John Calvert |
John Calvert: The Gizmo Guy Driving Electric
When John Calvert decided to go car-free in 1997, it wasn’t to save money or get more exercise. Always an environmentally conscious person, Calvert became aware “of the global consequences of choosing to burn gasoline and use oil” and realized that the everyday choices we make here in Santa Barbara have environmental and violent consequences elsewhere. So the Dos Pueblos High and University of Oregon graduate dropped out of the gasoline-based culture, choosing instead to rely on his bicycle. But that can get tiring—even for an in-shape 39-year-old—especially for late-night runs to the supermarket or jaunts up to his San Marcos Pass home. That’s when Calvert remembered a little electric-powered tricycle made in his college town of Eugene, Oregon. Called the Gizmo, the three-wheeled, cockpitted vehicle costs $8,500 and travels as far as 50 miles on electricity alone. Charged through a simple wall outlet, the funky motorcycle-class car attracts admirers wherever he goes, causing some voyeurs to go out of their way to ask where he purchased such a contraption (on the Web at www.nevco.com). Calvert’s environmental efforts don’t stop with leading by example. He also administers an e-mail list that serves more than 100 earth-conscious South Coasters. “It’s a virtual community where people can provide information about meetings and events, where people can plug in and get active,” said Calvert. He also works for Oasis Design, a design company for “green” wastewater management, and organizes the Santa Barbara chapter of EarthFirst—a radical environmental group that addresses the root cause of global problems, like the gasoline corporations that Calvert battles in small ways every day.
John is also the webmaster for hopedance.
The excerpt above can be found at the bottom of the page found at the link below.
I suppose this raises the question of when is an electric vehicle not a car, or not likely to cause many of the same problems as the car... But at this point I'm getting eager to commend anyone not driving an suv or a large pickup truck.
Added by colin #442 on 2004-05-19. Last modified 2004-05-19 06:12. F0 License: Attribution
Location: World, United States, California, Santa Barbara
Topics: men, electric vehicles