48 volts and off you go.

Byline: Karen McCowan The Register-Guard

CRESWELL - Designer Mark Murphy knows what killed his first electric car.

Lack of manufacturing capital doomed the award-winning Gizmo, with only about 50 of the $12,000 "personal commuters" sold.

"We needed to build at least one a day to make it profitable," said Murphy, of Eugene's defunct Neighborhood Electric Vehicle Co. "We tried to raise the money, and we attracted the interest of a lot of small investors, but we could never sock away enough - probably $1 million - to build the factory and stock all the parts to manufacture them on that scale."

Now Murphy is back with a new product and a new approach to steer around that problem.

Working out of the garage at his vintage Creswell home, Murphy has created the BugE. It's a sleeker, lighter, electric vehicle that Murphy plans to sell as kits people can assemble themselves.

By skipping the manufacturing step, Murphy can sell the BugE kits for $3,200. Customers typically will need to invest $2,500 more for a motor, batteries and other items needed to finish their vehicles. Murphy declined to give the start-up cost of his new venture but said it was a fraction of the amount needed for his previous one.

A test-drive of the prototype Murphy now drives around Creswell shows that the three-wheeled rig has a surprising amount of zip for a 10-horsepower motor. There was no noticeable lug-down on an uphill stretch of Hollbrook Street at Creswell Butte. Yet just 40 cents worth of electricity will fully charge the battery for its 30-mile range.

The BugE is also sexier than its golf cart-like forebear.

This time around, Murphy took a page from his Aerocoupe electric racer kits, the bread-and-butter product of his Blue Sky Design company. The former BMW and General Motors auto designer has sold more than 200 such kits at $1,500 to $1,800 each. Most are purchased by schools for students creating race cars for Electrothon America - "a sort of soapbox derby for the 21st Century," Murphy said.

The BugE incorporates the racers' rocket shape. The Plexiglas canopy looks more like a fighter-jet cockpit cover than a windshield. The vehicle is licensed as a motorcycle and engineered for a top speed of 40 miles per hour.

Eugene area residents can get their first look at the prototype at the community's Earth Day celebration April 22 - the same day Murphy will begin selling kits online.

Word of the new rig already is getting around, thanks in part to a web site (www.blueskydsn.com) designed by fellow Creswell resident Ed Gunderson.

`I immediately started getting hits - `What is it?' `When can I see it?' `Where can I buy one?' ' Murphy said. `I had people from Italy asking, `Can you do 1,000?' '

Not yet - although Murphy is not opposed to other people buying kits in bulk and selling assembled, customized BugEs.

`That's all part of this `unfactory' approach,' he said. `And that way, lots of people can be part of this.'

Several local businesses already are involved, manufacturing parts for the BugE kits. Tom Smith Fiberglass of Goshen is molding the bodies. Metal Zen of Eugene is fabricating the chassis. Pro Cycle in Eugene is supplying head and tail lights, turn signals and other motorcycle parts.

But Murphy is leaving some components to purchasers.

They will have to buy their own motor, for example. He insists that assembly will be easy using kit instructions - "like building a big model car." No welding is required, and the kit lists sources for all "off-the-shelf" parts.

Taking the plunge to assemble your own vehicle provides a long-term benefit, he added. "You'll know how to fix it, so you won't have to pay a mechanic.'

For Murphy, who said his conscience drove him out of the oil-guzzling auto industry, the chance to help ordinary people embrace alternative transportation is satisfying.

"My last project, in the early 1990s, was a prototype, monster SUV," he said. "It was hideous - it had airliner tires, massive speakers, yet less room inside than a Chevrolet Geo. It sickened me."

The BugE won't haul passengers or bulky cargo. But most people don't do either on a regular basis, Murphy said.

"I see this as the vehicle for the iPod generation, where you rent what you need for the occasional big job, instead of owning it and driving it around all the time when you don't need 90 percent of what it can do."

Nor is the vehicle designed for freeway driving. "It's too small and light to be out there with trucks and buses in high-speed traffic," Murphy said. "But it's quick enough to move with traffic on city streets."

In a recent test drive up back roads to Springfield and then down Franklin Boulevard to Eugene, Murphy found the BugE drawing lots of interest - and one particularly annoying question - from other drivers.

`They ask, `Isn't it dangerous?' And I tell them: No. It may be vulnerable. But it offers more visibility, stability and protection than a bicycle. It's the big vehicles that are dangerous. If there were more of these and less of them on the road, our streets would be safer, quieter, less congested and less polluted.'

ELECTRIC VEHICLE

Details on the BugE:

Length: 93 inches

Height: 52 inches

Power: Four rechargeable 12-volt lead acid batteries

Range per charge: 30 miles

Top Speed: 40 miles per hour

More Information: www.blueskydsn.com