Parked in Cyberspace

Just in case you’ve decided that driving isn’t fun anymore because of all the noise and pollutants your internal combustion engine is spewing, Southern California Edison has a new Web site for you.

Built around the theme “Nostalgia for the Future,” Edison’s recently launched Web site is intended to educate and to whip up some enthusiasm about electric vehicles.

“We want to show that Southern California drivers once again can experience the thrill of driving they had with their first car,” said Athena Fristoe, communications manager for Edison’s electric transportation unit. “The difference now is that the ride is quiet, clean and electrically powered.”

The electric vehicle site (https://www.edisoncars.com) gives basic information about electric vehicles, discusses deals that are available, provides testimonials from happy drivers and maps out road trips for EVs, complete with charging station locations.

Edison has an obvious interest beyond good corporate citizenry.

Not only does the Rosemead-based utility maintain the country’s largest private commercial fleet of electric vehicles, Edison hopes to provide the juice that powers these vehicles now and in the future. Edison also installs chargers and meters for electric vehicles at homes and businesses.

Edison’s own EV fleet, which numbers more than 150 vehicles, recently passed the million-mile mark with no oil changes or tuneups required.

Edison noted in its news release that 1 million is “the same number of miles it would take to travel from Los Angeles to Philadelphia every day for a year, without emitting a single tailpipe pollutant or using a single quart of oil.”

Electric vehicles are used by Edison meter readers, service managers, field representatives, mail handlers, security patrols and carpools.

Auto makers picked Edison to test their electric vehicles in fleet use, an Edison spokesman said. Edison plans to add 300 EVs to its fleet by the end of 1999.

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Nancy Rivera Brooks can be contacted by e-mail at nancy.rivera.brooks@latimes.com or by fax at (213) 237-7837.