ELECTRIC CARS ROLL OUT TODAY : CELEBRITIES AMONG FIRST TO LEASE VEHICLES.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Daily News Staff Writer

Veteran City Councilman Marvin Braude admits to being charged up about zipping out of a North Hills auto dealership this morning in a peppy new, fire-engine-red car.

And he won't leave a trail of noxious tail pipe emissions as he literally hums down the street.

Braude is joining an elite cadre of about 40 consumers in California and Arizona who are the first in the nation to lease a General Motors Corp. EV-1, the first car designed and built by a major manufacturer to run on electricity and classified by air quality regulators as pollution-free.

GM spent about $350 million and six years developing the car.

For Braude, leasing the EV-1 fulfills a 9-year-old vision.

In 1988 he convinced the Los Angeles City Council, the Department of Water and Power and Southern California Edison to sponsor an electric vehicle competition.

``That demonstrated to the auto industry that that they had better get off their behinds and do some work because we really were going to move ahead in this area,'' Braude said.

He'll use the EV-1 to commute between his Brentwood home and City Hall. Braude can expect a range between charges of 70 miles in the city and 90 miles on the freeway. Top speed is 80 mph and it will accelerate from 0 to 60 in about nine seconds.

The vehicle is being leased through Saturn dealerships in Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Tucson. Terms are for three years with monthly payments ranging from $480 to $640.

Locally, the cars are available at Saturn of the Valley in North Hills and Saturn of Thousand Oaks.

Joining Braude as the first local EV-1 drivers are actor and environmental activist Ed Begley Jr.; Dennis Tito, former president of the DWP; and Steve Soboroff, an adviser to Mayor Richard Riordan.

Leasing an EV-1 is not a typical auto transaction.

``You just don't walk in off the street and lease one,'' said GM spokeswoman Necole Merritt.

GM has trained some Saturn employees to be EV-1 specialists. They will visit customers' homes, explaining the car's virtues and drawbacks.

And your house has to qualify.

It's inspected to find out how much work will be necessary to install the 220-volt charging system used to replenish the EV-1's batteries.

Then the charging system is leased for about $50 a month from Edison EV.

Enid Joffe, of Edison, said it will cost no more than 30 cents a day to recharge the EV-1's batteries, a task that will take about three hours.

GM won't divulge how many EV-1s were built, but the supply for Southern California is being stored in San Bernardino. They can be delivered within 24 hours of being ordered, Joffe said.

The first leases were made to customers who were among up to 300 people who expressed a serious interest in acquiring the car.

One of those was ``Tonight Show'' host and car collector Jay Leno, whose interest waned when he found out he could not buy one outright.

But the EV-1 rollout is not without some Tinsel Town trappings.

A parade of celebrities will arrive in the sporty two-seaters for tonight's premier of Sylvester Stallone's new movie, ``Daylight,'' at Mann's Chinese Theater.