DON'T MESS with EUROPE !

... is the ambiguous motto of our petition for a ...

"European Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate"

... to the European Parliament in Strasbourg/France

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... to the "Association des Constructeurs Européens d'Automobile" in Brussels/Belgium, the most popular association of european automakers

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...and to the Governer of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, in Sacramento

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Our goal : Start of mass production of Battery Electric Autos (BEAs) as soon as possible !

Our model : the "CALIFORNIA ZEVM" of 1990 !

Our target : EVERY European can buy or lease a BEA like the Mercedes Benz ZEBRA-A-Class or the Toyota RAV4 EV as of march 2011 - for the same price like equivalent ICE-cars (with gasoline/diesel motors).

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The preparation of the petition (wording and contents) is open for discussion until 31st of march 2010.

We highly appreciate any kind of advice, comment and support !

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Did you know ?

Battery Electric Autos (BEAs), one kind of "Zero Emission Vehicles" (ZEVs), are right for mass production already since 1997 !!!

To really convince politicians and the public in Europe of this proven fact, we need really convincing BEAs for presentation in Europe ...

... BEAs like the 1997 Mercedes-Benz ZEBRA-A-Class or the Toyota RAV4 EV

The Mercedes-Benz ZEBRA-A-Class and the Toyota RAV4 EV had been built due to the California ZEVM in the 1990s, for the Californian market.

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.

Also Toyota stopped the production of he RAV4 EV in 2003, against the will of Californian customers. But thanks to campaigns like Don't Crush, about 800 Toyota RAV4 EVs are still on the road today (2009) 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.

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The sad story of the "California Zero EmissionVehicle Mandate" has been documented in "Who killed he Electric Car?" :

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 (gasoline or diesel), or even cheaper !!!

Mercedes Benz A-Class and Toyota RAV4 EV 1997 :

... and in (near) future ???

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 Europa 2008" page.

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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 BP-website ...

... or watch this clip on youtube :