ELECTRIC ENGINE Transforming new vehicles

An Ohio business is lookingto make electric cars.
TALLMADGE (AP) -- Since 1965, the Myers have run S.D. Myers Inc., a company that repaired large electric transformers.
Today, Dana Myers is taking a futuristic turn away from the business his father founded. Myers has formed Myers Motors, which will make electric and gasoline-engine vehicles like the motorcycle-like one used in the 2002 movie "Austin Powers in Goldmember."
GE Energy, a subsidiary of General Electric, bought a significant portion of S.D. Myers Inc. last month, allowing Myers to focus on the new venture.
If all goes right, Myers Motors soon will begin assembling single-passenger, three-wheel electric vehicles called the Sparrow.
Myers bought the rights to the Sparrow and a sister vehicle, including inventory, after Corbin Motors, the original manufacturer in Hollister, Calif., filed for bankruptcy last year.
"In about four months, we want to be in production here," said Ray Blake, production manager for Myers Motors, which is based in Tallmadge. "We're building our own product. How cool is that?"
Initially, only 78 more Sparrows are planned for production -- all that is left from inventory in California.
Once the Sparrow is finished, a larger, roadster-type vehicle called the Vision is scheduled to begin rolling out the door, Blake said.
The Vision, based on a Corbin Motors concept called the Merlin, will be powered by a Harley-Davidson gasoline engine, but an electric version is being planned, too, Blake said.
As for the Sparrow, it will go more than 70 mph on the highway, powered by a 20-horsepower electric motor and 13 sealed lead-acid batteries.
Myers Motors expects the Sparrow to retail for less than $18,000.
If there is strong demand for Sparrows, Myers Motors probably will produce an updated version using the Vision chassis, Blake said.
The company may end up employing between 50 and 100 people and hopes to make as many as 5,000 vehicles a year, Blake said.
That still makes it very much a niche player. Harley-Davidson, for instance, expects to make 317,000 motorcycles this year. New-car sales in the United States top 16 million a year.
The Sparrow can go 25 miles before it needs to be recharged, and it doesn't pollute.
Myers said building an electric vehicle that is environmentally friendly is a way to fulfill the family's religious beliefs.
Rising numbers
"It's a fun car," said Ron Freund, chairman of the California-based Electric Auto Association.
He estimates that between 1,000 and 2,000 pure electric vehicles are used regularly in the United States. He said he hopes Myers Motors can increase that number by producing more Sparrows.
"It's a head-turner," Freund said.
Ed Thorpe of Alameda, Calif., has been using a Sparrow as his daily commuter vehicle for a year and a half. He bought his Sparrow after a lease on an electric-powered Honda ran out.
"I like it a lot," he said of his Sparrow. "I'm logging over 1,000 miles a month. I do about four recharges a day."
Although Corbin Motors could not make a go of it, Myers said he thinks he has a sound business plan based on how people actually use their vehicles.
The vehicles will be targeted toward baby boomers with disposable income who have a spot for a third vehicle, Blake said.
They also might be marketed to retirement communities where golf carts are popular but can't be driven on public streets.