Cruising at 25 MPH in a GEM

Have you seen the GEM in Kingston?

Olympic Property Group is loaning the Port of Kingston their GEM, a small electric car, for the summer.

Visitors to the Kingston Marina can borrow the car to run errands, grocery shop or just check out town. The car has been so popular, marina guests need to sign up on weekends to get a time slot.

The car goes 25 mph, the speed limit in downtown Kingston, and has a range of 30 miles.

KC, my co-worker and Office Manager at the Kitsap Peninsula Visitor & Convention Bureau, and I took it for a spin today to check it out.

What did we think? It took a bit to get the feel of it and the peddles were a bit difficult with my long legs but overall it was great!

The two of us fit easily in the car and we took a spin around Kingston. Mike Bookey, the Port Manager, says that marina visitors are loving it and taking advantage of it to run a variety of errands.

I'm hoping that at the end of this experiment the Port of Kingston and other ports will seriously look at buying some of these electric cars and make them a permanent amenity for port visitors. What a great way to get our boating visitors out and about in our communities, and perhaps keep them here a day or so longer because they can restock their groceries and enjoy more of what our area has to offer.

That's KC in the driver's seat