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Loup’s First EV on display at state fair in 1969

March 10, 2023 By Loup Power District

The Nebraska Centennial State Fair is the destination of the Loup Power District’s electric car. The car will be on display at the booth of the Nebraska Inter-Industry Electric Council throughout the entire fair which begins August 29.

Former Loup employee Don Daniels with Loup’s EV, the Marketeer I, in 1969.

“The car is always a big attraction at the many county fairs and other events where Loup has had the car on display,” according to Don Daniels, Loup spokesman from Columbus and the electric car’s “master.”

Some of the recent fairs and events include the Boone, Platte and Burt County Fairs, the University of Nebraska’s 18th annual Tractor Power and Safety Day held in July, and the Colfax County Fair parade.

The two-seater car was manufactured by Westinghouse Corporation and is named “Marketeer I.” It is used extensively by the Loup Power District to provide Westinghouse with maintenance and operation cost data. Loup servicemen also drive the car during their regular work days to read meters and make service calls throughout towns located in Boone, Colfax, Nance and Platte counties, the four-county area served by Loup Power District.

Low operating cost is the major advantage of an electric car. An operation cost comparison for 1,000 miles made with a conventional car shows that it costs $22.40 on the average to operate a gasoline engine-powered car for 1,000 miles or 2.24 cents per mile. By comparison, the electric car costs $10.40, or 1.04 cents per mile.

Power for “Marketeer I” comes from 12 six-volt batteries that supply current to two 36-volt electric motors each independently driving a rear wheel of the vehicle. The 2,400-pound car is capable of traveling five miles between charges at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour.

Batteries can be recharged approximately 600 times with any normal 110-volt wall outlet in the home or garage. This results in 30,000 miles per set of batteries. A full recharge generally requires about eight hours and would normally be done overnight.

The electric car is under major consideration as one of the solutions to the problem of air pollution because it has no exhaust fumes. Other significant features include quite operation, instant starting, low-cost maintenance, and dependable year-round operation.

— from the Columbus Telegram, August 28, 1969

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