SPOKANE — A shiny red car, skinny enough to fit two side-by-side in a highway lane, drew curious onlookers last year as it sat in the River Park Square atrium.
The owners of the electric-powered Tango had parked the prototype vehicle downtown to mark a showing of the 2006 documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?” which later included the auto in its DVD release.
But to Rick Woodbury, president of Spokane-based Commuter Cars Corp., his take on the electric vehicle isn’t yet condemned to history’s wrecking yard. “I don’t think that the electric car is even slightly dead,” Woodbury said. “It just hasn’t begun yet.”
The road to offering the Tango as a viable mass-produced car, however, has taken a few twists for Woodbury, 58, and his seven-year-old company. The business has run on fumes while he proves his version of a high-performance commuter car that’s powered by electrons, not fossil fuels. And the company faces increasing competition from relative newcomers, such as California-based Tesla Motors Inc., which is backed by more than $100 million in start-up money.
With support from a Google Inc. founder and 10 orders for models expected to cost $108,000 to $148,000 each, depending on the battery system, Woodbury’s company could be on its way to carving out its niche.
“We’re never really in danger of going out of businesses or anything; we’ve just kind of been on embers,” Woodbury said.
The company boasts its existing prototype two-seater Tango is 5 inches narrower than a Honda Goldwing motorcycle and has a range of about 50 highway miles per charge. The latest models are designed to travel farther per charge, accelerate to at least 60 mph in 4 seconds and reach top speeds of up to 130 mph.
Advocates of electric cars tout them as cleaner and more efficient than gas-powered vehicles and as a way to reduce dependence on foreign oil. Notable attempts to mass-produce electric vehicles have fallen short.
Five years ago, Woodbury envisioned tapping angel investors to inject $1.7 million to get the 3,000-pound, patented Tango into production. He projected the first cars would sell for at least $45,000.
Today, Commuter Cars has built two models, including a black one for actor George Clooney, and each has cost far more. Woodbury estimates it would take $50 million to realize more affordable versions.
Woodbury’s customer list includes Google co-founder and billionaire Sergey Brin, who has ordered three Tangos. Most clients have shelled out a deposit of least $90,000 for a kit car using Lithium-ion batteries. Brin, also an investor in Tesla Motors, gave $250,000 to Commuter Cars for development of a new battery pack, Woodbury said.
Although Commuter Cars has received infusions of capital, Woodbury said he hopes to build the company on profits instead of making promises to investors that he can’t keep. Woodbury’s other business, Integrated Composition Systems Inc., helps keep thefirm afloat.
“There’s a very good possibility that once we’ve delivered these 10 cars, since many of our customers are billionaires, that we just ask them for more money,” Woodbury said. “But I think it’s premature to ask for money right now because let’s just prove we can do what we promised with what we’ve got and do it profitably.”
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