Who Will Be Responsible for the Rebirth of the Electric Car?

Phil Critcher and Local Activists Look For An Electrical Solution To Foreign Oil

Story by Sam Calhoun

The movie Who Killed The Electric Car? played at the Watauga County Library twice last month, prompting an area-wide interest in the viability of creating and driving electric cars.

A group of locals is taking a proactive look at the electric car possibility in the High Country, holding meetings at Critcher’s Auto Parts, 644 Highway 105 Extension in Boone. At the meetings that are open to the public, renewable energy experts and mechanics hold open discussions about the potential for developing electric vehicles. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 10, at 5:30 p.m.

At the center of the electric car discussion is Phil Critcher, owner of Critcher’s Auto Parts. Critcher is, perhaps, one of the biggest supporters of the electric car in the High Country, having helped construct one ten years ago.

A decade ago, Critcher worked as the instructor for the auto mechanics program at Watauga High School. He taught students all about cars—mostly about internal combustion engines, but also about the possibility of electrical power.

Critcher’s forward thinking caught the attention of Western Carolina University (WCU). At the time, WCU initiated a program to create an electric vehicle and invited Critcher to join. He agreed and joined a team composed of members from all over the state.

During the project, Critcher and the team replaced an internal combustion engine with an electric motor. An internal combustion engine, Critcher explained, uses some sort of fuel to make it run, whereas a motor uses an outside source of power, such as an electric source, to make it run. In the project, Critcher specialized in outfitting the electric vehicle—a Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck—with a potentiometer, or a variable resistor. The potentiometer, Critcher said, takes the electric motor and gives it smooth, electric power when the throttle is pressed. He also helped outfit the truck with batteries on the frame.

“It was a successful project,” said Critcher. He still has a video about the project, but has lost track of the vehicle.

But he didn’t lose his excitement about electric vehicles.

Critcher, an avid restoration expert on cars and motorcycles, bought his auto parts store shortly after working on the electric truck so he could pay for his three daughters’ college education.

“I got out of teaching so I could put my girls through college,” said Critcher, who proudly explained that two of his girls have already graduated—one is a nurse and one is an executive at Target in Asheville—and the other is currently majoring in business administration.

While working at the auto parts store some years ago, Critcher noticed that one of his colleagues hadn’t stopped by to see him for quite some time. When he finally showed up, Critcher asked him if he was mad at him.

It wasn’t that at all. The man hadn’t seen Critcher because, with rising fuel costs—for gasoline and for heat—he didn’t have enough disposable income to make it to Boone as often. That’s when Critcher began thinking about electric cars again.

“If we can find an alternative power source, we can help people,” said Critcher. “We can put some money back into people’s pocketbooks.”

So when Jasmine ShoShanna, local activist, approached Critcher about getting involved with a local eclectic vehicle project, he agreed immediately.

“They pulled me back out of the woodwork,” said Critcher.

With the project, Critcher and local renewable energy experts, citizens and mechanics are researching new concepts to make electric cars more innovative—some ideas are so spectacular that he couldn’t even discuss them.

“This is real,” said Critcher. “This is not just us running our mouths. It happened 10 years ago and the technology has expanded so much compared to what we had back then.”