Sarasota company fights high gas prices with electric cars

SARASOTA, Fla. – At around $3 per gallon, the price of gasoline is both a boon and a bane to Sarasota-based solar and electric vehicle maker Cruise Car Inc.

The benefit is obvious: As the numbers on the signboards outside stations move upward, more and more people start looking for ways to ditch their gas guzzlers, be they eight-cylinder sport utility vehicles or two-seater golf carts.

But because Cruise Car’s parts are made in China and shipped around the world and cross-country to a Venice assembly plant, the rising cost of fuel means consumers may also have to pay more for what the two-year-old company’s founder acknowledges is a largely unknown – and unproven – commodity.

“Gas is our biggest enemy and our greatest ally right now,” said Cruise Car founder Kenneth Chester. “The higher the price goes, the more people say they need an alternative to fossil fuel vehicles.”

Chester and sales director Tom McCoy believe they have the answer in a solar-powered line dubbed Sunray and an electric vehicle named Kudo, both of which can be made street-legal and come with features ranging from aluminum rims to headlights, and even seat belts.

Fully charged by the sun, the solar-powered carts can go for three hours at a stretch, and reach speeds of 25 mph.

AP