Ford reverses plans to crush all its electric Th!nk cars. Ford had planned on crushing this environmental solution because it succeeded in trashing the California legislation that encouraged their use.
Ford was planning to scrap their US fleet of electric Th!nk
vehicles,but following pressure from us and other environmental
groups, the carmanufacturer has changed its mind. Last month, our
activists occupiedthe roof of Ford Norway's offices, prompting
Norwegian Transport andCommunications Minister Torild Skogsholm to
ask Ford to Th!nk again.
Now, 300 of the cars will now be shipped to Norway, and sold
throughFord dealerships to eager customers. Ford has even thanked
Greenpeacefor having brought this issue to their attention!
Ford had attempted to justify scrapping the cars by citing a
lack ofUS government regulation, and have since claimed that some
180 of thecars have already been scrapped. This was despite the
Th!nk car'spopularity with American consumers - there's been
waiting lists to buythe cars since the hugely popular leasing
period started in 2001.Zero-emission cars reduce urban smog, and
when charged by electricityfrom renewable sources, they help fight
the biggest threat to ourplanet: climate change. With rising oil
prices causing increasedgasoline costs, they are also a sound
economic choice. Popular, cleanand efficient, shouldn't this be
part of the future of transport?
Ford's initial U-turn - which highlights how ludicrous the
originalplan to crush the electric cars was - took little over a
week. Weannounced it on September 1st, and it has taken another two
weeks toget confirmation. The first batch of cars is due to arrive
in Norway inNovember, thanks to shipping company Wallenius
Wilhelmsen, with morecars to follow in 2005.
While this is all good news, it seems this corporate leopard
doesn'tchange its oily spots so easily. Ford still has the most
fossil fuelhungry fleet of cars in the US. In the same week it
reversed thecrushing decision, Ford CEO Bill Ford wrote a letter to
Californiagovernor Arnold Schwarzenegger opposing a proposed law
that wouldencourage purchases of the most fuel-efficient cars.
While not scrapping electric cars is a start, Ford should now
befocusing on is producing environmentally friendly, zero
emissionvehicles for the mass market. Currently the company likes
to market agreen image even though its current fleet of cars is
actually lessefficient than the 80-year-old Model-T Ford!
Ford should stop hiding behind empty talk about experimental
fuelcells, and instead do as Henry Ford would have done;
continuouslyimprove efficiency and establish mass production of the
most advancedzero emissions technology available today - modern
battery electricvehicles.
More
Visit Jumpstartford.com - the
campaign to improve the fuel efficiency of Ford cars.