EVs and other cool car stuff
So the other night, Ari, James and I went to see Who Killed the Electric Car. To be honest, I didn’t even know the movie existed befor James suggested we go see it and I wasn’t in the best of moods, so I didn’t have high hopes for this trip to the movies (my first in seven months, by the way).
Well, it turns out this was one of the rare occassions when I was wrong, very wrong. I loved the movie! For those of you who haven’t heard of it, it is a documentary about the evolution of the electric car and the business and politics that first spawned the technology and then effectively “murdered” it. Now, I like to think of myself as a left-wing green-friendly citizen of the planet… but in all honesty, I only do the bare minimum as far as saving the planet goes. But, my parents taught me to appreciate natural resources and level-headed politics, so the movie’s message spoke to me.I almost cried when I saw this image:
The first thought that came to mind as I was watching was: If the electric car was killed partially because a car company didn’t want to invest in and market a product that would a) admit their main product was faulty and b) undercut their short-term profits, wouldn’t the solution be to start a new company that produces only electric vehicles? I realize this would require taking bold leaps of faith and raising huge amounts of capital, but if the movie is correct and there really is a market demand for the product, why not by-pass the corporate roadblocks and build the car people are asking for?
On another, slightly related note, I thought this would be a great opportunity to write about one of my favorite companies. I am a loyal member of ZipCar, a car sharing community in Boston (and NY and DC and Toronto and San Francisco and most recently, Chicago).
I like to think I am their biggest evangelist customer. I love to talk about how much I love ZipCar… I LOVE these guys. They have improved my quality of live in Boston by 100%. They even have some EVs in their fleet!
Most days, I don’t need a car to go about my life, but there have been many occassions, for work or play, when I need more than what the bus or T can offer. I am about to renew my membership and enter my third year as a loyal ZipCar customer and so far, the membership has paid for itself in convenience alone. Plus it is just a really cool company… I’d love to do their PR. I wonder if they’ve ever considered an online or mobile game to build brand awareness…
August 28th, 2006 at 10:14 am
Hey there, whippersnapr. I’m a reporter for the Toronto Star newspaper, working on a story about car sharing — I’m writing about the cultural aspect as opposed to the business aspect. Zipcar recently set up shop in T.O., and I’d love to talk to you as an “out of town” voice about your experiences with Zipcar.
But I’d also like to talk to you in general about carsharing culture. If you could contact me at 416-869-4301. Or email me at pevans@thestar.ca and I can call you, save you some long distance. Thanks, whippersnapr!
August 28th, 2006 at 10:56 am
[…] I’ve often thought that I am Zipcar’s biggest word of mouth marketer. I love their service and I will tell anybody and everybody about it! I talk about zipcar nonstop! I’ve even blogged about it. […]