Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Green
Domino's tries ZAPping pizzas to customers
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Domino's Pizza (The Official Pizza of NASCAR, btw) delivers piles of pizzas every day and probably burns several gallons of fuel, or at least pays their drivers to burn it. So going electric probably sounds pretty good to both the bean counters and the environmentalists.
The Electric Vehicle Company also saw a publicity opportunity in Domino's and provided the pizza-maker with one of its Xebra all-electric, plug-in models to try out in Las Vegas.
"Today it is not uncommon to have your Domino's pizza delivered by bicycle, scooter or car around the world," said Jim Stansik, Domino's executive vice president of Franchise Development. "Looking toward tomorrow, Domino's is committed to also being a responsible consumer of our planet's natural resources by testing the feasibility of using electric vehicles in our stores."
And you gotta admit that the red, white and blue color scheme looks much better than lighted plastic signs strapped to the tops of assorted used cars in various states of disrepair. Can't wait to see the Domino's Xebra competing at Daytona.
Check out the jump for EVC's press release and two more photos.
World's Largest Pizza Delivery Company Begins Test of All-Electric Delivery Vehicle
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (May 8, 2007) - As part of the company's Worldwide Rally in Las Vegas this week, Domino's Pizza tested delivering its pizzas using ZAP (OTC BB: ZAAP) all-electric vehicles supplied to them by The Electric Vehicle Company. As the pizza delivery experts, the electric vehicle deliveries reinforce Domino's desire to bring cost-saving, environmentally friendly delivery options to its stores around the world.
On Sunday, Domino's made actual pizza deliveries around the Las Vegas area in the ZAP electric vehicles."Today it is not uncommon to have your Domino's pizza delivered by bicycle, scooter or car around the world," said Jim Stansik, Domino's executive vice president of Franchise Development. "Looking toward tomorrow, Domino's is committed to also being a responsible consumer of our planet's natural resources by testing the feasibility of using electric vehicles in our stores."
The Electric Vehicle Company (EVC) of Chicago is making its all-electric vehicles available to consumer product companies for use as an environmentally friendly and cost-efficient option for conducting deliveries, mobile advertising and event marketing programs.
It's ZAP (Zero Air Pollution) line of XEBRA cars, pickup trucks, ATVs and scooters are perfect for driving around cities and at special events - even indoors - with worrying about harming the environment. Their unique styling will definitely catch consumers' eyes and can be easily wrapped with signage.
"Mobile event marketing and advertising with an electric ZAP vehicle not only allows a company to send a message about its product in a unique and cost-effective way, but also delivers a message that the company cares about the environment," says EVC president Larry Spatz.
The ZAP XEBRA is the only federally declared, street-legal, 100 percent electric car that plugs into any 110-volt outlet - the same outlet that is found in and outside every home, garage and office. The XEBRA is considered by ZAP as a 'city-car,' an all-electric design for city-speed driving up to 40 MPH. The XEBRA comes in a 4-door sedan or pickup truck with a convertible dump/flat bed. It plugs into a 110-volt outlet for a full charge in up to six hours and a 50 percent charge in up to 1.5 hours. Range varies up to 40 miles per charge depending on charging, speed, driving conditions and other factors. Fueling is estimated to cost 1-3 centers per mile while maintenance costs one-third that of gas due to the reduction of moving parts, less wear and replacements.
"Rising energy costs have become a major concern when budgeting for mobile advertising and event marketing programs," added Bob Kopach, EVC vice president of sales and marketing. "At $3 per gallon gas and higher, driving an all-electric ZAP XEBRA makes a lot of financial sense."
Details about The Electric Vehicle Company and ZAP vehicles can be found at http://www.planetevc.com.
About ZAP
ZAP has been a leader in advanced transportation technologies since 1994, delivering over 90,000 vehicles to consumers in more than 75 countries. At the forefront of fuel-efficient transportation with new technologies including energy efficient gas systems, hydrogen, electric, fuel cell, ethanol, hybrid and other innovative power systems, ZAP is developing a high-performance crossover SUV electric car concept called ZAP-X engineered by Lotus Engineering. The Company recently launched a new portable energy technology that manages power for mobile electronics from cell phones to laptops. For product, dealer and investor information, visit http://www.zapworld.com.
About Domino's Pizza®
Founded in 1960, Domino's Pizza is the recognized world leader in pizza delivery. Domino's is listed on the NYSE under the symbol "DPZ." Through its primarily franchised system, Domino's operates a network of 8,394 franchise and Company-owned stores in the United States and more than 55 countries. The Domino's Pizza® brand, named a Megabrand by Advertising Age magazine, had approximately $5.1 billion in global retail sales in 2006, comprised of $3.2 billion domestically and nearly $1.9 billion internationally. During the first quarter of 2007, the Domino's Pizza® brand had global retails sales of $1.2 billion, comprised of nearly $770 million domestically and approximately $471 million internationally. Domino's Pizza was named the "Chain of the Year" by Pizza Today magazine, the leading publication of the pizza industry and is the "Official Pizza of NASCAR®." More information on the Company, in English and Spanish, can be found on the web at http://www.dominos.com.
Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, continued acceptance of the Company's products, increased levels of competition for the Company, new products and technological changes, the Company's dependence upon third-party suppliers, intellectual property rights, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
pixis 1:32PM (5/09/2007)
Reminds me of the the car that Hong Kong Phooey used to drive
http://www.wingnuttoons.com/Hong_Kong_Phooey.html
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CJ 1:34PM (5/09/2007)
Wow. That's one butt-ugly EV. That's really the best they could do?
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Puffy C 1:41PM (5/09/2007)
Hate to see that thing get t-boned by a Suburban going 50. They wouldn't be able to tell the driver from the pizza's.
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CJ 1:43PM (5/09/2007)
Hey, has anyone thought about the social repercussions from these plug-in vehicles? Like someone visiting your house and secretly plugging into your line? Or worse yet, they can't leave until they juice up on your outlet! Do you charge them? How much?
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susie2555 2:15PM (5/09/2007)
This is along the lines of the Smart Car, which is already here in some place but they are of the "gray market" variety. They are to start selling the new one next January, in Madison at Bergstrom.
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Todd 2:30PM (5/09/2007)
I can't wait for them to do a decent EV car. Here's what I'd like to do: write off the milage from my commute like normal. Drive to work in the EV, and plug it in to the outlet at my office. This will allow me to write off the "fuel" costs too by having it in my electrical utilities.
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Daniel Cowan 2:33PM (5/09/2007)
I hope that someone else besides me in the Las Vegas valley reads autoblog. Since I live in Henderson, this Domino's store is not exactly a hop and a skip from my house. I want to see this car, due to the fact that it has three wheels. I heard about these cars when they came out in California, but now that one resides here, I'll go over to near UNLV and look at it. Of course, they may constantly use it, so I have to see when exactly they plug it in.
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roGer 2:56PM (5/09/2007)
4: Why couldn't you just unplug them? If there's some sort of safety switch, then pop the circuit breaker? You would then effectively cut off the electricity, right?
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Todd 2:57PM (5/09/2007)
ZAP headquarters is a block away from my office here in Santa Rosa, CA. Some dealerships sell them here, but the odd thing is you never, ever see them on the streets. Even here.
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Mulad 3:00PM (5/09/2007)
Regarding the idea of a Suburban crashing at 50mph into one of these things, yeah that would suck. However, many pizza joints operate within a small neighborhood where most if not all roads are in the 30mph range, so they're well-suited to this task. There's a pizza place in Minneapolis (Galactic Pizza) which has been using small EVs for a few years now (Nevco Gizmos, unfortunately now discontinued, from what I can tell), and they're basically three-wheeled motorcycles with an enclosure on top. Of course, the delivery folks also wear superhero outfits, which seems in keeping with the delivery method...
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gwballin 3:40PM (5/09/2007)
Todd,
Hope you don't get audited since you are not allowed to "write-off" mileage for commuting.
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p463/ch04.html#d0e3114
"Commuting expenses. You cannot deduct the costs of taking a bus, trolley, subway, or taxi, or of driving a car between your home and your main or regular place of work. These costs are personal commuting expenses. You cannot deduct commuting expenses no matter how far your home is from your regular place of work. You cannot deduct commuting expenses even if you work during the commuting trip."
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BlazerUnit 4:00PM (5/09/2007)
To #3: Getting T-boned by a Suburban at 50 mph in virtually ANY vehicle isn't going to feel nice. So since you're obviously concerned about the safety of small and/or electric cars, let's just ban walking and bicycling to prevent those accidents too -- safety first, right?
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proud like cow 6:03PM (5/09/2007)
as a pizza delivery driver for 3 years, i can already predict the fatal flaw with an electric delivery car. you cant refuel on the go. most of the time you stop for fuel, your in a hurry and anything that takes 10 min let alone 10 hours to fill up is not going to work at all.
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Barney 6:12PM (5/09/2007)
Pizzas in our neck of the woods are delivered by high-school students who us their own cars. None of them would be caught dead in an EV.
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proud like cow 8:23PM (5/09/2007)
if the they didnt have to pay for gas, believe me every single one of them would jump at the chance
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ClutchCargo 7:58AM (5/10/2007)
My concern is range. If a delivery is made very ten minutes or so I'm afraid it is not going to be practical in a lot of areas. These cars will be driven flat out at their highest power usage. This would be a good test of how well the car holds up. We have a local pizza joint that since the 1970's has bought their own cars. The cars are rolling junk in about three years.
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Spule 4 11:43PM (5/10/2007)
Do ZAP cars meet any US-DOT approval? The ones on eBay that show up have no airbags or the like....
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Eric 11:22AM (7/03/2007)
If you think they're interesting, check out Pizza Fusion - www.pizzafusion.com. Pizza Fusion is a new organic, eco-friendly pizza franchise based out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Their motto is 'Saving the Earth, One Pizza at a Time' and they deliver their food in company owned hybrid vehicles, among many other environmental initiatives.
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