Chrysler is making the highly anticipated GEM PeaPod vehicle available for order on Earth Day, April 22. Though you can order the $12,500 vehicle starting today, the first PeaPods will not actually be delivered until this fall.
Chrysler PeaPod
GEM, a Chrysler subsidiary, is making the next generation of electric vehicles available for order starting today, Earth Day.
The very eco-friendly car is meant to be a game-changer for the U.S. car company, which, as reported by Michelle Malkin, has been floundering while sucking up taxpayer dollars.
The PeaPod is an electric vehicle with a Jetson-like design. As reported here, PeaPod drivers will be able to use their IPhones as ignition keys for their PeaPods. Also, an IPhone application will allow them to monitor their carbon footprints while they drive.
Some reviewers have been far from impressed with the PeaPod. Truth About Cars believes it will be out of the market very quickly.
Why? Well, the PeaPod is not really a “car” in the traditional sense. It has a top speed of around 25 miles per hour. Since the PeaPod can’t go on major roads at that speed, Chrysler is marketing the vehicle to people who live in urban environments and need short rides around the neighborhood. I don’t know about that. Unless you are an environmentalist who does not need to get anywhere particularly fast and can’t ride a bicycle, you probably will not buy this car. $12,500 to go 25 mph sounds like a terrible deal. Oh, and did I mention you need to recharge it for hours after every 30 miles?
Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against eco-friendly cars, but they need to be USEFUL on top of being eco-friendly. Our carbon footprints would be awfully small if we all rode around on Segways, but, as we all know, that thing proved to be useless to everyone except mall cops.
This thing seems like a Segway with a roof. I really hope my tax dollars will not go to develop more ideas like this.
See video regarding the PeaPod below:
Chrysler PeaPod
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:02 am
or …
you could get a hyundai or kia for less money
and have a real car.
nissan is great btw, IF you know a good mechanic. the dealers rip you off.
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:47 am
It comes with an iPhone app to let you know how much blood you’ve lost after the vehicle is eviscerated when an SUV runs a red light.
I agree, unless it folds up into a suitcase, what a completely useless thing. It’s for convenience getting around the city… but you still have to park it. Convenience FAIL.
April 22nd, 2009 at 1:28 pm
What happened to MOPAR muscle. This is just sad. My PT Cruiser can use it as a ramp for jumps. What’s up with those stupid lower windows? Surely that’s not the production model.
April 22nd, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Well, at least it does not run in Windows, so you won’t have to restart it every 30 minutes, or press the break, the radio button and the passenger lock at the same time to turn it off.
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:10 pm
yes but it will not be compatible with regular roads
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Seriously, why wouldn’t you just buy a golf cart and save a whole lot of $?
In fairness to the U.S. car industry, Tesla and the Chevy Volt are coming out next year with electric cars that are actually meant to be driven by normal people. Hopefully, those cars are better thought out than this piece of cr*pola.
April 23rd, 2009 at 6:25 am
Also there has recently been a breakthrough in battery technology that will allow you to recharge the batteries very very quickly. The only thing I worry about is an increase in my electric bill and over-burdening an already fragile electric grid if this technology ever became widely adopted.
BTW, the Tesla’s look nice, but they are damned expensive.
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:02 am
Hey Bryan, those are legit concerns. Though in theory the electric bill would increase far less than your gasoline bill is going to decrease. The fragile electric grid is worrisome, but hopefully with greater demand plus stimulus dollars, it can be stabilized (big emphasis on “hope” here).
I think everyone agrees that burning American coal is superior to burning foreign oil. Plus this opens the door to utilizing other home grown energy sources like wind and solar. The more we produce our own energy the safer our country will be, and potentially greener.
April 24th, 2009 at 9:25 am
America needs to get over its obsecion with “its not as safe as a SUV” thinking, or we will never have new ideas.