Wheego Life Price
The Wheego Whip is a car any true motorhead would consider to be punishment meted out by Al Gore to make us atone for the Dodge Viper. The little electric car is slow. It's heavy. And frankly, it isn't much to look at.
But the Whip is a pretty good commuter car that will do a fine job hauling you around town in something approximating comfort and convenience. We spent some time behind the wheel and can say the Whip is neighborhood electric EV with acceptable range and a reasonable recharge time. It also costs $18,995. Yikes. Even after the federal tax credit, you're looking at 12 grand.
Price aside, the Whip is a real EV made for the real world, provided you recognize its limitations.
The first thing you notice about the Whip is it looks a lot like the Smart fortwo. But that's where the similarity ends. Everything about the Whip is unique to the Whip, and the car shares nothing at all with its more famous doppelganger.
Although the Whip undergoes final assembly at the company's factory in California, it is an endeavor in diversified manufacturing. The chassis, made in China, is based on the Smart-like Noble platform from Shuanghuan Automobile. Other bits and pieces such as suspension components, brakes and the like are sourced from hither and yon. The motor, drive-train controller and electronic components are designed, engineered and manufactured here in America.
The Wheego uses a brushless AC motor that puts out 17.5 horsepower (40 peak) and an impressive 110 pound-feet of torque. Power comes from a dozen 8-volt Discover GC8 Advanced Glass Mat sealed lead-acid batteries. Total output is 16.32 kilowatt-hours.
Inside, the car looks like any entry-level commuter car. There's space for two adults and their luggage. The car has a long list of amenities, including air conditioning, a stereo system, power windows and locks and, of course, the obligatory cup holders. What it doesn't have is much in the way of instrumentation, because it doesn't need it. There's a speedo that tops out at 45 mph, a charge indicator and a gauge that tells you if you're in forward or reverse.
The interior is made out of plastic. Lots and lots of plastic. Nothing out of the ordinary there; automakers have been using plastic for decades. But we're talking about a commuter car, so the quality and finish of the plastics is on the cheap side. That said, the car is reasonably comfortable, and everything about it is pretty much spot-on for an urban runabout. The gauges are easy to see, everything falls right to hand and apart from the "gear" shift lever being too short, the Whip is very functional right off the bat.
Through the good graces of the company we had a chance to mercilessly flog the Wheego Whip through San Francisco traffic, and it dealt adequately with rough pavement, pot holes, trolley tracks and that most fearsome of all SF traffic nightmares: Tourists along The Embarcadero.
Source: https://www.wired.com/2009/09/wheego-whip/
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