[sustran] "The only good green vehicle is a shared green vehicle"

[Eric Britton]

The following is an interesting exchange about "green automotive
technologies", which we draw to your attention in reverse order for reasons
you will see here. 


 


The first piece (printed second here) is an article under the title "
<http://gas2.org/2009/07/10/zipcar-launches-all-electric-car-share-scheme-in
-us/> Zipcar Launches All-Electric Car-Share Scheme" which appeared
yesterday 10 July in "gas2.0 biofuels, oil, a revolution".  Looks to me like
a basic cut and paste of a new releases by Zipcar. (Fair enough!)


 


The second piece, a commentary to that article by our old  friends over at
City CarShare in San Francisco (Hey, we love Zipcar too!) is more
interesting in that it provides broader context on "green vehicles" ("The
only good green vehicle is a shared green vehicle")  For that reason we
print it first.  


 


(Thanks City CarShare, if you recall it was seven long years ago that my
follow jurors and I chose you as one of three co-winners of the top award of
the Stockholm Partnerships for Sustainable Cities" Clearly we did not make a
mistake back then,  and how great to have you still out there and doing your
bit for our planet.)


 

Source: http://gas2.org/category/cars/electric-cars-evs/  ( It is
instructive  to work ones way down the chain behind www.gas2.org. True to
their title: EVs and alternative fuels are up at the top of their list. Fair
enough!)

 

Eric Britton

 

PS. "The only good green vehicle is a shared green vehicle" is a phrase that
was, to the best of my memory, first uttered by John Wayne in his immortal
environmental film The Green Berets (1968). What is generally forgotten was
that his full phrase was "The only good green vehicle is a shared green
vehicle. And a horse."  Funny the way that we tend to truncate complexity.

 

PPS. July is carsharing month on World Streets. Have you made your
contribution yet? We are waiting for you (and Big John is too.)

 

 

 

 

Anita <http://citycarshare.org>  said on July 10th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
<http://gas2.org/2009/07/10/zipcar-launches-all-electric-car-share-scheme-in
-us/comment-page-1/#comment-90713>  

 

City CarShare, a San Francisco nonprofit car sharing organization, is
pleased to see that Zipcar is integrating more fuel-efficient cars into its
fleet. 

 

There are a few inaccuracies in the article, however, which we feel
compelled to highlight. For example, this article is incorrect in stating
that Zipcar was the first to introduce a hybrid into a car share fleet. City
CarShare, a leader in introducing green vehicles, introduced hybrids into
our fleet in early 2002. We also had eight Ford Think electric vehicles in
our fleet in 2002, which were recalled along with all of the Ford Think EVs
(we also experienced charging issues described in the article). This year we
introduced two hybrid plug-in vehicles - we can't claim to be the first,
however, since Autoshare (Toronto) and HourCar (Minneapolis) were first in
North America. 

 

While increasing the number of hybrids that Zipcar has in its worldwide
fleet is commendable, we hope to see Zipcar continue to increase the
percentage of hybrids in its fleet and, for that matter, to include only
fuel-efficient and top-rated low-emission vehicles. For City CarShare, and
many other independent car share providers, our vehicles are at the top of
their class for fuel-efficiency and low emissions, with hybrids comprising
over 1/3 of our fleet and growing. 

 

As Zipcar provides more eco-sensitive cars - and we hope to see this trend
continue - we also encourage them to promote 'less driving' by their
members, in contrast to their current advertising campaign, which promotes
driving as much as you want as long as you return the car. If pursued, these
efforts would lead to fewer miles of travel for their customers, reducing
total emissions and congestion in the areas they operate. 

 

Finally, for those interested, there are approximately 30 independent car
share providers in North America, working in their communities to reduce car
ownership and driving. Many have contributed to, and adhere to, the Car
Share Industry Code of Ethics, which can be found at
http://www.carsharingindustry.org

 

 

 

 
<http://gas2.org/2009/07/10/zipcar-launches-all-electric-car-share-scheme-in
-us/> Zipcar Launches All-Electric Car-Share Scheme

 

By Andrew Williams <http://greenoptions.com/author/andrewwilliams> . Source:
http://gas2.org/category/cars/electric-cars-evs/ 

 

US-based car-share giant Zipcar Inc. has launched its first ever Electric
Vehicle Pod <http://zipcar.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=132> ,
featuring an all-electric Citroen C1 and a Plug-In Toyota Prius. The
vehicles, among the most efficient and technologically advanced on the road
today, can be hired by the hour for a fraction of the cost of owning one.

 

The company figures that EVs are ideally suited for early, large-scale use
in Zipcar's car sharing platform since the average Zipcar trip lasts just
under four hours and less than 25 miles, well within the range of a typical
EV.

*	> See also: Seattle
<http://gas2.org/2009/07/10/seattle-will-be-the-leader-in-clean-energy-and-e
lectric-vehicles/>  will be the Leader in Clean Energy and Electric Vehicles
*	> Get Gas 2.0 by RSS <http://gas2.org/feed/>  or sign up
<http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=gas2/org>  by email.

 

In a press release last weekend, Scott Griffith, Chairman and CEO of the
company, the world's largest car-sharing scheme said: "Since early in this
decade, Zipcar has been integrating alternative vehicles into the fleet -
giving our members the opportunity to push the envelope and evaluate a range
of advanced-vehicle technologies. Our proprietary car sharing technology
platform allows us to manage a variety of cutting-edge vehicles, serving
hundreds of thousands of Zipsters who benefit from convenience, cost savings
and a commitment to reducing carbon emissions."

 

Zipcar was an early adopter of alternative fuel technologies, and in 2003
became the first car sharing company to offer hybrids to its members. The
following year, they teamed up with Toyota to offer all-electric RAV 4's. In
the last five years, Zipcar has added a respectable 1,000 hybrids to the
fleet, more than any other car-sharing company, and estimates more than
100,000 unique members have driven an EV or hybrid.

 

 

With all good wishes,

 

Eric Britton 

 

| Editor <mailto:editor at worldstreets.org>  | World Streets
<http://www.worldstreets.org/>  | The New Mobility Agenda
<http://www.newmobility.org/>  | Paris  | +331 4326 1323 | Skype newmobility


 

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