I've been dying for an affordable electric car for a long time now, and the Zenn is the first that I can afford. It's just perfect for me for many reasons: I live near work and shopping, so I don't tend to drive as much as most people or as fast (don't need to go on highways too often), I also don't mind a car low on features -- it brings me back to my college years when I had a small Toyota hatchback with no features on it. I like saving money, though I didn't actually buy it for that purpose. For the moment, I seem to be saving money indeed, as the electricity to run it is pretty cheap, registration is a fraction of the cost for a gas car, and insurance is affordable. Haven't needed any repairs yet but it doesn't feel like a car that's built to last even a decade. It creaks and whines a bit while driving. Also, I used the kit to let it go 35 mph or more, and found that to be essential to truly enjoying my Zenn.
We bought one when our local gas prices hit $4.50 in the summer of 2007. The ZENN has now become our main way of getting around during spring/summer/fall; the Honda sits at home parked for most of the year now. We are retirees, so the 25 mph speed limitation doesn't really affect us. We live in a rural area with very light traffic, so the car is perfect for our uses. The back of the car is roomy enough for a week's worth of groceries and a couple sets of golf clubs. Performance is pretty snappy, up to the 25 mph limit. Braking is assisted by power regeneration, steering and handling are tight and responsive. Heat and defrost are instantly hot, and the stereo rocks. The build quality is excellent, far surpassing our expectations! And our dealer has been a wonderful asset, delivering the car to us from 300+ miles distant and always being available to answer our questions. One very nice feature is the ability to "convenience charge" the car; you can pick up a surprising amount of charge in a relatively short time if your battery pack is below 80% charge. A stop for lunch or coffee allows you to pick up 25%+ of your charge. We've found the wildlife pay almost no attention to the car, so we've seen some cool normally-skittish critters up close and personal. Best of all: we just smile and wave as we drive past the gas station!
Yes this vehicle is one of the best looking in its class.. However its just another prettied up golf cart until it can go faster than 25 mph. Just put doors on a golf cart and save your money.
The ZENN is expensive for an NEV, but then it is one of the nicer NEVs. Performance is acceptable with avalible upgrade kits.
This is amazing that you can just plug it into a normal household outlet to fully charge in about 4 hours...it gets the energy equivalent to about 250 miles per gallon (check out the additional photo i uploaded). I looks awesome..can't wait to test it! I saw it outside of a Green Motors dealership this weekend, but they were closed! Going to try again this weekend to see how it is inside, too. I'm a little worried that it'll feel flimsy when driving -- but I'll look forward to testing it! I'll update my review when I've had a chance to test it out more....