Also a very hopeful BEA in the size of an "eBox" coming from Europe is the "Ox" by "TH!NK GLOBAL" from Oslo/Norway.
DON'T MESS with EUROPE
... is the ambiguous motto of our petition to the Government of California in Sacramento/California, to the European Parliament in Strasbourg/France and to the "Association des Constructeurs Européens d'Automobile" (ACEA) in Brussels/Belgium, an association of european automakers, a petition for a
"European Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate"
1.
Battery Electric Autos (BEAs), one kind of "Zero Emission Vehicles" (ZEVs), are right for mass production today, and already since 1997
Unfortunately, Daimler stopped the "ZEBRA-A-Class"-Project already in 1999, no "ZEBRA-A-Class" was ever sold or leased to private customers and so this fascinating BEA was on the road only for a very short time.
But about 800 Toyota "RAV4 EVs" are still on the road today (sumer 2008) and the
"living evidence", that emissionfree, airconditioned, quiet, quick and reliable Battery Electric Autos (BEAs), suitable even for the German "Autobahn", are not future, but more than 10 years old technology and are today more than ready for mass production and widespread adoption.
In issue 17/2008 (31st July 2008) of the popular german magazine
"auto motor und sport",
Shai Agassi, founder and CEO of "Better Place", introduced his smart solution for the range problems of BEAs : a network of battery switching stations.
"Better Place" is a new hope for a final breakthrough of BEAs worldwide, it gives the
major automakers a perfect base for mass production - and takes from them their last excuse.
For more information about Shai Agassi's bold plan please visit the official website ...
... or watch this clip on youtube :
Unfortunately also 2 very unpleasant facts are reality today (2008) :
Most of the major automakers obviously still don't really want to start with mass production and widespread adoption of BEAs
According to issue 23/2008 (23. October 2008) of "auto motor und sport" only Nissan + Renault want to start mass production of BEAs today. 11 years after the introduction of their legendary RAV4 EV in California in 1997, Toyota said to "auto motor und sport", that about 70 % of their cars will still be powered by Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs), burning gasoline, diesel, vegetable oil, hydrogen and other fuels, until the year 2050 (!!!), other major automakers predicted far over 50 %.
Until then, most of the automakers want to concentrate on the development of "Plud-In Hybrids" and Hygrogen Fuel Cells (HFCs) for electric autos - not really necessary with a "Better Place" infrastructure and much more expensive than batteries for BEAs.
It's hard to believe that it's obviously very hard for "Better Place" to find major automakers (like Daimler, Toyota, Volkswagen etc.) to build BEAs compatible to their battery switching stations.
The Mercedes Benz A-Class by Daimler, for example, is the perfect car for a battery switching system compatible to "Better Place" stations, because the "Sandwich"- floor concept of the A-Class makes it very easy to mount the battery from below.
This has been shown by Daimler already in 1997 with the first version of their electric A-Class, the "ZEBRA-A-Class".
Very strange : in issue 17/2008 (July 2008) of "auto motor und sport", Daimler announced the first presentation of the new electric A-Class at the Detroit Motor Show in January 2009 and the start of production for 2010 in Germany.
In issue 23/2008 (October 2008), they don't mention the A-Class anymore, but write about a Fuel Cell-B-Class instead for 2010.
We hope, that Daimler and all other major automakers will follow Renault-Nissan and start with mass production of BEAs as soon as possible, and that they will cooperate with "Better Place", offering a perfect base for widspread adoption of BEAs to the automakers, and taking from them their last excuse.
2.
This is one of the very sad facts about BEAs in California today and one of the disappointing news, EAA Europe founder Ruediger Hild brought back from his
visit of the EAA umbrella organization in Silicon Valley/California in May 2008.
Why major automakers don't want mass produced BEAs has been shown in
"WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR ?".
The status quo of the "California Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate" has been documented by EAA board member
Earl Killian in the May 2008 issue of the
"Current EVents", the EAA newsletter :
The situation in the Californian government today is described in the last passage on the front page of this article :
In a bit of drama, former "California Air Resources Board"-Chairman Dr. Robert Sawyer testified in front of the board he once directed, calling for a stronger Zero Emission Vehicle Program. Dr. Sawyer was appointed to the board by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2005, but then fired by the Governor in 2007. Dr. Sawyer's firing led to the resignation of CARB Executive Director Catherine Witherspoon. She accused the Governor's aides of blocking efforts to fight global warming, saying : "I believe the Governor cares deeply about air quality, but no one in his inner circle does."
This confusion and mess in the californian government and in the automobile industry is a shame and the reason why the EAA Europe says ...
... and the reason why we want to send petitions for a new version of the "Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate" and mass produced BEAs to ...
The "California Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate" started already in 1990, meaning that the major automakers had already more than 17 years for starting the mass production of BEAs.
We all know that change usually needs time, but due to exploding fuel prices more and more people say, that it's no more time for EVOLUTION.
Due to massive environmental and social problems worldwide, it's time for REVOLUTION.
If you want to call 10+ years old technology revolutionary.
The original version of the "California ZEVM " required only 10 % of all new cars to be BEAs, meaning that 90 % of all new cars on the road would still be "normal" cars running on gasoline, diesel, natural gas, vegetable oil, ...
So that's not revolutionary, either.
BUT : 10 % of all new cars by major automakers would also mean MILLIONS of new BEAs per year only in Europe, and that would be more than enough to produce new electric versions of the Toyota "RAV4" or the Mercedes Benz "A-Class" for the same price like the "usual" cars, or even cheaper !!!
As reality in California shows, the world can be an evil place, and so a European ZEVM is not more than a dream today.
But some wise people say :
DREAM IS STAGE ONE OF DESIGN !
And we hope, that you will join us some day, to vote for a "European Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate" and to make this dream come true !
The pictures show EAA Europe founder Ruediger Hild in may 2008, "Pluggin' In" a very prominent Californian Toyota "RAV4 EV" at a public charging station on a parking lot of Hewlett Packard (HP) in Silicon Valley/California, and they also show, where the ambiguous motto "DON'T MESS with EUROPE !" comes from - to find out more please visit the
"EAA meets Europe 2008" page.
Today (2008) we unfortunately don't know, when Daimler will really with start the production of the new electric A-Class and when they finally will introduce it to the public.
... the Governer of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, in Sacramento
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... to the European Parliament in Strasbourg/France
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... and to the "Association des Constructeurs Européens d'Automobile" in Brussels/Belgium, the most popular association of european automakers.
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The preparation of the petition will be open for discussion until the first EAA Europe meeting in Strasbourg/France (31. January 2009).
We highly appreciate any kind of advise, critical comment and support.
>>> http://eaaeurope.org/contact.html <<<
Did you know ?
2.
Thanks to "Better Place" from Palo Alto/Silicon Valley/California the range problem of BEAs no longer exists
1.
Most of the politicians obviously still don't want mass production and widespread adoption of BEAs, not even in California.
