Clean car advocates offer general motors $1.9 million to buy electric cars

EV1 supporters to present offer at Saturday Rally

BURBANK—February 26, 2005—Advocates of General Motor’s fully electric zero-emission EV1 will publicly offer to buy the cars Saturday at a noon rally protesting the automaker’s imminent destruction of the vehicles. The clean-car supporters from across the state have been camped out around the clock for 10 days at a GM facility in Burbank where the last remaining EV1s are awaiting transit to a crushing facility.

GM leased the cars but has refused to sell them. EV1 advocates, representing concerned citizens from across California, will sign letters expressing their intent to buy one of the 77 EV1s remaining on the Burbank lot. The offer would provide $1.9 million (the full value stated in the GM lease agreements) for the cars, and release GM from any obligation to provide parts and service for the vehicles.

“The EV1 is the gold standard of Electric Vehicles, and keeping them on the road represents what can be achieved in the automotive industry,” said Terry O'Day, Chief Operating Officer of Environment Now. “It’s time they were put back where they belong, on California roads.”

The California Environmental Protection Agency has stated that fully electric vehicles such as the EV1 are 90 percent cleaner than the cleanest gas car on the road, even taking into consideration the pollution generated by electrical plants.

Burt Rutan, developer of SpaceShipOne manned rocket and a former EV1 Driver, is among those offering to buy an EV1. “The EV1 is a unique vehicle that clearly addresses an important need,” Rutan said. “My years driving the all-electric EV1 were my most satisfying experience with any automobile. I always found it "full" in the morning and I never ever went to a gas station.”

The EV advocates sent a letter to GM at the Feb.16 launch of their 24-7 vigil demanding that the company revive its all-electric vehicle programs to accommodate long waiting lists for the Earth-friendly cars. To date, GM has not responded.

Saturday’s rally is scheduled from Noon until 2:00 PM at GM’s Burbank facility at 1105 West Riverside Dr., Burbank, 91506. For more information, contact Earth Resource Foundation at 949-645-5163.

WHAT
EV/Clean Air Advocates Stage Second Protest and Offer to Buy EV1s in Ongoing California Car-Sit

WHEN
Saturday, Feb. 26, 2005
Noon to 2 p.m.

WHERE
GM Training Facility, 1105 West Riverside Dr., Burbank 91506

VISUALS
Protesters, EVs
77 EV1s in GM Facility parking lot
Potential Buyers of EV1 vehicles signing letters to GM
Aerial photographs of stacks of crushed EV1s
Wary GM security guards

BACKGROUND

Where have all the EV1’s gone?

In 1996, GM introduced about 700 of the sleek EV1s, to lucky lessees in Arizona and California. The majority of the EV1s were snapped up by eager Southern California drivers who were unanimous in praise of their new electric vehicles. “I decided to go electric,” says EV1 lessee and actor Peter Horton. “I had seen those sleek, sort of George Jetson EV1s shoot by me with surprising speed on the freeways. I thought, fine, I'll get an EV1. Along with simply loving the car, there was a sense that if this succeeded, it would significantly change the automotive landscape. But as I lifted the phone to make the call, I had no way of knowing that this simple, reasonable act was my first step into the electric car wars.”

Despite widespread public support and waiting lists thousands of people long, in 2000 GM began taking the cars away from devoted drivers, sending them to sit and rot in parking lots, and then crushing them. Today, approximately 77 still survive in California, in the Burbank lot, and the individuals involved in the vigil that began on Feb. 16 (day one of the Kyoto Protocol implementation) are determined to stop GM from destroying the rest.

Give the people what they want

A recent Harris poll found that 63% of adults are likely to purchase a car with enhanced fuel efficiency, if they have the option. Those surveyed went on to say they would spend an extra $1,600 for a hybrid electric car. Rather than bend to meet public opinion and consumer demand, EV manufacturers including GM continue to destroy their EV fleets. And the public continues to fight back.

A growing worldwide movement to challenge the auto industry’s ongoing assault on electric vehicles has been met with success. Last fall, public pressure resulted in Ford Motor Company’s decision to resell, rather than scrap, its US fleet of Th!nk City cars, which are now being resold to customers in Norway. In January, 2005, an eight-day peaceful public vigil in Sacramento convinced Ford to resell its full-electric Ranger pickup trucks.

According to the American Lung Association, air quality throughout southern California region ranks the worst in the nation, largely due to auto emissions.

Supporting statements

“Once upon a time I drove a car that was made in America, emitted nothing when I drove it, required little or no maintenance and used American made electricity”, laments Bob Seldon, a Santa Monica attorney whose son dreamed of driving the EV1 to college. “My neighbors who drove it couldn't get the smiles off of their faces. There were waiting lists for it. It was a winner designed by a team of unsung and largely unknown heroes. GM decided it had to die!”

“In a nutshell, the EV1 is fun to drive, easy to maintain, good for the environment, and reduces our dependency on OPEC. I just can't get enough, and I never want to drive a gasoline-powered car again,” says Myron Ahn, whose EV1 sits and rots in the Burbank “death row” lot, awaiting the crusher.

Californians have expressed a desire for clean transportation - and the technology exists to produce it - today. In fact, General Motors began making it available over eight years ago when the EV1 electric vehicle came to market,” says former GM employee Chelsea Sexton. “Every vehicle General Motors made available was leased- and the public wanted more. Instead of making more cars to meet this demand, GM dismantled its factory and sued the state of California to get rid of Zero Emission Vehicle mandates.”

“When we got our EV1, we thought it would be our second car. But immediately it became our primary when we found through experience it was easier to operate,” says Moorpark nurse Diana Reagan. “Quickly, it became easier and easier to use this car and it became an integral part of our life and lifestyle. No visits to the gas pump. No oil changes or smog checks. And we never had to worry about the price of gas or wait in line for it. We had no inkling as to not just the convenience of an electric car, but the sheer pleasure of it. I had to be talked into getting the electric car by my husband, Mike. My biggest hurdle was mental - it's too limited, you have to plug it in, it's just a golf cart. But, no! It was in every way a car, only better. My electric car "filled up" all by itself whenever it was parked. I'm not an eco nut, tree hugger sort of person, but the more I saw of how far less my electric car contributed to our pollution problems - directly and indirectly - the better I felt. Another perk, Mike and I have traveled more and had more fun in the short year and a half of driving electric than in all the years of driving gas. Electric changed our lives.”

The rally is supported by a wide coalition of environment and clean air groups including American Lung Association, Coalition for Clean Air, Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, Earth Communications Office, Earth Resource Foundation, Environment Now, Global Exchange, Rainforest Action Network.