Pizza delivery car plugs in
Apr. 23--Delivering pizza is nothing new for local pizza restaurants, but Pizza Express has found a way to make it more ecologically sound.
The local restaurant unveiled its new electric car at the Earth and Music Festival on Friday in Dunn Meadow.
The neighborhood electric vehicle, or NEV, is manufactured by Global Electric Motorcars LLC, a DaimlerChrysler company. It operates on a 110 volt household current and can run 30 miles on a six hour charge at speeds up to 25 miles per hour.
Pizza Express co-owner Jeff Mease said he got the idea for the car after spending a few years down in Florida.
"I'd seen these vehicles down there," Mease explained. "I just thought it's the neatest thing."
When Mease says neat, he means it in a variety of ways. Mease said the vehicle not only looked neat, but provides the company with a cleaner way of delivering pizza.
It took Mease a while to convince his partners to purchase the vehicle. The vehicle not only provides cheaper delivery, but it also attracts attention.
"What struck me was the sense of glee people had when they saw it," Mease said of his trips around downtown in the vehicle.
The vehicle will only be making deliveries from the restaurant's campus location. Other locations have posted speed limits that are higher than the top speed of vehicle.
Another question Mease has yet to decide is who will drive the vehicle, although he joked that maybe it should be given to the employee who drives the car with the worst gas mileage.
Mease said the vehicle cost just over $14,000, with its decorative paint and logos adding a couple more thousand. A grant from the state through the office of the lieutenant governor, energy group, paid for one-third of the vehicle's cost.
To see more of the Herald-Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
The local restaurant unveiled its new electric car at the Earth and Music Festival on Friday in Dunn Meadow.
The neighborhood electric vehicle, or NEV, is manufactured by Global Electric Motorcars LLC, a DaimlerChrysler company. It operates on a 110 volt household current and can run 30 miles on a six hour charge at speeds up to 25 miles per hour.
Pizza Express co-owner Jeff Mease said he got the idea for the car after spending a few years down in Florida.
"I'd seen these vehicles down there," Mease explained. "I just thought it's the neatest thing."
When Mease says neat, he means it in a variety of ways. Mease said the vehicle not only looked neat, but provides the company with a cleaner way of delivering pizza.
It took Mease a while to convince his partners to purchase the vehicle. The vehicle not only provides cheaper delivery, but it also attracts attention.
"What struck me was the sense of glee people had when they saw it," Mease said of his trips around downtown in the vehicle.
The vehicle will only be making deliveries from the restaurant's campus location. Other locations have posted speed limits that are higher than the top speed of vehicle.
Another question Mease has yet to decide is who will drive the vehicle, although he joked that maybe it should be given to the employee who drives the car with the worst gas mileage.
Mease said the vehicle cost just over $14,000, with its decorative paint and logos adding a couple more thousand. A grant from the state through the office of the lieutenant governor, energy group, paid for one-third of the vehicle's cost.
To see more of the Herald-Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
posted by John at 10:04 AM
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