Wired: Hype Machine: Searching for ZAP's Fleet of No-Show Green Cars

Wired has published a scathing and detailed critique of ZAP Electric Cars, a competitor for the Automotive X Prize. I've got pages up for both their ZAP X Crossover EV and the ZAP Alias.

According to the article, ZAP has a long track record of issuing press releases about new cars, but not following up by actually delivering them. Further more, they use these press releases and peoples' dreams for "green cars" to trick people into purchasing stock and dealership franchises (which end up worthless, of course). The company has never made money, but because of this continued investment, it has managed to continue existing since its founding in 1992, and it's management has become wealthy by selling stock on the rare occasions when it's worth more than pennies.

Personally I'd never give them money, but I am more than willing to keep my pages up and see if they actually manage to compete with their vehicles come 2009 and 2010. The larger question, which Wired raises, is about the damage this company has done to the EV movement world wide. So many passionate people have gotten burned by ZAP, and even more have fixed their hopes on ZAP only to have them dashed. Would we have had real freeway-capable EVs in large numbers if ZAP had been a better company? It's impossible to know, but certainly they have not been a force for good in the EV world.