Raboy's Rebellion

'Future In Motion' Interview with Jump Start Ford protesters, Jason Mark and David Raboy during the Sit-In at Downtown Ford in Sacramento California, January 19, 2005

EV World

January 19, 2005

PHOTO CAPTION: David Raboy and fellow protester in the first days of the now six day-long protest. Raboy has leased the battery-powered electric pickup for some 42 months and accepted Ford's offer to buy the truck, continuing to make his monthly lease payments even after it expired and Ford demanded the vehicle be returned, despite having cashed all of Raboy's checks. A second Ford Ranger EV belonging to Doug Kortoff, a solar system installer in Pomona, California is also taking part in the protest. Photo courtesy of Paul West.

With the support of the Rainforest Action Network and Global Exchange, California Foothills rancher David Raboy [ http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=article&storyid=174 ], along with solar system installer, Bill Korthof are staging a "sit-in" at Downtown Ford, a dealership in Sacramento, to protest Ford's efforts to recall and eventually destroy the 75 or so remaining Ford Ranger EV battery-powered pickups.

Ford built hundreds of the trucks to comply with the California Zero Emission Vehicle mandate in the late 1990s, leasing them to both public fleets and private individuals, not only in the Golden State but across the country. Most of those vehicles have since run out their leases and been returned to Ford to be "recycled", although no new electric-only vehicles were offered as replacements, despite intense owner loyalty.

Raboy has been on a personal crusade to get Ford to let him buy the vehicle from them, which he uses on his small ranch in the California foothills outside of Mariposa. The sit-in is his latest effort to raise the issue to the national arena, including a nationally-broadcast news story on CBS. The protest outside the Ford dealership has attracted the attention of the media in California from the Sacramento Bee to the Los Angeles Times. According to reports on January 18th, Ford is considering some form of accommodation for owners like Raboy who wish to buy-out their leases. At the time of our interview at about 1 PM Pacific time, no decision has yet been made.

Use the MP3 player at the right, below the photo, to listen to the interview with Jason Mark and David Raboy, or download it to your hard drive for playback on your favorite MP3 device.

Jump Start Ford protesters on third day of "sit-in" at Sacramento Ford dealership