GEM electric cars donated to non profits
By Heather Milo
Acorn Staff Writer

LISA ADAMS/T.O. Acorn A PROUD DONATION - Ronald Reagan Foundation staff members caravan from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to their first stop, Simi Valley's Royal High School, driving nine Global Electric Motorcars GEM cars being donated to local nonprofit organizations.

Tooting and clicking along at an environmentally pleasant pace, a caravan of zero-emission, all-electric vehicles recently headed to their new homes from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library courtesy of DaimlerChrysler LLC. The company donated 88 GEMs, a utility vehicle resembling a golf cart, to area nonprofits. Since Global Electric Motorcars are only drivable on city streets with a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less, a showcase nine-car GEM motorcade paraded to Simi Valley’s Royal High School under police escort.

The library’s foundation helped identify worthy recipients, and Mark Burson, library executive director, said beneficiaries had to be Ventura County nonprofits. In their search, the foundation sent letters to principals in Simi Valley and the Conejo Valley, including one letter to La Reina High School.

La Reina’s principal was most enthusiastic, said Burson. "She always sits down when she opens her mail, because she never knows what to expect." It was, apparently, a good day to be sitting down. "We found that a lot of principals had wished for this kind of capital expenditure item…We just love being Santa Claus."

Other recipients included the Thousand Oaks Police Department, who immediately placed a sign on their GEM car that read, "Donated by the Reagan Foundation." GEMs also went to Pepperdine and California Lutheran universities, among others.

Speaking on behalf of GEM, Tom Fulks, executive vice-president of Green Car Marketing and Communications, said that the cars go up to 25 mph. To get a distance of 30-35 miles out of the vehicle, it must be charged for 6-8 hours. "For a school campus, they’re perfect," he said. "They almost never go dead."

If a GEM does lose its charge, a driver merely has to pull the key, let the vehicle sit for 20 minutes, and then start it again. The lead acid batteries will regenerate themselves enough to allow the driver to limp home. The vehicle plugs into a regular wall outlet to recharge.

The vehicle has been classified as a "Neighborhood Electric Vehicle," or "NEV," a category created by the federal government, Fulks said, to allow low-speed communities to exist. A city in the San Diego area was specifically designed around low speed vehicles, as was the Playa Vista development by the Los Angeles airport. "These are ideal for master plan communities."

NEVs have headlights, seatbelts, windshield wipers and turn signals. They flow with traffic well, Fulks said, because city traffic is slow.

"Gentlemen, start your engines," Burson told his fellow Reagan Library staffers, who were chosen to drive the cars to Royal, and they were off, driving quiet little buggies that appeared to be a cross between a golf cart and something that James Bond stole from his latest nemesis wearing an eye patch.