Electric Car Replacement For Horse-And-Carriages Gets A Test Drive

Though the horse-and-carriage ban is still being debated, the potential replacement is already getting a test drive around the city. Jason Wenig’s eCarriage has arrived on Manhattan streets and he gave New York Magazine a test ride.

(Photo: Joel M. Bhuiyan via New York Magazine)Wenig has been working with the anti-carriage outfit, NYCLASS, to get his nostalgic electric cars accepted as the official alternative to terrified horses clomping and pooping down the street. From the reactions of passersby, people seem to dig it. One bus driver gave them the thumbs up before a UPS man yelled, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! Don’t fly away.”

“If we were tourists, and we were in New York City 100 years ago, this is how we’d be doing it,” says Wenig. “If you notice, it’s kind of bumpy. We did that on purpose because I want people to be really immersed in the idea of driving in an antique car.” Hitting a top speed of 30 miles an hour, the car is about the size of an SUV and features all period detail. Wenig loves when people ask the model year and he gets to say 2014.

Right now there’s no firm plan on building more cars, and for whatever reason people continue fighting to keep the horses on the road. Maybe they’d be happy if Wenig put in a horse-shit-scented air freshener. (Photo: Aymann Ismail/ANIMALNewYork)