Week in Review: Chinese Electric Cars on Sale in Tulsa
By Tulsa World, Okla.
Feb. 24–Miles Electric Vehicles of Tulsa, a car dealership that only sells the Chinese-made brand from Los Angeles-based Miles Automotive Group, opened Tuesday at 207 S. Detroit Ave.
Both the ZX40 series of sedans, which has models starting at $15,700, and the ZX40ST truck, starting at $17,700, plug in to any regular outlet — the cars sport the same three-prong plug you find on many household appliances.
The two vehicles have some limitations. Both the sedan and the truck have a top speed of 35 mph and a range of 60 miles before needing a recharge.
Those looking for a more traditional car may find a closer fit in the summer, when the XS500 is released. That model will be larger, hit speeds of more than 80 mph and travel 120 miles on a single charge.
And that charge costs the same as a gallon of gasoline, according to company literature.
The XS500 will sell for about $28,000 for a basic model.
Magellan Midstream reveals pipeline idea
Magellan Midstream Partners LP has begun assessing the feasibility of building a $3 billion pipeline that would move ethanol from the Midwest to Pennsylvania
and New York.
The study — a joint effort by Tulsa-based Magellan and Breinigsville, Pa.-based Buckeye Partners LP — will examine the technical, economic and legislative issues associated with building the 1,700-mile pipeline.
Don Wellendorf, president and CEO of Magellan, said Tuesday that pipelines are the safest and most efficient way of moving liquid fuels.
“We believe the proposed pipeline is a unique and innovative solution to meeting the growing need for renewable fuels in the Northeast,” he said.
The proposed pipeline would be up to 24 inches in diameter and carry 300,000 barrels of ethanol per day. The ethanol would then be blended with gasoline.
Magellan operates a 8,500-mile refined petroleum products pipeline that transports fuels throughout the Midwest.
Earlier this year, Magellan began construction on a $2 million ethanol blending facility in Tulsa and another in Oklahoma City. It plans to add four blending systems, bringing its total number of terminals with ethanol blending capabilities to 42.
Buckeye Partners can blend ethanol at 24 of its terminals and is adding the capability at two more facilities in the Northeast.
Jones Riverside officials want to add entrance
After grappling with the potential menace of vehicles driving onto active runways at Jones Riverside Airport for more than two years, airport tenants have come up with a solution, officials say.
Tenants at the Jenks-area airport are proposing construction of a second airport entrance off 91st Street in addition to the west side entrance off Elwood Avenue to reduce runway incursions and traffic congestion.
Airports Director Jeff Mulder said Tulsa Airport Authority staff will submit the proposed 91st Street entrance construction project for consideration by the Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust in March.
“What it will do is direct people not doing business at the airport to the south entrance to look at planes without (them) getting on the airport,” Mulder said. “Ultimately, it’s intended to make it safer for everybody . . . and not cause runway incursion problems.”
Airport officials have discussed solutions since 1999, when Jones Riverside reported eight runway incursion incidents, ranking it the fourth most dangerous airport for incursions in the nation.
Moody’s to close 51st Street location
Highway expansion will force the Moody’s Jewelry store at 51st Street and Harvard Avenue to close next month as the retailer joins others vacating their shops along the Interstate 44 corridor.
Moody’s knew an order to leave would be issued by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, but the notice came much earlier than anticipated, said Ernest Moody III, president of the Tulsa company.
“We’re somewhat surprised,” he said.
“But the highway department got the money for the project faster than anticipated. We received our 90-day notice last month. . . . So, we have to move on.”
The longtime jeweler is vacating the location at 3247 E. 51st St. on orders from ODOT, which is widening I-44 from Riverside Drive to Yale Avenue from four to six lanes.
The eight employees at the Moody’s store will be absorbed into the company’s six other locations, including the original store at 12th Street and Harvard Avenue, one in Utica Square, and another at 51st Street and Sheridan Road, near The Farm shopping center.
Moody said the store will be relocated to south Tulsa, although a location has yet to be determined. He plans to have it opened by fall.
Earnings increase at Williams Cos.
Tulsa-based Williams Cos. Inc. announced Thursday fourth-quarter income of $225 million, up 53 percent from the last three months of 2006.
Williams said fourth-quarter net income was 37 cents per diluted share, compared with 24 cents in the 2006 quarter.
Overall, the consolidated natural gas company more than tripled its net income in 2007. Williams’ unaudited net income for 2007 was $990 million, or $1.63 per diluted share, compared with $309 million, or 51 cents per diluted share, for 2006.
“Our business performed at exceptional levels,” said Steve Malcolm, president, chairman and CEO.
Williams Partners LP also reported fourth-quarter and year-end results Thursday.
The partnership posted 2007 net income of $164.6 million, or $1.97 per common unit, compared with $214.6 million, or $1.62 per common unit, in 2006. The drop was due to the interest expense on a pair of acquisitions, Williams said.
Fourth-quarter net income per unit was higher in 2007 due to the growth in the partnership from those acquisitions, the partnership said. Earnings totaled $44.9 million, or 56 cents per common unit, compared with $46.3 million, or 45 cents per common unit, in the 2006 quarter.
Employment falling at Vanguard Car Rental
Thirty employees of Tulsa-based Vanguard Car Rental are moving to the St. Louis offices of parent company Enterprise Rent-A-Car, company executives said Thursday.
Enterprise officials said the transfers affect 5.5 percent of the 544 Vanguard employees based at Cherokee Industrial Park.
“Thirty people have been offered jobs in St. Louis,” Enterprise spokeswoman Laura Bryant said in a telephone interview. “Jobs also have been transferred from St. Louis to Tulsa. Operations in Tulsa are still very, very significant.”
Nearly a year after Vanguard merged with Enterprise, executives of the companies are still tinkering with aspects of the combined entity, officials said.
When the merger was announced last March, Vanguard had 10,000 employees, 659 of them in Tulsa. Enterprise had 64,500 employees, about 100 in Tulsa.
Over the past year, contrary to the expectations of company executives, the merger has resulted in a 17.4 percent decrease in Vanguard jobs in Tulsa.
American CEO talks with unions
American Airlines CEO Gerard Arpey met with union leaders last week to discuss mergers in the industry.
Chief Financial Officer Thomas Horton and other executives also attended the session with representatives of the pilots, flight attendants, and mechanics and ground workers, said Gregg Overman, a pilot union spokesman, Friday in an interview.
The meeting reflected the quickening pace of possible industry tie-ups as Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. near a merger. Fort Worth-based American has held talks with Continental Airlines Inc., a person briefed on those discussions said last week.
Overman declined to discuss specifics.
Upcoming this week
Wednesday — Community Action Project of Tulsa County hosts “Your Own Home — Determine Your Readiness to Buy a House,” 6-7:30 p.m., 4606 S. Garnett Road. For reservations, call Liz Eccleston at 382-3245.
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