10/11/2010
DAVID CLOUSTON
Gary Neuschafer is ready to drive an electric car if its makers promise him it can carry him safely, round-trip, to Salina from his Lindsborg home on a single charge.
“The performance of it is impressive to me,” Neuschafer said Monday morning after taking a spin in the two-seater Aptera 2e electric vehicle on the streets around the Bicentennial Center. “It’ll run (speed-wise) with traffic. But we live at Lindsborg and it’s 40 miles round-trip. Some of these electric vehicles will run 50, 60 miles and that’s it.”
The Aptera — a Greek word for “wingless flight” — delivers more than 100 miles on a charge at a speed of up to 90 miles an hour.
Some area residents got to take the Aptera for a drive Monday as part of the stop by Aptera Motors in Salina. Paul Wilbur, who grew up in Salina, is Aptera’s president and chief executive officer. Although Wilbur has spoken in Salina before about the Aptera, Monday marked the first opportunity for those curious about the vehicle to take a test drive.
“Seeing it on the website is one thing, but riding in that thing is something else,” said Salinan Craig King, one of a group of Salina Noon Rotary members who got a ride. “It’s an absolute blast. It’s got great acceleration. It feels very stable, very smooth.”
Read the rest of this story in Tuesday's Journal.

---

Discuss This Story:

---