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Nissan Crushes Working Electric Vehicles |
Source: Plug In America Press Release
(8/26/2006)
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 Plug In America condemns Nissan for confiscating eleven Pasadena Hypermini Electric Vehicles (EVs) despite the fact that the Mayor and many citizens wanted to keep the cars on the road and in the City’s fleet.
Wednesday, August 23rd, Nissan sent transport trucks to Pasadena’s city yards where the eleven Hyperminicars were summarily loaded up and hauled away. Nissan’s confiscation of the Hypermini electric cars and resulting controversy ironically parallels events highlighted in the current film release of "Who Killed the Electric Car?" which screened in Pasadena as Wednesday’s events unfolded. As with GM’s destruction of their EV1 electric vehicle chronicled in the film, Nissan insisted that Pasadena return the cars for crushing and destruction in spite of Pasadena's explicit desire to continue using these futuristic zero emission vehicles.
Unlike Ford and Toyota, who stopped corporate crushing practices when confronted by EV advocates, Nissan has taken up General Motors’ despicable practice of destroying perfectly functional pollution-free cars; cars that Pasadena used extensively at the Rose Bowl, Art Center functions, parking enforcement, and customer service calls.
Nissan’s timing could not be worse. The media and the American public are finally starting to envision plug-in vehicles as a viable solution to global warming and national security problems. In spite of this, Nissan is stubbornly moving to kill its own EV program.
Despite the recent introduction of the Tesla Electric Roadster and recent foreign company announcements of planned EV imports to the American market, the six major car manufacturers have nearly succeeded in their attempt to “crush” any evidence of electric cars that were initially manufactured to satisfy the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate passed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
Ironically, as the Air Resources Board starts its regular review cycle of the ZEV mandate many voices are calling for renewed emphasis on plug-in vehicles as a path to near term air quality gains, but the major auto-makers continue, not only to ignore this important technology, but to actively remove working examples from California's roadways. As noted last week in a letter to Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan America, Plug In America, hopes that Nissan will reconsider and do the right thing for all of us who breathe the air in California, by keeping these zero emission cars on the road.
For more information, please call Paul Scott at 310-403-1303 or 310-399-5997 or Marc Geller at 415.861.7278
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Wednesday, September 08, 2010