$1.85M Offer To Purchase Unwanted LADWP EVs

October 16, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE $1,850,000 OFFER TO PURCHASE UNWANTED L.A.D.W.P. ELECTRIC CARS When: 1:00 P.M. Tuesday, Oct. 17 Where: 111 N. Hope St. Los Angeles, CA 90012 Contact: Chelsea Sexton 310-948-2451

The cast of "Who Killed the Electric Car" and Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti will present a $1.85-million offer to purchase the L.A. Dept. of Water and Power's (DWP) fleet of 74 Toyota RAV4 Electric Vehicles on Tuesday, Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. The offer, intended to keep the zero-emission EVs on the road, will be made at the DWP, 111 N. Hope St., Los Angeles.

Leases on the DWP's 74 EVs have or are about to expire and unless the utility renews its leases or arranges for the cars' purchase, they will be returned to Toyota, where their fate is uncertain. Toyota agreed last year to keep most of its leased fleet EVs in service, but earlier destroyed more than 500 EVs, as detailed in the documentary featuring Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson, Peter Horton and the clean-car advocates presenting the offer to DWP.

DWP officials will be addressing the issue at a regular meeting on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. The cast of "Who Killed the Electric Car" is presenting the offer on behalf of a Colorado clean-car activist who raised the money privately.

"These are the cleanest cars on the road today, and we want to keep them on the road," said Paul Scott, who appears in the documentary. "If the DWP agrees to re-lease them, fine. If they do not, selling them to private individuals will continue to ensure their air quality benefits."

In California, 6,500 premature deaths and 1.7 million cases of respiratory illness result annually from smog and soot-related exposure, according to the California Air Resources Board. "Two-thirds of those deaths and illnesses are happening right here in the Los Angeles Basin," said Scott.

Of 5,000 EVs manufactured for California over the last decade, only 1,000 remain on the road. GM, Ford and Nissan, as well as Toyota, have crushed thousands of the vehicles. While some DWP officials contend that the EVs in their fleet no longer meet their needs, the utility has leased more than 300 of the vehicles since 2001. The remaining 74 have been driven no more than an average of 25,000 miles and virtually all are in excellent driving condition.

Environmental concerns as well as the desire to earn profits motiviated Colorado clean-car activist, Nate Vanderschaaf, to raise the money for the cars. In the past few months, three RAV4EVs sold on eBay for more than $55,000 each. These cars had been purchased for $30,000 apiece, after rebates. "I'm out for profit, and the film convinced me of how popular theses cars are," Vanderschaaf said. "But if the DWP refuses our offer and decides instead to sell them at auction to the highest bidder, I'd be even happier. My number one objective is to keep these clean cars in use."