle will be heavily marketed to urban green commuters and to college students. Pod pickers will see their little Peapods arrive in October… just in time for Halloween.

Comments (15)

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runescape gold
written by runescape gold, April 22, 2009

Have you ever seen anything so wonderful? She not only brought us a wonderful, but also give us a better outside! Just do not believe me. . . .

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written by Lysh, April 22, 2009

It's adorable.
I don't think college kids would have the money for it though.

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electric cars
written by jerry, April 22, 2009

I have heard from some people that if alot of electric cars are on the road there will be some kind of mileage gps or something to a main base so we will get some kind of tax on road useage like we get with gas so we are not getting all the savings that we are beeing lead to believe

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VMT will apply to all vehicles
written by Penny_wise, April 22, 2009

Jerry - The VMT will apply to all vehicles - trucks and cars - the GPS idea is part of a possible beta-test. Higher fuel efficiency, and the rising interest in alternate fuel vehicles has reduced funding to the Highway Transportation Trust Fund, meaning less money for roads even as people drive basically the same amount that they have for the past few years - last year's drop was a blip in the long-term picture.

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Very cute but...
written by hyperspaced, April 22, 2009

It's a very cute car but only 25mph (40Km/h)? Couldn't they boost the speed a little to 40mph?

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written by Luis, April 22, 2009

I think many people will buy this to save gas.... till there is a report in how many people are putting their lives in danger... in case of an accident this type of car has no chace of surviving (nor the car neither the driver) So if saving gas is more important than your life, go ahead. I will stick to my SUV...

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Too slow...
written by Laurie, April 22, 2009

I can't even get from home to the grocery store at 25 MPH without being a serious road hazard. They're gonna have to up the speeds on these things before they make sense for a lot of us. It's a bummer 'cuz my daily commute is 1.5 measly miles (yes, I do walk it as often as possible)...at faster speeds.

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Let's be realistic!
written by Brent, April 23, 2009

I live in a very bike-friendly, ped-friendly (that's -estrian, not -ophile!) community, but even here nobody's going to buy this car, because as soon as you have to go somewhere further than to lunch or to the library, even the slowest thoroughfares are marked at 30mph. I'd feel like an elephant in front of an ambulance driving this car in traffic.

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written by net97surferx, April 23, 2009

Or maybe we need to change our long standing 'mindset' -- that we have to get somewhere FAST. If all residential and commerical areas are made slow zones and/or below 25 mph then 'speed' is not necessary.

Leave 55 mph and faster for cross country travel and let's start seeing the world we are zooming by.

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Seriously?
written by David Burch, April 25, 2009

Seriously? What's wrong with a bike. Much, much cheaper. Goes just as fast. Saves your life by keeping you in shape and allowing you to better get out of the way of fast moving vehicles. More convenient in that you can make use of bike trails.

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No way
written by JGer, April 25, 2009

This kind of thing may work well in NYC or San Francisco, but it's realistic for the majority of people in America. Most of us don't live in these two cities and drive longer distances on high-speed freeways to get to work, school, etc. I read that this "thing" is not subject to safety standards like cars, which is a really bad idea. You don't have to be moving more then 25 MPH to get killed in a car. I agree that we need alternatives to gasoline engines, but this is not an alternative that most people can live with.

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...
written by cheap lotro powerleveling, June 12, 2009

I tried to think so, but I found it was not as the same in the actual process. As you mentioned, I still have doubts, but really thank you for sharing!

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written by Fred, July 24, 2009

pretty soon we'll be riding on air. these cars are getting smaller and smaller

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hottiffanyshop
written by tiffany, October 12, 2009

if you want to become jewelry daren,you must know tiffany which make you bright,if you want to become a shoes daren ,you must know ugg boots which make you omfatable,because it make you fashion

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MaxMan
written by MaxMan, October 28, 2009

refuses to have his

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