Podcasts educate potential car buyers on fuel-friendly vehicles

Shopping for a car is never easy.

Factor in the rise in popularity of electric vehicles in the wake of high gas prices, and consumers can face a high-tech headache, too.

But cutting through the hype is the EVcast, a podcast recorded in Sudbury and aimed at the "average American" car buyer who wants to learn more about electric vehicles just entering the marketplace.

Bo Bennett, who is also CEO of the Sudbury software firm iGrOOps LLC, thought up the podcast while shopping for a new car a few months ago. He began learning more about electric vehicles, and decided the subject is something other consumers were interested in.

"I imagined if I was interested in this... there must be many other people interested" in electric vehicles, he said.

The Sudbury resident founded iGrOOps about two years ago - part of the company's business is creating podcast software - and started the EVcast in May. He and his co-host, Ryan Levesque, record an audio podcast daily about the latest developments in electric vehicles, and on Tuesdays, host a video version of the podcast, discussing recent stories on the field. The show appears for free on several podcasting sites, Apple's iTunes software and at www.evcast.com.

"A lot of value of the show comes from our interpretation of the stories," said Bennett.

The podcast gets about 300 listeners per day, and interviews several players in the emerging electric car market: Malcolm Bricklin, the man who brought the Yugo to America and is now developing his own electric car; Ian Clifford, CEO of ZENN Motor Co.; and CalCars founder Felix Kramer, both of whom are developing electric vehicles.

Though electric vehicles have been trumpeted as the auto industry's future, the basic technology has existed for about 100 years. Patents for electric cars were filed in 1910, and working models hit the road before gas-powered engines became the most popular choice.

Now, of the Big Three American car companies, Bennett said GM is out front on designing electric vehicles. There's some irony here since the automaker was dubbed the company that "killed the electric car" - partly because of the movie of the same name - when it discontinued the electric EV1 in the 1990s.

Bennett said reality is probably more mundane: an electric car was a hard sell when gas was about a dollar per gallon.

"I truly believe the truth is... not enough people wanted to buy the cars" in the 1990s, said Bennett.

But GM is moving forward with the all-electric Chevrolet Volt - the automaker estimates it could be ready by late 2010 - and is ahead of Ford and Chrysler in developing these vehicles, said Bennett.

The biggest misconception that remains about electric cars concerns durability and performance, he said. Some people believe such a car is a "toy-like, cheap vehicle." But today's cars are as solid as their gas-powered counterparts. Small-scale maker Tesla has produced an electric roadster that can go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds and gets the equivalent of 256 miles per gallon.

By comparison, a Chevy Corvette hits the same speed in just over 4 seconds - but gets 18 miles per gallon.

Bennett has ordered his own Tesla, which should arrive next July, he said. Now he tools around in an electric Vectrix scooter. He thinks American drivers are ready for electric vehicles.

"There will be a learning curve. But the public is ready and eager to learn," he said.

John Hilliard can be reached at 508-626-4449 or John.Hilliard @cnc.com.