Who knew? Stephen King, creator of perhaps the most malevolent car ever envisioned--Christine, the homicidal 1958 Plymouth Fury of both novel and movie fame--is an electric car fan.

In particular, he loves the family's 2011 Chevrolet Volt, the range-extended electric vehicle that plugs in to recharge its lithium-ion battery pack for a range of 25 to 40 miles. After that, the Volt switches to its engine to generate the electric power that carries it another 300 or so miles.

King gave a rare interview to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune at that city's downtown parking structure, to increase interest in the garage's four 240-Volt Level 2 charging stations for plug-in vehicles, which now go largely unused.

Those charging stations are supplied with electricity largely from a bank of photovoltaic panels on the garage's roof. That makes the miles driven electrically on the solar power close to as clean and emissions-free as they can be.

King told the paper he considers the car "a license to steal," and that he loved the Volt because every time he recharges it, "it's like saying to the oil cartel, 'Here, stick this in your eye.' "

2011 Chevrolet Volt

2011 Chevrolet Volt

The author bought his 2011 Chevrolet Volt last month as a gift for his wife, Tabitha. While King is best known for his home and roots in Maine, he now spends winters in Florida.

He paid the full purchase price, he said, which starts at $41,000.

(Given King's likely income, we suspect he may not have qualified for the $7,500 Federal income-tax credit for buying an electric car, but we're not tax experts here.)

The author told the newspaper that he somewhat regrets giving her the car, because he likes to drive it himself.

Would there be a second Volt coming to the King household, perhaps?

[Sarasota Herald Tribune; photo via Wikimedia Commons]

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