Horse drawn carriage rides in New York, possibly soon to be replaced as those poor horses aren't having a decent life of it... here's a possible replacement with class and style (and it's electric - zero emissions)

At the New York auto show, Florida-based car restoration firm The Creative Workshop http://www.thecreativeworkshop.com/  introduced an eight-passenger electric horseless carriage, commissioned by a nonprofit animal-rights group (NYCLASS) who has been petitioning the New York City to remove horses from the streets.

The designed to replace today's horse-drawn carriages. The company says its car blends “early 20th-century style, nostalgia and romance with 21st century eco-technology, comfort and safety,” calling the Horseless eCarriage the first brass-era-type car in more than 100 years.

info from the May 12th issue of Autoweek, and  http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140418/newyork/140419832

there are 68 horse-drawn carriages that offer tourists meandering rides around Central Park, and though the rides are a New York tourist draw, opponents argue that the long days on busy city streets are dangerous and inhumane to the horses (I agree.. you wouldn't allow your dog to be treated like this).

To fight this battle, activist nonprofit animal-rights group (NYCLASS) are turning to the same weapon that was used a hundred years ago: an electric, brass-era horseless carriage.

The horseless carriage might look like cars from the period, but it’s not a replica — it’s a custom-made creation designed by Wenig. "I took my favorite things from that era and combined them into the ultimate homage," he tells me in a telephone interview. He borrowed bits and pieces from period touring cars made by Pierce-Arrow, Rolls Royce, and Maxwell.

Once he drew up his dream car, the struggle was to turn it into a reality. That meant passing federal regulations. To make it, Wenig had to add modern touches not found on vehicles from 1909, like a windshield, electric headlamps, and seat belts.

NYCLASS contributed over $1.3 million to that campaign, and it put up the $450,000 for the electric carriage revealed today.

Allie Feldman, a representative for the group, says that they decided to go for the vehicle after attempts to outright ban the horse-carriage industry failed because of concerns about the 150 drivers employed by the rides. So they’re taking a different approach: "We see this as upgrading the industry … not banning the industry," Feldman tells The Verge.

 If a horse ban can pass through the City Council, NYCLASS plans to open a shop in Brooklyn or Queens to construct more of the electric carriages. They’d sell for roughly $150,000 to $200,000.

info from http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/17/5625050/the-beautiful-electric-carriage-tearing-new-york-city-apart

Update Dec 28th: http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/can-an-ev-really-replace-central-parks-horse-drawn-carriages-comparison-test

The ultimate obstacle for the eCarriage, though, may be economic. Even if the vehicle price drops to $150,000 each, as NYCLASS hopes (the prototype cost nearly three times as much), that’s substantially more than a $2500 horse plus a brand-new $7500 carriage from the Troyer Carriage Company of Shipshewana, Indiana. Even factoring in $1300 a month to care for each horse, the eCarriage numbers are tough to crunch