Wheego Electric Cars gave consumers at the 2010 Washington D.C. Auto Show a sneak peek at the company’s first full-speed all-electric car, the Wheego Whip LiFe. The new model is an upgraded version of the company’s Wheego Whip, the low speed, neighborhood vehicle they introduced to the market in October 2009.
The original Wheego Whip, which is rated for roads with posted speeds of 35 miles per hour or less, runs on sealed lead-acid batteries and can be charged from a standard household outlet.
The new Full-Speed Wheego Whip LiFe can reach speeds of 70 miles per hour and runs on Lithium Ion batteries. It is expected to go 100 miles on a charge, and take about 8 hours to charge on a standard household outlet. Faster charging options will also be available
Virtual testing has been underway since October and has led to a few changes in the battery pack shape and vehicle structure.
Although the Whip is a modified Shuanghuan Noble, Wheego's vice president of marketing, Les Seagraves says the Wheego team in Atlanta has made over 100 changes to the body and chassis and consider the vehicle to be “their own now.”
Wheego says the new electric vehicle will be fully crash-tested and highway-ready by mid-summer 2010.
With the $7,500 Federal Tax Credit that’s available to U.S. taxpayers the price rings in at a very affordable $24,500 – down from the target price set for $32,000. Wheego is starting with a 30-dealer network in the U.S.
Wheego's low-speed vehicle (LSV) Whip went on sale in October, and Seagraves said that around 200 units have been sold thus far. Further down the line, Wheego is looking at a full-speed four-seater, possibly some time in 2011.