What’s New at VerdeGoh! Electric Vehicles & other musings…

Alright folks. The past week or so has been pretty busy in general in VerdeGoh! land. This is especially true on the electric vehicle side of things. Early last week, Jordan and I helped found the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the EAA (Electric Auto Association). We had been meaning to get this up-and-running since last March, and finally found a quorum of like-minded, local folks to get us started. We’ll have more news from the Cumberland Valley EAA group soon.

Nissan showed its Leaf electric car around Middle Tennessee last week. Jordan and I took a field trip to the Sommet Center event to view the vehicle. While we couldn’t get too close to the vehicle (they had it roped off), from what we can tell it seems to be pretty well designed and certainly has an interesting body shape. Good job Nissan and thanks for taking a lead in the industry. Our fellow CVEAA members Matt and Rich even made the Nissan promo video from the event! Even cooler for VerdeGoh! is that we got to spend a little time with Steve Johnson of Lightwave Solar (see Steve and Jordan in photo above in front of an electric car charging station). Lightwave Solar is VerdeGoh! General Store’s partner for Commercial and Residential Solar Power Generation products & services. Jordan and I also got to visit Steve at his home this past weekend and check out all of Steve’s cool projects. We’re excited about the opportunity to work with Tennessee’s most respected, knowledgable and successful solar company. Be on the look-out for more information on this forthcoming program soon.

Also, the VanGoh! electric van arrived last week and we got to do a little test driving with it. This 120-volt EV can be configured as an MSV (medium speed vehicle) and can be either a passenger van or fleet panel van. The extended range & speed capabilities, cargo area and moderate price point make it a great urban town car or local delivery fleet platform. We’ll be offering some customization options for this vehicle including graphics/wrap packages, flooring choices, accent accessories, etc.

Click on the graphic above OR go to the following link to see a 5 minutes reel on the VanGoh! & Dan Landes EV Conversion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFhC_agYTNE

We’ve officially begun our first full EV conversion of an existing highway vehicle. Belmont Music Professor Dan Landes is our inaugeral customer. After helping him to source an S-10 pickup to use as the platform or “glider,” we have now almost completed the gutting and recycling of the salvageable parts from the Internal Combustion Engine. Next week we’ll begin installing the EV parts. We expect Dan’s vehicle to reach up to 70 MPH and have a range of 55-70 miles per charge as per the specifications and buget he provided. Plus, he’ll get a 10% Tax Credit.  This component of the VerdeGoh! Electric Vehicle offer has been planned since we launched in 2008. We’re excited to begin this new era of our business.

Last, we’ve also started carrying H20Conserv’s Soy-based “waterless” and low water car cleaning and detailing products in the VerdeGoh! General Store. The IClean product is a waterless cleaner designed to be used with a micro-fiber towel, IShine is a waterless wax substitute that acts and performs like a paste wax and IWash is the high-concentrate cleaner product that uses just a couple of cap-fulls and a gallon of water to get the whole car washed up to 24 times.

This product is made in Memphis and is non-solvent and zero-VOC. It’s also non-toxic and biodegradable. “According to the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), the average homeowner uses 116 gallons of water per car wash. Since this water is then mixed with chemicals, soaps and residual oil and gas from cars that generally flow into storm drains, it contaminates rivers, lakes and streams.Many areas of the US enforce strict water regulations, and residents in cities or apartment complexes often do not have access to a hose.” Jordan has already tried these products on some of our vehicles and customer’s vehicles. He swears that they work and work really well.

Who doesn’t want to save water, time and money?

- Josh                                        H20 Conserv product in action below…