One man going the distance to go green
Posted on Thursday, July 3, 2008
His bumper sticker reads "Hybrids are for Beginners"and when people see Jason Quail of Bentonville driving around town in his electric car, they know he means business.
"I am real green," Quail said of his decision to purchase the sixseater, eco-friendly car. Getting green has been a goal of Quail's since his decision to become a PSP (personal sustainability project ) officer at Wal-Mart three years ago. The first year Quail decided to go green, he lobbied to have the lights turned off in the Information Systems Division center's break room vending machines, saving energy and money for Wal-Mart. Since then Quail has also been able to get vending machine lights turned off in Wal-Mart stores.
For his next green project, Quail decided to do something for himself and shed 32 pounds over the course of five months.
"I lost 32 pounds eating healthy and riding a bike to work. Since then I have been able to keep the weight off just by eating right," Quail said.
Quail's newest project, his electric car, was delivered to him on May 11 from the manufacturer, Global Electric Motorcars (www. gemcar. com ), a division of Chrysler based in Fargo, N. D. Prices for the cars range from $ 6, 000 to $ 12, 000.
"Last year, I did it for me when I lost the weight," Quail said of his PSP plans: "This year I am doing something good for everyone with the electric car. "The decision to purchase an electric car was an easy one.
"The pollution factor was something I looked at, but the gas prices soaring was the straw that broke the camel's back," Quail said.
Since the car's arrival, Quail has put 397 miles on it going to work and driving his three children around town.
"The kids actually laugh at the people at gas stations when we go by," Quail said with a chuckle of his own.
Quail has also done the math of owning the car. To fill an average-sized truck's gas tank would cost around $ 80. For that same $ 80, Quail can drive his electric car 2, 330 miles. There is also very little maintenance because the car needs no oil changes. It only costs approximately 90 cents a day to keep the small car charged and ready to go.
"The only upkeep is to keep it clean, inside and out. You cannot run it through a car wash because it might damage the battery charger," Quail said. Other than that, the only maintenance is keeping it charged. The car plugs into any 3-prong outlet and is capable of going 30 miles on a single charge.
One of Quail's favorite features on the car is a small static-cling sticker located on the roof of the driver's side that gives the smogemission-index ratings of vehicles. An average car has a smog index of 4, while Quail's electric car has a rating of, you guessed it, zero.
Quail is already doing the legwork for his next green project. Next year, he plans on converting his wife's Chrysler Sebring, the one she calls "the normal car," into an electric car with a conversion kit Chrysler is set to mass produce beginning in January.
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