‘Meet the Electric Car’ event set in Belfast

BELFAST – Mayor Michael Hurley will introduce two electric cars to the public at noon Thursday, July 12, in the Belfast Co-op parking lot.

The “Meet the Electric Car” event will feature Neighborhood Electric Vehicles by Maine Electric Vehicles and Zenn Motor Co. The vehicles will be available for public viewing and test drives until 3 p.m.

Following introductory remarks by the mayor and representatives of the Zenn Motor Co. and Maine Electric Vehicles, Maine’s first electric car dealership, the public will be welcome to take short drives in the nearly silent, peppy plug-in electric vehicles.

Hurley also will proclaim July 12 as Electric Vehicle Day in Belfast.

The cars are low-speed electric vehicles, a federal designation that requires these non-highway cars to go at 25 mph maximum. The cars are for local, urban, around-town and even around-island driving. They are not permitted to travel on roads posted over 35 mph.

For power, the vehicles plug into a regular three-prong household 110-volt outlet and cost somewhere between 1 and 2 cents per mile to charge their batteries.

The vehicles that will be in Belfast can be seen by visiting zenncars.com and milesautomotive.com (the ZX40S model).