2. It's powered by six heavy-duty, deep-cycle batteries - the kind found in golf carts - which weigh about 90 pounds each.
3. In tests, it has done 70 m.p.h., but 50 is more like it.
The Moores' Zzipper, manufactured by Sebring Auto-Cycle Inc. of Sebring, Fla., is the fourth to be completed. It took about seven months to build by hand and is the first car that the company shipped north. There are other electric cars in the state, but most were adapted from gasoline-powered cars, according to Tom Moore.
The Zzipper may be in the vanguard of electric cars, but it has its ''short" comings.
For one thing, you've got to get used to the noise.
"It's kind of like driving a sewing machine," Tom said. "Quiet until you step on the pedal. That's because of the chain drive."
Last week, a handful of the curious included two electrical engineers and an accountant who spotted the Zzipper in a Strafford parking lot.
They wanted to know far it could go when charged (30 miles), how stable it was in the wind (very) and what happens if it runs out of juice? (Well . . . .)
"A couple of weeks ago, I went to a meeting in Chester, about 14 miles
from my house, and asked to plug in for a couple of hours," Tom said. "On the way home, I started getting nervous and as I went through different towns, I wondered, 'Do I know anyone here?' in case I needed to knock on a door and ask for an outlet."
At home, Ann, 62, and Tom, 67, keep the zip in their Zzipper by plugging it into a standard socket in their garage and letting it charge overnight. A complete recharge uses about 45 cents' worth of electricity and takes about eight hours. The batteries last about two years.
The Moores said the Zzipper, which seats two and can hold five bags of groceries behind the seats, needs a little patience and ingenuity.
