Sam's Club sells its $100,000 electric car
Filed under: Shopping, Transportation, Wealth
Years ago, I was a member of Costco, and lately I've been debating whether I should join one of those wholesale warehouse stores again. I guess my issue my inner cheapskate always asks me: "Do you really want to pay money, so you can save money?" (At Sam's Club, the membership fee is $40 or $100, depending what type of membership we're talking about; at Costco, it's $45 and $100.) And then I also think to myself, "What am I really missing out on, by not going to one of those stores?"Well, buying an electric car, apparently.
According to AutoBlogGreen, an environmentally-friendly blog about cars that is one of WalletPop's sister blogs, Sam's Club just found a buyer for its Super Car, an electric car.
The Future of Cars?
TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY UNCAS FERNANDEZ (FILES) Undated picture released by Brazilian aircraft maker EMBRAER, showing an ethanol-powered Ipanema aircraft overflying the Sao Jose dos Campos region, Brazil. So far and since 2005 EMBRAER has sold 54 of such plane, as well as 170 gasoline-to-ethanol conversion kits. The ethanol is from two to three times cheaper than aviation fuel, makes for lower maintenance costs and is environmental friendly. AFP PHOTO EMBRAER HO (Photo credit should read HO/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY UNCAS FERNANDEZ (FILES) Undated picture released by Brazilian aircraft maker EMBRAER, showing an ethanol-powered Ipanema aircraft overflying the Sao Jose dos Campos region, Brazil. So far and since 2005 EMBRAER has sold 54 of such plane, as well as 170 gasoline-to-ethanol conversion kits. The ethanol is from two to three times cheaper than aviation fuel, makes for lower maintenance costs and is environmental friendly. AFP PHOTO EMBRAER HO (Photo credit should read HO/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
The front of "Bamgoo", an electric car with a body made out of bamboo, is pictured in detail in Kyoto, western Japan November 14, 2008. The sixty-kilogram single-seater ecologically friendly concept car, which measures 270 centimeters in length, 130 centimeters in width and 165 centimeters in height, is developed by Kyoto University Venture Business Laboratory, featuring bamboo articles in the Kyoto area. The car can run for 50 kilometers on a single charge. REUTERS/Issei Kato (JAPAN)
Reuters
"Bamgoo", an electric car with a body made out of bamboo, is displayed in Kyoto, western Japan November 14, 2008. The sixty-kilogram single-seater ecologically friendly concept car, which measures 270 centimeters in length, 130 centimeters in width and 165 centimeters in height, is developed by Kyoto University Venture Business Laboratory, featuring bamboo articles in the Kyoto area. The car can run for 50 kilometers on a single charge. REUTERS/Issei Kato (JAPAN)
Reuters
"Bamgoo", an electric car with a body made out of bamboo, is displayed in Kyoto, western Japan, November 14, 2008. The sixty-kilogram single-seater ecologically friendly concept car, which measures 270 centimeters in length, 130 centimeters in width and 165 centimeters in height, is developed by Kyoto University Venture Business Laboratory, featuring bamboo articles in the Kyoto area. The car can run for 50 kilometers on a single charge. REUTERS/Issei Kato (JAPAN)
Reuters
"Bamgoo", an electric car with a body made out of bamboo, is displayed in Kyoto, western Japan, November 14, 2008. The sixty-kilogram single-seater ecologically friendly concept car, which measures 270 centimeters in length, 130 centimeters in width and 165 centimeters in height, is developed by Kyoto University Venture Business Laboratory featuring bamboo articles in the Kyoto area. The car can run for 50 kilometers on a single charge. REUTERS/Issei Kato (JAPAN)
Reuters
An electric car by the brand Brabus is presented on November 13, 2008 to promote the Essen Motor Show on the fair grounds in Essen, western Germany. During the motor sport fair running from November 29 to December 7, 2008, around 500 exhibitors from 19 countries will present their latest products. AFP PHOTO DDP/STEFFI LOOS GERMANY OUT (Photo credit should read STEFFI LOOS/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
An electric car by the brand Brabus is presented on November 13, 2008 to promote the Essen Motor Show on the fair grounds in Essen, western Germany. During the motor sport fair running from November 29 to December 7, 2008, around 500 exhibitors from 19 countries will present their latest products. AFP PHOTO DDP/STEFFI LOOS GERMANY OUT (Photo credit should read STEFFI LOOS/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
Yassin Al Obaidi, a chemist at Gevo, Inc., holds up a container of biogasoline produced in the company's laboratory in Englewood, Colo., on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008. While ethanol might reign as the king of biofuels, several companies such as Gevo are betting on a close cousin - butanol - to overcome some of the fuel's shortcomings. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
AP
Josh Taylor, front, a chemical engineer at Gevo, Inc., pours biogasoline into the tank of a Jeep Rubicon owned by Pat Gruber, back, chief executive officer of the firm, as he looks outside the company's laboratory in Englewood, Colo., on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008. While ethanol reigns as the king of biofuels, several companies such as Gevo, which is backed by high-profile capitalists Richard Branson and Vinod Khosha, are taking a different route and betting on ethanol's cousin butanol to possibly overcome some of the fuel's shortcomings. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
AP
It "only" cost the buyer $100,000, and given the penchant for lower prices than non-wholesale and non-warehouse stores, it makes me wonder what it would have gone for if it had been purchased at, say, Target, Macy's or a regular car dealership.
I'm being a little facetious. This Super Car is the first one off the production line and is featured in the Sam's Club 2008 Annual Gift Guide. And it was only available to Sam's Club members as one of its Once-in-a-Lifetime Packages. For instance, in the gift guide, one shopper spent a mere $9,500 to attend the Twilight World Movie premiere in Los Angeles this November 17, and will be meeting the cast, filmmakers and creators.
But back to this car. The Super Car can reach over 150 miles per hour, and go from zero to 60 miles an hour in less than five seconds. It can travel for 200 miles on a single 110v or 220v charge. Admittedly, it does sound super, like someone a superhero or maybe James Bond would enjoy driving.
And because we're talking it being part of this Once-in-a-Lifetime package deal I mentioned, the buyer gets more than a Super Car. The buyer and a guest will get to "drive the car on a professional racetrack in Los Angeles," according to the copy at the Sam's Club web site. "Travel accomodations for two include first-class flight and one room at a luxury hotel. After your racetrack experience, Hybrid Technologies will ship the car to your residence."
Nice.
No word yet on who the buyer is, but I'm guessing he or she didn't flinch at the membership fee.
Geoff Williams is a freelance journalist and the author of C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America (Rodale).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-16-2008 @ 9:17PM
SMRTNUP said...
O.K., . . If I spend $100,000.00 on a car so I can SAVE MONEY on Gasoline. . . . If I could get a Gas Car for $25,000.00, . . .
How long will it take me to save $75,000.00 considering that the "Alternative Fuel" is not FREE either ??? . . . . .
NOPE, . . . It's not time YET !!! . . .
Reply
11-19-2008 @ 7:19PM
Rocky said...
Gas powered cars don't cost 100,000 dollars, gas powered cars that go from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds, and with a top speed of 150 mph do.
Also people don't only buy alternative fuel cars just to save money. Its better for the environment.
11-17-2008 @ 7:05AM
MC said...
OK, so it doesn't use hardly any gas, and I can get 200 miles on a charge. My question is, how much is it going to cost me to pay for a special plug in somehwere to recharge it if I am on the road. How long does it take to recharge? And if it has to set for 5 hours plus to recharge, how much is the motel going to cost me? Umm don't look any cheaper to me yet.
11-17-2008 @ 12:46AM
Kevin said...
Why is it so important for cars to go 0 to 60 in 5 seconds? What person actually needs this feature? Sure it sound nice, but I fail to see the practical aspect of it. How many of you guys actually use this feature?
And why do most people need cars with a top speed of 150 mph? You can't drive anywhere near that speed on most roads, so why is it so important? Wouldn't it make better sense to design regular cars to drive up to about 75 mph instead of over 100 mph? Where's the logic in allowing cars to drive at a speed that's illegal in most cases?
Maybe a change like this could help to reduce the number of car crashes we have in this country each year.
Reply
11-17-2008 @ 12:51AM
Kody said...
This just in. Sams Club sold a $100,000 car. They were 100k, but the buyer had to buy 12 of them
Reply
11-17-2008 @ 1:03AM
avionicz said...
I'm pretty sure the same person has 2 or 3 of the vehicles that go 0-60 in 4 seconds also and either coast to park all their cars on. I'm sure it's gonna be a "Look what I got" car.
Reply
11-17-2008 @ 1:37AM
dxhas2wrds said...
Kevin, the reason it does 0-60 in under 5 is basically showing how powerful the engine is, compared to the weight its actually moving. To move the weight of that vehicle to 60 mph in under 5 seconds shows the overhead of this engine. So driving it under normal conditions is hardly pushing that engine at all, thus giving it a greater life span.
Reply
11-17-2008 @ 2:58AM
DHARLYS cOLLINS said...
I like to know I am wraped in my car for safe reasons not one that I take my live in my hands driving I saw some of these low gas things after a crash no thank you I will kleep my Ford SUV any time knowing I am safe and it is heavy and I can see what is coming at me. I drive safe and want to keep it that way not in a death trap I will take a 5 star rateing any time and air bags all ovear the place even in my front seats. What kind of rateing do they get.????
Reply
11-17-2008 @ 3:31AM
Dinah said...
My daughter has a ford escape hybrid! It does have a five star crash rating. I have a large suv myself and it does so much better on gas mileage than mine. As a matter of fact it is her second one because she had a crash in her first one, (and one of the reasons we had bought her this car was because of the safety rating) she rolled it end over end. Three girls in the backseat were not buckled in but it had side curtain airbags that came out and no one was injured. The car was totaled.
11-17-2008 @ 4:56AM
john said...
Whats that say about girls in back seat, with no seatbelts. Or your daughters driving skill?
Reply
11-17-2008 @ 6:00AM
Barbara said...
Well, that isn't the most expensive that Sam's Club sells, went on their web site and search jewerly, I found a flawless pink diamond ring on there for $157,000....
Reply
11-17-2008 @ 6:02AM
MICHAEL said...
ANOTHER STUPID MOVE BY SAMS CLUB AND THE DOG SHIT WALMART EMPIRE WITHOUT CONSIDERING THE LONG TERM CONSEQUENCES AND COST TO THE REGULAR PERSON WHO BUYS THERE. STAY AWAY FROM SAMS CLUB AND WALMART IF POSSIBLE. 100,000.00 ELECTRIC CAR???? STUPID AND IS NO BARGAIN EVEN IF YOU WERE WELL OFF. I'LL TAKE A VOLKSWAGON PLEASE.
Reply
11-17-2008 @ 11:32AM
g bishop said...
Get an American Express card from Sam's Club and never pay any more membership fees.
Reply
11-17-2008 @ 6:57PM
Doris said...
Have you driven a Ford latley?
Reply
12-02-2008 @ 4:32PM
SAMS CLUB SHOPPER said...
SAMS CLUB SHOPPERS BE CAREFUL !!! i had a problem with something , called corporate about it , then got a phone call from a JOHN FARMER (REALLY NASTY) and was told -to bad - and if you don't like it i will cancel your membership ! which he did ! SHAME ON YOU SAMS CLUB (good customer service) JOHN FARMER SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM HIS POSITION AND BACK TO STOCKING SHELVES= VERY POOR REPRESENTATION OF UPPER MANAGEMENT !!
Reply
12-09-2008 @ 12:25PM
Ben said...
I agree with Rockey that people don't buy alternative fuel cars just for money and it will stop air pollution, sound pollution and makes a earth a better place.
there are electric car conversion kits that make the car able to run on fuel when the electricity runs out. That is a great feature especially for long trips
Reply