Howdy Webriders! Dr. VW here. We’re not going on an Auto Adventure today, rather I’m here to talk about one of the dirty little secrets of the automotive world. Many people feel like eco-friendly green cars are being sidelined by Big Oil, the Big Car companies, and a surprising lack of useful models. Most “experts” agree that electric cars coming from the major auto companies are a long time off in coming, and that projects like the EV-1 prove that they don’t care about the future of automotive technology. However, nobody seems to want to talk about one of the reasons why electric cars haven’t made it to the road. Hit the jump to find out how electric cars have been screwed over by what might have been it’s best hope.

ZAP! killed the electric car.

As a nerd, I like to read certain magazines. One of these, Wired, is the ultimate source of techno-geekism. However Wired also has a pretty good sprinkling of information on the latest and greatest offerings from the automotive world. One of these gems of information was the article on ZAP! electric, and how they screwed the pooch for electric cars. While I’m not going to simply restate the facts- you can read the article for yourself here- I will go into why I think that ZAP! has pretty much made the jobs for the guys at Tesla and Aptera an uphill battle.

While both Aptera and Tesla have legitimate model offerings with impressive performance, and a realistic price and time schedule, I think that ZAP! has really made success an uphill battle for them. The electric car practically sells itself: zero emissions, lots of peppy torque, minimal moving parts to maintain, the list goes on and on. So what’s the problem? Brand Image. Nobody knows anything about Aptera or Tesla because they’re new, and while most consumers would probably have given them the benefit of the doubt and trusted the quality of their product, that benefit is thrown out the window thanks to ZAP!.

Now that the word is out on ZAP!’s questionable business practices and obvious lack of honesty, many consumers will find it harder to accept the promises that Aptera and Tesla are making. Take a look at the early history of Hyundai. Hyundai was, and in some cases still is, perceived as a car company that produces poor quality vehicles. This was a direct result of some bad apples early on in its appearance within the US, not necessarily because all the cars they made were bad. This perception by consumers has undoubtedly hurt Hyundai for a number of years, and only now is the make being taken seriously with such impressive offerings like the Genesis, Elantra, and Santa Fe; and that was without Honda or Toyota screwing things up to make ALL Asian cars look bad!

You can see clearly that with the stigma of dishonesty that ZAP! has so generously bestowed on new electric car companies will make selling these miracle cars an uphill battle with disillusioned and skeptical consumers. We can only hope that future potential buyers will keep an open mind and disregard the unfortunate stain that ZAP! has put on the clean slate of electric cars.

Anyways, hope that wasn’t too depressing. Remember to check out the forums for discussion, and to leave a comment! This is Dr. VW- out.