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This web page provides documentation of the efforts of the major USA automobile manufacturers fight against fuel economy and electric automobiles!
The Auto Industry's Fight Against Fuel Economy and Electric Automobiles!
By Gavin Young
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers is opposed to the actions of California's Air Resources Board to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide emitted by automobiles. A MSNBC Environment news article (which has expired) quotes Eron Shosteck, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, as saying "the Air Resources Board wants everyone driving around in golf carts." His remark is both ludicrous and obnoxious. If he truly believes that, then he does not know what he is talking about.
One of the claims of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers is that the only way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles, is to make the cars more fuel efficient. Making cars more fuel efficient is definitely the most direct way, however it is NOT the only way. In NASA's Apollo 13 mission, the astronauts used carbon dioxide scrubbers to remove the carbon dioxide from their air. Most likely similar technology is also used on the international space station.
Another claim of The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers is "automakers offer more than 50 models with fuel economy ratings above 30 miles per gallon (13 kilometers/liter), but consumers purchase few of these vehicles." The quote is from their website's page about their position on Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. I am not aware of that many being available in the USA, maybe that comment includes models sold only in other countries. However in the Portland, OR metropolitan area I have seen many Ford Focus, Ford Festiva, Suzuki Swift, Chevrolet/Geo Metro, Chevrolet Sprint, Honda CRX, and especially Honda Civic cars on the road. All of those cars get well more than 13 kilometers/liter (30 miles to the gallon). There is thus strong demand for such vehicles. I've even seen several Toyota Prius and Honda Insight cars on the road, though these cars are currently in limited production. The webpage at the above link also says "automakers oppose legislative increases in fuel economy standards." While that comment is apparently true for all of the automakers that are a part of The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (except for perhaps Toyota), it not true in the case of Honda. Interestingly, Honda is not part of the alliance (see the "Links to Members" page) and Honda has actually urged the US Senate to RAISE fuel economy standards! Honda is a leader in fuel efficient and low emmission vehicles. Honda makes two hybrid electric cars (the Insight and the Civic Hybrid). Years ago they made an extra fuel efficient version of the CRX, called the CRX HF (HF meaning "High Fuel" efficiency).
If you are outraged by the campaign of disinformation released by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, then please call Eron Shosteck and tell him how you feel (just as I have done). His office is in Washington, DC and his phone number is (202) 326-5500 Ext. 5501.
Detroit's Big Three Automakers Crush the Highly Innovative Tucker Car Company in the 1940s
In the 1940's the Tucker Car company developed "The Car of Tomorrow" for Today - today being the 1940s. The Tucker cars had features that Detroit didn't adopt until decades later including windows that pop out during a wreck, safety belts, aerodynamic design, high fuel economy (for the time) while using a high performance engine, the engine was mounted in the rear of the car (no doubt providing advantages similar to front-wheel drive engines of today), fuel-injected engine instead of carburetor, disc brakes, and more.
The big three Detroit automakers were not willing to invest money to create the technology of the future. Further, they were afraid of being put of business if Tucker succeeded in mass producing his futuristic cars, so they conspired with the help of a US Senator to destroy the Tucker car company. Tucker managed to produce 50 of his leading edge cars, but the conspirators succeeded in shuting down his factory by feeding disinformation to the media, making access to financing and steel very difficult, and influencing a US Senator to take political action against the Tucker car company. The historical events of the conspiracy and the Tucker car company were made into a movie called "Tucker: The Man and His Dream". The movie played on the A&E cable channel on 2002/9/13 in the early morning, and is available at video rental stores.
Today's Actions (and Lack of Action) of the Big Three Automakers
Today Detroit is reluctant to produce standard size compact cars that get high fuel economy with very low emissions. When they do produce cars that get over 17 kilometers to the liter (40 miles to the gallon) of gasoline, they are very small compact cars such as the Chevrolet Sprint, Geo/Chevrolet Metro, Ford Festiva/Aspire, and Ford Focus. On 2002 September 24, EV World reports in two articles that Reuters says that GM is discontinuing their most fuel efficient gasoline cars, namely the Chevrolet Metro and the Chevrolet Prism (the only two GM cars I like). Supposedly the cars are being discontinued due to weak demand. Here are the links for the two EV World articles:
Instead of backsliding on fuel economy, the Japanese companies of Honda and Toyota take the lead of introducing high fuel economy hybrid gasoline-electric cars with extremely low emissions. These cars are the Honda Insight, Honda Civic Hybrid, and Toyota Prius. While these cars are compacts, some of them are larger than the Detroit cars mentioned above. As of 2002 September, Detriot has yet to sell any hybrid gasoline-electric automobiles.
Proof of Detroit Automakers' Web of Deceit about Electric Cars
During the past few years, Ford Motor Company bought a Norwegian electric car company called Pivco, renamed the company Th!nk, renamed the company's highway speed capable electric car as Th!nk City, but has NOT offered any of their City cars for sale in the USA (though they make some available for lease in California and New York). Then on 2002 August 30 Reuters and the Associated Press release news articles where they quote Ford saying that nearly no one bought the cars, therefore the electric City car and the Neighbor (beefed up electric golf cart) car are being discontinued. Naturally nearly no one in the US bought the car, since Ford never it made available for sale in the USA (though some were sold in Europe). But the news article made it sound that virtually no one wanted the car, rather than the truth that Ford did not offer it for sale in the USA in the first place (though it was leased to corporate fleet and government organizations, at least in California and New York state).
One of the Reuters articles says
"Ford Motor Co. on Friday said it was pulling the plug on its Think electric vehicle division due to poor customer demand and lack of government support for the environmentally friendly cars.
Ford, which bought Norway-based Think in 1999 for $23 million and invested $100 million in electric vehicle battery technology, will instead focus on developing fuel cell and hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles (instead of battery electric cars) to meet environmental regulations for cars and trucks, spokesman Tim Holmes told Reuters. "The bottom line is we don't believe that this is the future of environmental transport for the mass market," Holmes said."
Tim Holmes is the Director of Product Communications for Ford Europe.
Proof that Ford has not yet made the electric City car available for sale in the USA can be found in the FAQ section of the Th!nk City section of the website. Their it says that the car will not be available for sale until the Fall of 2002. Ford's web page for the Th!nk City car is at http://www.thinkmobility.com (USA section). At the website, click on the photo of the Th!nk City car (not the TH!NK Neighbor). Then click on FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) in the left-side side bar. When the new page loads, scroll down to the bottom of the page. There the website says "When I can buy one? The TH!NK city will be available in the United States in fall 2002." Therefore according to Ford's website, the TH!NK City is not yet available (as of 2002 September 14) for purchase in the USA. Another part of the website says the car will not be available until Spring of 2003. Update: on 2002 October 25 I noticed that the Th!nk website no longer says when the car will be available.
From 2002 August 30 through early 2002 September, I sent inquiring emails to the Customer Relations department of Ford's Th!nk Mobility division. The Ford department was very prompt and courteous in answering my questions. However they said,
"At this time, we do not have any information indicating that the Think City will be discontinued. However, we have learned that the release date has been delayed. It is now expected in the Spring of 2003."
In a later email they say,
"Dear Gavin,
Thank you for contacting Think Mobility on 2002/09/04. We appreciate the time you have taken to inquire about the delay of the Think City and to request that Ford issue a press release to clarify the information that has been reported.
The Think City has been delayed due to additional testing of the batteries.
Thank you for your suggestion regarding how to clarify the information in the media. We have passed it along to the appropriate departments within Ford Motor Company for further review."
Here Ford admits that the car has not been made available for sale in the USA. In an email three days later, on 2002 September 9, Rebecca of the Customer Relationship Center of Th!nk Mobility says,
"Since the first e-mail was sent, we have gotten some updated information to say that TH!NK Nordic has entered into a consultation period with the workforce and stakeholders of its Norway plant to determine the future of the battery electric vehicle, TH!NK city."
Note in this email that Ford alludes to the Th!nk electric car division being evaluated for termination. Though this wording is rather vague, it seems to confirm reports that Ford will not introduce the Th!nk City for sale in the USA. An email from the editor of EVWorld says "according to John Wallace (Th!nk's director), the company (Th!nk Mobility) is up for sale, including the Th!nk city." Earlier in the year 2002, TH!NK Mobility discontinued their electric bicycles.
A 2002 September 23 news article by a Norwegian news site called "Aftenposten Multimedia" confirms my reports that Ford never offered the car in the USA. It even says that Norwegian buyers (the car is produced in Norway) are being turned away by Th!nk officials! The article says,
"Think fans in California insist a market already exists, and that they're frustrated in efforts to buy the vehicles. Some prospective Norwegian buyers, meanwhile, claim they also are frustrated in obtaining the cars because Think officials have told them that much of its production was reserved for the American market.
At the same time, several Think fans have told Aftenposten Multimedia that it's not possible to buy the cars in California, only to lease them at a rate of USD 199 per month for 34 months. They rave about the car's efficiency and economy, noting that it's also simply fun to drive."
On the other hand, Toyota is taking the lead by selling in Californa, not simply leasing, a battery electric version of their RAV4 SUV, namely the RAV4 EV. For several months, as of 2002 September, Toyota is promoting this electric SUV on their website. However I don't know if they promoted the car elsewhere.
Update: On 2003 January 12 the Toyota website announced they are discontinuing their RAV4 EV. They describe their extensive marketing of the car. They also say that despite their efforts, they only sold 5 RAV4 EVs per week in the the California retail market from February through 2002 November 15th. They say that "throughout the period, there was no noticeable increase or decrease in average weekly pace." See EVWorld article for more information. Some people claim however that Toyota is only selling 5/week because they have limited supply (perhaps intentionally). For example, Doug Korthof forwarded an email to me from Toyota that says in part:
"Please be assured, Toyota will continue to ensure that dealers capable of servicing RAV4 EVs are located in each major metropolitan area in California throughout the 5-year powertrain warranty period of your vehicles. In addition, all customers who placed an order on the Internet order system and finalized the order with a deposit at a dealership, but have not yet taken delivery of their vehicle, will receive their vehicle. However, there may be a wait period of up to 3-6 months while production arrives from Japan. We apologize for the delay, but your order will be fulfilled."
Notice the wait period of 3-6 months. I now feel that small electric vehicle manufacturers are our only hope for electric cars that will sell in significant and sustainable volumes. However some of the small electric car manufacturers are struggling financially and others are still in the R&D stage. At least a couple of the small manufacturers are owned by larger companies. For example, Global Electric Motorcars is owned by DaimlerChrysler and Th!nk is now owned by Kamcorp (Frazer-Nash). However at least the large automobile manufacturers are appearing to increase their commitment to hybrid gasoline-electric automobiles.
After this article was orignally written in 2002 September, Clare Bell wrote a large article for EV World, exposing the false claims of Ford regarding electric autombiles. The web page containing the start of her article, has links to where you can express your views to Ford and Th!nk. Marc Geller wrote a press release that also exposes Ford's lies. More information is available at the Ford Th!nk City Electric Vehicle (EV) Driver's page.
GM has also been deceiving the public about the demand for electic automobiles. Proof of this is provided below:
While Ford, GM, and the other big three Detroit automaker, say there is virtually no demand for electric cars, the Green Car Group has information proving that there would be a strong market for pure battery powered grid chargeable electric cars if the major automakers would get their act together and lower the cost of electric cars via mass production and engage in much more marketing (most peopole do not know that some electric cars are even available from the big automobile manufacturers - not to mention the many more that used to be available).
Further detailed evidence of how most of the major automakers drag their feet about making electric cars readily available, and even lie about the demand for electric cars, is provided by Mother Jones magazine! Here is the evidence at MotherJones.com, in an article called "I Want My ZEV"! "ZEV" is short for "Zero Emission Vehicle". - This article says that representatives of various California electric utilities as saying that they want electric cars for business use by their employees. One of the representatives is quoted. In total, tens of thousands of electric automobiles are wanted by Californian electric companies, but the Detroit automakers won't sell anywhere near that many to them. Many of the general public also want electric cars. Yet the automakers falsely claim that demand for electric cars is too weak for them to meet the California ZEV requirements!
It is understandable that the electric utilities would want electric cars, since they produce their own fuel (electricity) that would be used to power the cars. Also the cars can be refueled at night, when the electric utilities have excess electrical capacity.
If the Detroit Automakers' False Claims About a Lack of Demand for Electric Cars Angers You, Take Action by Telling Those Automakers and the Media How You Feel!
Help advocate electric automobiles, including plug-in electric-biodiesel hybrids, by joining my new organization of Electric Automobile Alliance!
Gwyneth Paltrow and Cameron Diaz (in partnership with the Union of Concerned Scientists) have created an Act Green petition urging Ford to raise fuel economy. Sign the Petition to Ford to raise fuel economy!
EV Drivers Staged Protest of Ford's Decision to Cancel Th!nk City EV Production. Protest occurred on 2002 October 10 in San Francisco, California! The link abut the protest also includes more information about the Th!nk City and a discussion board.
Update of 2002 December 22: Th!nk City Car Saved!
In mid December of 2002, Ford sold the Th!nk division in tact to a Sweedish electric vehicle manufacturer that plans to produce the Th!nk vehicles! Apparently Ford was not planning to crush the EV program after all, merely sell the program to someone else. Kampkorp plans to replace the Th!nk City's drive train and battery pack with much improved ones - and the drive train will cost less! Much higher range is expected! This is great news!
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