The long-awaited, often-advertised Peapod will be available for order on Earth Day, April 22. Coincidentally, the 22nd also is Administrative Assistant's Day. We expect to see a lot of greenies and maybe some secretaries tooling around in their $12,500 Peapods at no more than 25 miles an hour.
While the Peapod prototype had clear driver and passenger doors that looked like a Dyson vacuum cleaner, the production version (shown above) of the neighborhood electric vehicle resembles George Jetson's Deux Chevaux. Company director and brand guru Peter E. Arnell, whose initials inspired the company's name, told Treehugger.com the car's appearance was inspired by "Japanese bullet trains, storm troopers from the film Star Wars, space helmets and turtles." There's also a very prominent "smile" to the car's grill, but what else would you expect from a man whose firm devised Pepsi's new logo with the Cheshire grin and laughably pretentious backstory?
The feel-good vibe continues with a glance at the in-dash iPod (sold seperately). Edmunds says every trip concludes with a carbon-footprint analysis, while another app tells you exactly how much money you've saved by leaving the family truckster at home.
Arnell says the Peapod isn't a neighborhood electric vehicle, even if the National Highway Transportation Safety Board and his company's own website do. Arnell callls it a Mobi, a new category he's "branded" in much the same way automakers branded 4x4s "SUVS." Regardless of what you call it, the Peapod tops out as 25 mph as required by law for NEVs.
This pod has been cast from Peapod Mobility. Originally a division of GEM, a Chrysler subsidiary that's been churning out small electric vehicles for more than 10 years, the new Peapod Mobility is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chrysler. While GEM's e-series NEVs are popular in retirement communities, as utility vehicles on college campuses and as runabouts for Republican presidential candidates, the entire Peapod experience is aimed at high-tech urban commuters. Edmunds reports the all-electric four-seater will be sold direct to consumers from the Peapod website and marketed extensively to college students. Zune holdouts need not apply: The Peapod requires an iPod or iPhone to start the car, which doesn't make much sense to us.
The first 'pods will be delivered to buyers by October.
Photos: Peapod
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