Farms Cultivate Market for Electric Vehicles

Charlie DeCriscio offers the vehicles at a dealership in Leesburg. He said he was skeptical when he was first approached about selling them. "I said, 'What in the heck are we going to do with these things? Ain't nobody going to buy them,' " he recalled. "But then everybody and their brother wants one."

The cars have been popular on horse farms largely because they're quiet and don't scare the animals the way a roaring all-terrain vehicle or tractor can, DeCriscio said. And in a barn, the vehicles don't put out fumes like a truck or golf cart. He said Sheila Johnson, the co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, was the first person to buy one of his NEVs for her farm in Middleburg.

DeCriscio acknowledged that the cars have been a tough sell for city folks. Despite their safety features, including seat belts and turn signals, people are reluctant to ride in them.

In this area, Virginia allows them on roads where the speed limit is 35 mph or less -- the vehicles can go only about 25 mph. Virginia had issued only about 55 clean special fuel license plates for all-electric vehicles by last year, most of them in Northern Virginia, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles. A spokeswoman said some vehicle owners may not have registered for the special plates.

On a recent NEV ride through Leesburg, DeCriscio attracted his share of attention. As he passed a school bus, children pressed their faces against the windows to get a view. When he pulled into a fast-food drive-through lane, wide-eyed employees gathered to take a look. And when he reached a stop sign, a cyclist in a green pullover and helmet called out.

"Excuse me, sir. You got a license?" the cyclist asked. When DeCriscio responded in the affirmative, the cyclist inspected the car again and asked: "For this?"

"The first thing people ask is, 'Is it a golf cart?' " DeCriscio said later. "I don't know how you could correlate the two."

Back on the farm in Jefferson, Stewart and Penrose were talking about how useful the NEVs have been and how little maintenance they require. Again they emphasized how quiet the cars are.

"It doesn't bother a lot of neighbors," Penrose said.

Asked which neighbors she was referring to, she paused, then laughed a little as she looked around at a farm that stretched nearly as far as the eye could see.