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American Morning
Interview of Jean Jennings
Aired July 31, 2002 - 08:54 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Model Veronica Webb says her efforts at being eco-friendly ended in tragedy when her electric car overcharged. Web says the car burst into flames, sent fire spewing through air conditioning system, burning down her home and killing her dog. Apparently it is not the first example of the hidden dangers inside of electric cars. Let's talk more about it.
From Ann Arbor, Michigan, this morning, the dangers and how to avoid them. Jean Jennings, editor-in-chief of "Automobile" magazine. Gene, good morning to you.
JEAN JENNINGS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "AUTOMOBILE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you.
HEMMER: How strange is this, what happened with Miss Webb?
JENNINGS: Well, you know, this is not -- we say electric car, but what she had was actually an electric golf cart. That's classified by the government as an NEV, a neighborhood electric vehicle. So the batteries in her vehicle are more like golf cart batteries. These are zero emission vehicles, but they're not zero maintenance vehicles. Actually, anyone who own as golf cart knows that they're very high maintenance.
HEMMER: User error, I think, is what you're suggesting, Jean. Am I reading too much between the lines?
JENNINGS: Well, I have to say that if you look at the owner's manual of her vehicle, I counted on 20 out of 30 pages, there were giant warnings and cautions. They require these batteries to be maintained weekly -- weekly.
HEMMER: Wow.
JENNINGS: Can you imagine this? I mean, you wouldn't think of that for your car.
HEMMER: I would agree with that. It's a Chrysler GEM -- GEM stands for global electric motorcar. You're saying it's the equivalent of a golf cart.
JENNINGS: It really is a golf cart. It has some government requirements because too many people were driving their golf carts on the street. So This vehicle can't go on any street that's over a 35- mile an hour speed limit. It's governed at 25 miles an hour. There are just modest safety things, like turn signals, lights, a horn. And I read in the reports that she said there were four hidden batteries. In fact, everywhere in that owner's manual it says there are six batteries, four under the seat, two in the front. One of those batteries is just for the equipment, like the horn and the lights. In every case...
HEMMER: Jean, we're going to put you down in the category as defending the Chrysler GEM. But from the company's standpoint here, DaimlerChrysler released a statement, just to be on the record here -- I am quoting now -- "We have been communicating with Ms. Webb's representatives and are working with them to investigate the incident at her home in Key West, Florida. We also have searched our records and have not identified any other reports of fires related to the use or charging of GEM vehicles."
Get away from this for a moment. The hybrids from Honda and Toyota. How are they different, and are they safer?
JENNINGS: These are not purely electric vehicles. They're hybrids. You don't plug them in, so there is no -- there is not that danger of the charging. The electricity in those hybrid vehicles comes when you brake. When you brake, the energy generated by the braking is stored as electricity in a very different sort of battery. It doesn't have little posts on -- that have to be hooked up and cleaned. So it's quite a bit different vehicle.
HEMMER: Let me go to a different topic here, one that confounds me a little bit. Static electricity in regular cars at the gas pump starting fires. Make sense of this.
JENNINGS: Well, frankly, there is always some kind of vapor around gasoline being put in your car, and it's the same thing with electricity being charged. The American Petroleum Equipment Institute has found many cases of refueling fires, and almost every one involves a woman, because women tend to get back in the car while the hose is still in the pump refueling. When they get out of the car, static electricity can cause a spark that will cause that fire. So women...
HEMMER: Simply by getting in and out of the car, it can create that much static electricity that can start a fire?
JENNINGS: It doesn't take much. It just takes a little bit, and you know walking on a carpet can cause a little static charge. What is important to know is, you shouldn't get in and out of the car. You should probably never use a cell phone because of the charge around the cell phone. But just to be sure, if you take your hands off the pump, you should touch the car, touch some metal, to discharge any static that may have collected around your body before you pick the pump up again.
HEMMER: Good warnings to heed. Jean Jennings, again, with us today, the editor-in-chief of "Automobile" magazine. Some amazing stuff there, to be quite frank with you, but stuff to look out for too. Thank you, Jean, we will talk again.
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