GM: Sell Us Your EV1 Electric Cars!
- by: Hugh Webber
- recipient: Jack Smith, Board Chairman and CEO, General Motors
Forced by a clean-air mandate, General Motors built 1500 EV1 highway-capable electric vehicles (EVs) from 1996-1999.
The EV1 is fast, safe and well-equipped, having been designed from the ground up as an EV; drivers love the car. GM test-marketed only to affluent consumers in southern California, available only by lease. Promotion for the EV1 was limited and omitted offers for sale.
The EV1 was withdrawn from production after the California zero-emission vehicle mandate was relaxed, the company arguing that there is no demand for EV1s, in spite of the thousands on waiting lists for the car. There are currently only about 5000 EVs of all makes in the United States.
A study, The Current and Future Market for Electric Vehicles, was done by the experienced automotive market research company, the Dohring Company, for the Green Car Institute. The expected sales of EVs in the US would start at 12,000 to 24,000 a year and expand toward 180,000 to 270,000 sales yearly in five years. Conclusion: “The market for EVs exists. It is simply awaiting the right products, properly marketed to meet consumer needs, to blossom.”
http://www.greencar.com/gci/gcimarketing.pdf
93% of Americans polled recently support clean-air transportation. Most would even pay more for it. GM is currently suing the California Air Resources Board in an attempt to evade all zero-emission vehicle requirements. GM is ignoring a profitable market at the behest of the oil industry. "Taken for a Ride", by Jack Doyle, is a comprehensive study of automakers' history of resistance to all safety and fuel-efficiency improvements.
We, the undersigned, in support of energy independence and clean air, ask that GM begin selling electric vehicles to the American public.
The EV1 is fast, safe and well-equipped, having been designed from the ground up as an EV; drivers love the car. GM test-marketed only to affluent consumers in southern California, available only by lease.
Promotion for the EV1 was limited and omitted offers for sale.
The EV1 was withdrawn from production after the California zero-emission vehicle mandate was relaxed, the company arguing that there is no demand for EV1s, in spite of the thousands on waiting lists for the car. There are currently only about 5000 EVs of all makes in the United States.
A study, The Current and Future Market for Electric Vehicles, was done by the experienced automotive market research company, the Dohring Company, for the Green Car Institute. The expected sales of EVs in the US would start at 12,000 to 24,000 a year and expand toward 180,000 to 270,000 sales yearly in five years. Conclusion: “The market for EVs exists. It is simply awaiting the right products, properly marketed to meet consumer needs, to blossom.”
http://www.greencar.com/gci/gcimarketing.pdf
93% of Americans polled recently support clean-air transportation. Most would even pay more for it.
GM is currently suing the California Air Resources Board in an attempt to evade all zero-emission vehicle requirements. GM is ignoring a profitable market at the behest of the oil industry.
"Taken for a Ride", by Jack Doyle, is a comprehensive study of automakers' history of resistance to all safety and fuel-efficiency improvements.
We, the undersigned, in support of energy independence and clean air, ask that GM begin selling electric vehicles to the American public.
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