I have had my Triac for almost three weeks and it is such a treat to drive over my ZENN. It is such a difference having Lithium over Lead Acid batteries. I have gone on several round trips of about 50 miles, with the lights on, and heater running full bore. The temps have been in the low 40’s, and the range was good. I think the range of 100 miles looks to be accurate at 45 MPH with out the heater, although the heater does not seem to affect it much. I have not done a full range test yet.
I am having a little difficulty with the state of charge meter though. Green vehicles is working the issue. They have been WONDERFULL to deal with as far as support. If I had a problem with my ZENN it would be a minimum of 1 month to get it fixed, and on average probably 6 weeks. At times It felt like the ZENN was down about 50% of the time I had it in the first year.

The head room in the Triac is fine. I had originally thought there would be a problem, but I was wrong. Driving an electric stick shift is very different though. Not in a bad way, just different. You have to use the clutch to change gears when you are moving unlike what people have been telling me. You do not have to put in the clutch when stopping. You simply come to a stop in what ever gear you are in, and then shift it into 1st or 2nd. I usually start in 2nd if it is on level ground. If there is a hill I will start in 1st. Because the motor is so quiet you do not know exactly when to shift. That took some getting used to. I use the speedometer to give me an idea of when to shift. Following is my general rule of when to shift. This is based on trying to keep my amps down to increase range.

I found that I stay in 1st gear until I get to 10MPH, then I shift to 2nd. I stay in 2nd until I get to 20MPH, then I shift to 3rd. I stay in 3rd until I get to 30MPH, then I shift to 4th. I stay in 4th until I get to 40MPH, then I shift to 5th. I use 5th for above 40.

The fastest I have gone is about 65MPH, and I was pleasantly surprised. I was thinking there would be a lot more vibration, and it might wander a little. I was surprised to find that it road the same as if I was going 25MPH. I felt no difference. I can let go of the steering wheel, and it goes perfectly straight, no wandering.
The charge time with 110 is a bit lengthy though. A 50 mile trip usually takes me about 10-12 hours to charge. I just got my 220 cord and am looking forward to charging in much less time. I am told that if the batteries are down all the way it will only take about 5 hours to charge with 220
Everyone seams to really like the look of it though. I was thinking people would find it to be odd looking.

I got my Triac

I have finally got my Triac. I have had it for a little over a week now. Here are a couple of pictures. I am going to try and get permission from Green Vehicles to post some of the performance.

Let me clear this up a bit

Sorry for the confusion. I did have the choice to buy the Triac without signing the non disclosuer. I am perticipating in an "Early Adopter" program which enables me to get the second year warenty free, and I will be working closely with Green Vehicles to make sure that everything is working properly and make improvements as needed. This is very important in making sure the Triac is the best they can make it. I am able to comment if I get Green Vehicles permission, but that would not be good data because they probably would not let me point out problem areas like if the range was not what was expected.
I still believe I will have a good experiance with Green Vehicles, I just will not be able to share it :(

You will no longer be getting updates from me :(

Nothing like an Attorney to conduct business like this. It may not be a scam like I feared, but they waited until the last minute to send me paperwork that I had to sign in order to be an early adopter.
According to the confidential agreement I will sign I can not disclose anything about the vehicle and its performance. I also can not make any disparaging comments about the vehicle, Green Vehicles, or there employees.
My vehicle is going to ship out Today, and I should get it Wednesday.
I am sure I will be happy with it, and Green Vehicles. I am not sure why the secrecy but to each there own.
I wish everyone well in there EV endeavors.

Ship Date!!!!! Can it be real this time?

I just got this E-mail from Ehab

"Looking forward to delivering the Triac to you. The truck leaves on Monday"

The VIN number was GOOD

Well it turns out that the VIN number was in fact a good number. My insurance company wrote it up as a smart car because the Triac was not in there system. The first time I confronted them with the problem they assured me the VIN number was in fact for a smart car. I went back, and there was someone there that actually new something and cleared it all up.
I did get a message from Ehab at Green Vehicles, and it said that my Triac was going to ship out on Monday. I will not get my hopes up. This is only about the 5th time he has predicted a ship date.

I had a dream last night that I got my Triac, and the range was only 25 miles. I guess dream is not the correct word. it was a nightmare.
All I can say is frangabarskaborgasnorch.

It may all be a SCAM!!!!!

Well I am really starting to get worried. I have just heard that the production Triac is not going to make it to the Seattle auto show the 11th thru the 15th. I was told that the delivery is now pushed out into December because they are busy moving there production facility to a different city.

It turns out that the VIN# that Green Vehicles gave me is a fake. It is not for one of there vehicles at all. It turns out it is a VIN# off of a Smart car.

I have been giving them the benefit of the doubt, but am afraid they have been stringing me along.

The company is also going after state and federal money. I am sure this is where they are putting all there effort. Ehab told me the schedule got pushed out because he was busy with acquiring the use of the new building for his production facility. I find it hard to believe that the mechanics that were working on the Triac had to stop because Ehab was trying to work out the details of moving his production to a different city. There are only about 7 of these Triac's that are here, and it was only suppose to take about two weeks to finish building them after they got here, and that was about 2 1/2 months ago.

Boy was I wrong

My Bad,
The Triac that was at Green Car Co in Bellevue was not one of the production ones sent over a couple of months ago. I was going through my older photos, and there was a prototype that was before the production modles that had the same body.I allso looked at the pictures that I have of the production Triacs, and they are MUCH better quality. Allso I noticed that on the prototype that the rear wheel is mounted on the opposit side than the production modle. The one I saw was the same way, so it clearly was not one of the production Triac's.

I got an E-mail from Green Vehicles on Monday saying that they would be sending me some paperwork by the end of this week, and My Triac would be ready to ship the end of next week. I have heard this story before, I just hope this is the last time.

Sorry for the mistake on the Triac at Green Car Co in Bellevue

Wow a Triac in the flesh

I went to the "Green Car Co" in Bellevue Wa. this weekend, and there it was the Triac in the flesh, or should I say fiberglass. To my surprise it was not proudly on display with the other ev's in the display room. Almost as if they were ashamed of it. The Triac was through a large opening into the shop where they repair cars, and had dust all over it from the shop.The car was sent up from Green Vehicles for the "Beyond Oil conference". They were told that it is a prototype, and there’s was not ready yet. I am a little skeptical though. The prototype I am used to seeing is the older body style with the center headlight. This one clearly looked like one of the 7 that were shipped here from China two months ago.Green car co was so disappointed in the quality of the car that they did not even take it to the conference. I did see some things that clearly were not good quality in the interior panels. One of the indentations in the plastic near the cup holders was so thin there was a hole in it big enough to stick a couple of fingers in. There were also a couple of places where two panels come together that the black plastic was rough, and had white showing where it was either cut , or the black had just been rubbed off.I was able to sit in it and one of my fears turned out true. My head hits the roof :(. I am not sure what can be done about that. The seats sit in contact with the battery box, so they can not be lowered. It might be possible to adjust the seat position and angle to get around the problem. No one was there that knew anything about it.I am anxious to here what Ehab from Green Vehicles has to say about there car as well as mine.

One more little delay, but worth it

Well there has been one more little delay, but it is worth it. It turns out there is a dealership opening (in Bellevue WA) about 25 miles from where I live. Part of the agreement with them is that they get the first Triac, so there's got done first. This is good for me because if I have a problem I have somewhere to go now.

Mine is suppose to be ready to ship by next week. The dealers Triac is being delivered tomorrow. I plan on going down to see one for the first time in person.

Where can it be?

Oh where oh were has my Triac gone, oh where oh where can it be.

I called Green Vehicles on October 2nd, the day they assured me it would be done, and I have not heard back yet.
Searching on the net I discovered that the 2009 ALTCAR Expo (Alternative energy and transportation expo) was October 2nd and 3rd in Santa Monica CA. The list of exhibitors included Green Vehicles. I can only guess that they have been very busy getting ready for it, and that is why I have not heard back.
The big question now is "Oh where oh were has my Triac gone, oh where oh where can it be".

Still on schedule since last update

Well I just got off the phone with Ehab at Green Vehicles. The hub will be in early next week, and he is confident that by Oct 2nd he will have my Triac finished.

more delays

Well I just got an update, and it seems the two weeks to finish the assembly in California is going to turn into around 4 weeks.

The installation of the electronics, battery box & batteries along with connections is taking longer than expected. The real hold up is the custom transmission/motor hub. I think it was about two months ago I learned of a bearing sidewall failure in the mating of the motor and transmission. I believe this is why they are waiting on the new custom hub. Mr. Youssef will give me a better update by next week.

I just pray that I will get it by the time the rains start up. As anyone who has lived in western Washington knows, it can get quite wet. And when it starts, well lets just say gurgle gurgle gurgle blub blub blub.

The Triac's have arived!!!!!!!

I just got off the phone with Lee at GreenVehicles. The Triac's arrived last Friday, and they are in the process of installing the electronics. This should take up to two weeks to complete.
The dream is getting closer.

Ultracapacitor Pac for extending range

When I get my Triac I would like to eventually get an ultracapacitor pac installed. I have been following the one pictured here, and the results are very good. They claim about a 30% increase in range, although the true benafit is it decreases the stress on the batteries durring accelaration, and captures most if not all of the regenerative breaking. Lead acid batteries can only absorb about 10%.

Triac is on the water

The first shipment of Triacs has FINALLY shipped!!!!!! Here is a picture of the Triacs in China just before they shipped to California to have the motor, controller, and batteries installed.

It will take 18 days on the water to get to Callifornia, and about 2 weeks to finish the assembly.

Mine will be one of the first 6 to be delivered!!!!!

I have been an electric vehicle enthusiast for many years. My first EV was an E-bike. It was very well built, but was not quiet. The motor made a lot of noise, and people would look to see what the heck was coming.

My next ev was another bike. This one was more powerful and totally quiet. It was truly a joy to ride. It could reach speeds of 30MPH, although that is a bit scary on a bicycle.

My third ev was a ZENN neighborhood electric vehicle. I had it converted to AC so it would have more power, and go 35MPH in stead of 25MPH. From day one it was a disappointment, and continued to disappoint me from when I bought it until now. Many people have had the same problems as me (charger, and pac failures ). It is great when it works, the problem is it only works about 40% of the time. The reason I say 40% is because every time it would fail it would be anywhere from 1 to 3 months to get it fixed. Support has been the biggest problem.
I have about 10,000 miles on it now and it has gone through 3 battery pac's, and had the charger replaced twice. If it was not under warranty it would have cost me approx $9,000 in repairs just for the parts.

My next vehicle is the Triac three wheeler. it seats two, has lithium batteries, and can go 80MPH. It is suppose to have a range of 100 miles @ 45MPH. I am not sure what the range is @ freeway speeds.
I have been waiting for my Triac EV for over a year now. There have been MANY delays, but I feel confident it is very close to becoming a reality. As with many new technologies, and companies there are many delays. They have been rigorously testing the prototypes, disassembling it, checking for wear, and making corrections. Most resent problem was a bearing failure. They have replaced it with a much stronger, and more reliable one.

I am estimating that I should get it around the second week in September. The photo attached has a picture of the Triac that I photo shopped in front of my house just for fun.