Dealer plugs into new electric vehicles
SALEM – With lights and siren blaring, Gail Anderson whizzed through the parking lot on a stand-up police scooter.
“That’s not as difficult as I thought it would be,” said Anderson, who lives in Cave Spring and who was trying out some of the electric vehicles in Salem.
Dominion co-founder Andy Kaplan shows off one of his GEM electric cars at the opening of Dominion Electric Vehicles in Salem Oct. 13. Photo by Meg Hibbert
She was in the parking lot of Dominion Electric Vehicles, which the local showroom’s co-founder says is the first business in Virginia that specializes in electric vehicles.
The vehicles range from the three-wheeled scooters – that are only for police departments – to ATVs so quiet hunters can sneak up on game and others outfitted to carry stretchers at athletic events in case someone gets hurt.
The dealership on East Main Street was formerly Dominion Dodge before the showroom was closed in 2009 when Dodge took away the franchise. Shortly afterward, Andy Kaplan and his brother, Bob, began selling electric vehicles from their Bedford showroom. That’s where Anderson’s husband, Ed, works.
Now Andy Kaplan is back in Salem, in a more “green” business than when his showroom was filled with big Dodge pickups, SUVs and sedans.
“What if your company could operate its vehicles for 2 cents per mile, instead of 30 cents and lower its carbon footprint?” Kaplan asked, explaining why the brothers got into the electric vehicle business. “You save about 25 cents per mile in fuel alone,” he added.
“When we still had the Dodge franchise, our fleet customers were asking us for zero to low emission vehicles. The GEM, for Global Electric Motorcars, were an answer,” he said, showing off a snazzy red one in his lot.
You’ve already seen some of the bug-like GEM that seat two at facilities around Salem and the Roanoke Valley: Richfield Retirement Community uses four on its campus. So does Carilion Clinic for its security officers. “Carilion has one and are getting their second one,” Kaplan said, when asked about one with a logo in Dominion’s showroom.
The newest electric vehicles on the Dominion lot last week were Xtreme Green four-wheel drive vehicles including ATMs, and the police scooter Anderson was trying out. Those are manufactured in Las Vegas, Nev., company representative Joe Worrell said. Police at the Norfolk Airport use the three-wheeled scooter, he said.
Security departments are finding the three-wheelers more useful, he said, “Because the two-wheel Segway you can’t sit still on without falling over.”
Jim Clingempeel, a retired Roanoke City Police officer who was at Dominion that day, thought the Xtreme Green scooters would have been useful when he used to walk the beat.
Kaplan said top speed for most of the electric vehicles is 35 mph, and the off-road models can handle up to a 30 percent grade. The price for one of the most requested vehicles to haul small loads, a Carryall with a box on the back, is $8,950.
