Dodge ZEO Concept - Un-killing the Electric Car
Dodge’s design people have taken grace and performance to new heights this year with such new kids on the block as the reborn 2008 Challenger and Demon Concept. Now beauty and ingenuity are brought together once again in the form of Dodge’s highly anticipated electric (you read right) automobile.
The Dodge ZEO Concept (ZEO: Zero Emissions Operations) captured stares and camera flashes of many American concept lovers at 2008’s Detroit Auto Show, and also raised questions such as “how fast,” “how much” and “where do you plug it in?”
Answering the first, according to Dodge, is a “268 hp rear-drive motor,” sending driver/passengers from 0 to 60 in approximately 5.7 seconds. ZEO is powered by a 64 kilowatt lithium-ion batter pack. Think cell phone battery, only much, much, much larger. Price is something yet to be discussed, as ZEO is merely a case study for the moment. It has yet to be proven how a fully-electric vehicle would fare in the world of diesel and gas power (meaning mostly the United States).
Outside, ZEO appears to be a 2-door coupe…and it sort of is, but is it really? Well…we’re not sure. But you have to admit those scissor doors are very Blade Runner. The vehicle itself stands roughly the same size as Honda’s current Civic coupe.
Inside, ZEO shows off her curves every chance she gets. Even the seats look like something straight out of a graduate school’s visual arts program. And is that a steering-mounted shifter? Dodge’s ZEO concept has the looks and can dish out the speed future car buyers are going to be on the hunt for. However, is the world truly prepared to cut their “addiction” to fossil fuels? At $4 a gallon, maybe…just be sure to budget your electric bill from now on.
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