Plug In America Urges Arnold Schwarzenegger to Revive Electric Car Production

45 States and 13 Other Countries Co-Sign Letter Sent to Save the Electric Car

CALIFORNIA - Plug In America, the organization leading the nation’s electric vehicle movement, today called upon Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to live up to his vow to “turn back the clock on pollution” by urging California air regulators to revive their historic Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) program immediately.

In a letter co-signed by environmental groups, business leaders and celebrities (attached), Plug In America praised Schwarzenegger for the vow he made in 2006 when signing California’s Million Solar Roofs Plan, an initiative he said would be tantamount to taking one million cars off the road.

“Now, how about putting one million electric cars on the road?” inquires the letter, delivered to the California capitol as hundreds of faxes echoing its sentiments, sent by supporters from across the nation and 13 other countries were flooding the Governor’s office.

The letter was co-signed by actor/director Peter Horton, executive producer of “Gray’s Anatomy”; R. James Woolsey, former Director, Central Intelligence Agency; Ze’ev Drori, CEO of Tesla Motors, the electric car company; Rainforest Action Network and dozens of other environmentalists and businesses.

Plug In America, a California-based nonprofit organization, advocates for the use of plug-in hybrid vehicles as well as all-electric cars powered by cleaner, cheaper, domestic electricity. Many of its board members appear in the 2006 documentary, “Who Killed the Electric Car?”

Its letter—which notes that President Bush this month urged Americans to “get off oil” and drive electric vehicles—precedes a March 27 vote by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to revise its ZEV program. The regulation once proudly called for 10 percent of vehicles sold in California to be zero emission and resulted in thousands of electric vehicles on the road. The revision upon which the board will soon vote, however, whispers for a comparative handful of these cars going forward.

The current proposal “will profoundly weaken the program again instead of propelling our country toward a pollution-free future,” Plug In America’s letter states.

In fact, the proposal would merely require each of America’s major automakers to produce about 150 ZEVs per year through 2015—fewer than the number required under the mandate when the electric car was killed the first time in 2003, according to Plug In America Executive Director Chelsea Sexton.

“Governor Schwarzenegger showed with the Million Solar Homes Plan that alternatives are possible when the political will is there,” Sexton said on Monday. “With gas at $4 a gallon and the threat of disastrous effects of climate change, we need the Governor to lead again by asking our state regulators to get more electric cars on the road now.”

Woolsey, who appeared with Sexton in “Who Killed the Electric Car?” added: “Relying on foreign oil leaves us deeply vulnerable as a country, so the availability of plug-in vehicles is of paramount importance to national security. As the birthplace of the modern electric car, California should be leading the way.”

Under the Clean Air Act, California is the only state allowed to set tougher limits on vehicle emissions than federal regulators, the letter notes. And, 10 other states have adopted California's emission limits. Thus, “the board's vote has national implications,” it stresses.

The communication also cites a poll showing that consumers overwhelmingly want cleaner vehicles such as the fully electric sports car that Schwarzenegger himself is scheduled to receive within months.

“As you prepare to take delivery of your electric Tesla, we ask you to support a stronger Zero Emission Vehicle program that will help us all turn back the clock on pollution,” Plug In America urges. “We ask you to save the electric car.”

Plug In America’s letter also is signed by “Who Killed the Electric Car?” director Chris Paine. He will be filming the air board’s March 27 vote for his sequel, “Who Saved the Electric Car.”

About Plug In America

Plug In America is a nonprofit organization advocating the use of plug-in cars, trucks, and SUVs powered by cleaner, cheaper, domestic electricity to reduce our nation's dependence on petroleum and improve the global environment. www.PlugInAmerica.org.