NORTH HOLLYWOOD : Firm Delivers Electric Cars for Police Use

Green Motorworks, based in North Hollywood, delivered the first four of six electric cars it developed for use by Alhambra police this week. The vehicles will be used in parking enforcement. And William Meurer, founder of Green Motorworks, hopes they will demonstrate how effective electric cars can be and how much energy they can save.

Meurer, who started the company three years ago, believes it was the first electric car dealership in Southern California. “I wanted to do something to improve the environment,” he said.

Toward that end, Meurer got help from Calstart, a public-private consortium trying to convert defense technologies into electric vehicle uses. He also got some federal funding so he could install new higher-performance batteries in three of the cars.

One of the cars ordered by Alhambra has an on-board computer to keep track of how much time the car is in use, but not moving. Unlike gas-powered vehicles, electric cars do not idle when they are at rest and so save energy, he said.

Meurer, who has sold more than 30 of the Kewet electric cars, believes that parking enforcement programs are ideal for proving the value of that feature.

Initially, Green Motorworks converted gas-powered vehicles to electric. Last year, the company also started importing Kewets from Denmark. The cars ride on special tires hand-made in Luxembourg that are meant to minimize rolling resistance, Meurer said.

Kewets are smaller than standard compact cars and cost about $14,000, said Meurer. They have a range of 35 to 45 miles on a single charge and reach a top speed of about 45 m.p.h.

For what Kewets are capable of, “they’re expensive,” Meurer said.

The cars are replacing the city of Alhambra’s gas-powered Cushman three-wheel vehicles.

Meurer predicts the electric cars will have a life span of between 100,000 and 150,000 miles. “Just remember to change the brushes in the motor at 80,000 miles,” he said.

Currently, electric cars are mostly for hobbyists, said Meurer. But he said he is looking forward to a day when mass-produced, affordable electric cars are available.