GM: Sell your EV1 Electric Car!
The Petition
Forced by a 1990 clean-air mandate, General Motors built 1150 EV1 highway-capable electric vehicles (EVs) from 1996-1999. A new California law now requires major reductions in automotive emissions starting in 2009, including SUVs and personal trucks.
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 California and Arizona, available only by lease. Promotion for the EV1 was limited and omitted offers for sale.
The EV1 was withdrawn from production after 1150 had been built. GM argues that there is no demand for EV1s, in spite of the hundreds still on waiting lists for the car. There are currently only about 10,000 EVs in the United States.
A study, The Current and Future Market for Electric Vehicles, was conducted by the(experienced automotive market research company) Dohring Company and 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.
93% of Americans polled recently support clean-air transportation. Many would even pay more for it.
GM has lobbied and sued the California Air Resources Board, and managed to evade almost all zero-emission vehicle requirements. The American auto manufacturers trade group now plans to sue to avoid the new air-quality law. GM is ignoring a profitable market, egged on by the oil industry.
\"Taken for a Ride\", by Jack Doyle, is a comprehensive book-length study of automakers\' history of resistance to all safety and fuel-efficiency improvements.
EVWorld.com and ElectrifyingTimesMagazine.com offer more information on electric vehicles.
We, the undersigned, in support of public health and energy independence, ask that GM begin selling electric vehicles to the American public.
