Plug In America is a national (US) non-profit that advocates for plug-in electric vehicles.
History
Although operating under another name at the time (Don't Crush), the group got started in California in 2005 when automakers were pulling their own EVs back from leases and crushing them.
In a 2009 interview with Charlie Rose, Elon Musk said (see this video clip, 15:20 in)
Interestingly enough, Musk was saying that Plug In America's attempt to save GM's EV-1 convinced him he was on the right track with Tesla; and Bob Lutz later stated (see Ch 9. of his book, Car Guys and Bean Counters) that Musk's ability to build the Roadster is what got him to convince GM to drop its opposition to electric vehicles and build the Volt.
Plug In America was not successful in convincing GM to stop crushing EV-1s. But we (not me; I didn't join until 2009) did save hundreds of Toyota RAV4-EVs, and smaller numbers of cars from other automakers. Once that crisis was over, we set about talking to automakers, working to convince them that there really is a market for the cars. In 2008 the Bush administration proposed a $2,500 tax credit for electric vehicles; while we were unable to convince the administration to remove the $12k/vehicle petroleum subsidies, we did manage to help level the playing field by tying the credit to battery size, and increased the top end to $7,500. In 2009 we helped get incentives for EVSEs, NEVs and motorcycles (they expired at the end of 2011; we are working to get them in to a 2013 extenders bill). Plug In America also led the work on the nation's first Model Ordinances in 2010 and on the first EVSE Installation Guide in 2012 that was intended to serve the interests of site hosts and drivers. We do owner surveys and analysis like Tomsax's infrastructure survey that he presented at EVS26. We provide information to automakers, lawmakers, and consumers. We do webinars, newsletters, speak at conferences, and create an annual vehicle guide. Almost all of this work is done by a small group of volunteers.
Current focus
Late last year - with a few plug-in vehicles finally available for sale nationwide, and more coming - Plug In America decided to focus on increasing demand for plug-in vehicles. Demand is key - it is the only way to ensure that the cars are around long-term. (Many automakers assume there is no demand; they can build great EVs now, but don't see how they can encourage their sales channel - dealers - to sell them when it's more profitable for dealers to sell gas cars. Automakers will put off figuring out how to make it work until forced to, by say a startup that doesn't use dealers). Unfortunately, increasing demand takes more than a digital awareness campaign, as most people have misperceptions of plug-ins: they consider them to be expensive, inconvenient, and no fun to drive. They will not do online research to learn more about them. But we know that ride-and-drive events where people already are work; the ride convinces them the cars are fun, and talking to owners allays their fears about expense and all those imaginary hours sitting around waiting for a charge.
But widespread ride-and-drive events are more than our small group of volunteers can handle, so we need to hire a couple of staff members. That means we have to raise money. So we created a program, which we have been sharing with auto and EVSE makers, utilities, air quality districts, state EV task forces, etc.
Interest in our goal and strategy has been extremely high. A couple of organizations have verbally agreed to support us (announcement to come). Others have said they want to, and are working to fit us in to their budget. A few, while wanting to start working with us immediately, have hesitated on committing money “just now”. We suspect that some of them were waiting for results of the elections in case their market plans may have needed a total revamp.
This is a very time-consuming process. Nobody wants to be the first mover and pay for something that will benefit other organizations as well as themselves. We, meanwhile, are impatient. We want to start increasing demand NOW. We believe there is a critical window of less than 2 years before vehicles, incentives, infrastructure programs and the like will start going away without increased demand. We don't have to do this forever; at some point there will be enough cars sold that almost everybody knows somebody that has one, and this work will be unnecessary.
Tesla links
Some have said, this is all great for most plug-ins - but why does Tesla need help? Tesla doesn't have demand problem, they have a production problem. That is true for now. But obviously demand will be lower if federal and state incentives disappear (and imagine the negative press about electric vehicles as this happens). Worse, what if ZEV credits disappear - what would that do to Tesla's profit margin? Maybe they'd survive without it; but Tesla's goal has always been to inspire other automakers to build plug-in vehicles, and I don't see any way this would happen if the whole support system collapses.
How you can help
We believe that plug-in vehicles have enormous benefits for their owners, our country and the environment. But the only way for those benefits to be meaningful is to sell more cars. We believe that by far the fastest way to sell more cars is to give more rides. We do not see anybody else stepping up to do this in any sort of organized, large-scale way, and we believe Plug In America is perfectly situated to do so. If you believe the same things, can you help us make it happen?
You can donate online HERE or by sending a check to
2370 Market Street #419
San Francisco, CA 94114
Thank you,
Chad Schwitters
President, Plug In America
History
Although operating under another name at the time (Don't Crush), the group got started in California in 2005 when automakers were pulling their own EVs back from leases and crushing them.
In a 2009 interview with Charlie Rose, Elon Musk said (see this video clip, 15:20 in)
Interestingly enough, Musk was saying that Plug In America's attempt to save GM's EV-1 convinced him he was on the right track with Tesla; and Bob Lutz later stated (see Ch 9. of his book, Car Guys and Bean Counters) that Musk's ability to build the Roadster is what got him to convince GM to drop its opposition to electric vehicles and build the Volt.
Plug In America was not successful in convincing GM to stop crushing EV-1s. But we (not me; I didn't join until 2009) did save hundreds of Toyota RAV4-EVs, and smaller numbers of cars from other automakers. Once that crisis was over, we set about talking to automakers, working to convince them that there really is a market for the cars. In 2008 the Bush administration proposed a $2,500 tax credit for electric vehicles; while we were unable to convince the administration to remove the $12k/vehicle petroleum subsidies, we did manage to help level the playing field by tying the credit to battery size, and increased the top end to $7,500. In 2009 we helped get incentives for EVSEs, NEVs and motorcycles (they expired at the end of 2011; we are working to get them in to a 2013 extenders bill). Plug In America also led the work on the nation's first Model Ordinances in 2010 and on the first EVSE Installation Guide in 2012 that was intended to serve the interests of site hosts and drivers. We do owner surveys and analysis like Tomsax's infrastructure survey that he presented at EVS26. We provide information to automakers, lawmakers, and consumers. We do webinars, newsletters, speak at conferences, and create an annual vehicle guide. Almost all of this work is done by a small group of volunteers.
Current focus
Late last year - with a few plug-in vehicles finally available for sale nationwide, and more coming - Plug In America decided to focus on increasing demand for plug-in vehicles. Demand is key - it is the only way to ensure that the cars are around long-term. (Many automakers assume there is no demand; they can build great EVs now, but don't see how they can encourage their sales channel - dealers - to sell them when it's more profitable for dealers to sell gas cars. Automakers will put off figuring out how to make it work until forced to, by say a startup that doesn't use dealers). Unfortunately, increasing demand takes more than a digital awareness campaign, as most people have misperceptions of plug-ins: they consider them to be expensive, inconvenient, and no fun to drive. They will not do online research to learn more about them. But we know that ride-and-drive events where people already are work; the ride convinces them the cars are fun, and talking to owners allays their fears about expense and all those imaginary hours sitting around waiting for a charge.
But widespread ride-and-drive events are more than our small group of volunteers can handle, so we need to hire a couple of staff members. That means we have to raise money. So we created a program, which we have been sharing with auto and EVSE makers, utilities, air quality districts, state EV task forces, etc.
Interest in our goal and strategy has been extremely high. A couple of organizations have verbally agreed to support us (announcement to come). Others have said they want to, and are working to fit us in to their budget. A few, while wanting to start working with us immediately, have hesitated on committing money “just now”. We suspect that some of them were waiting for results of the elections in case their market plans may have needed a total revamp.
This is a very time-consuming process. Nobody wants to be the first mover and pay for something that will benefit other organizations as well as themselves. We, meanwhile, are impatient. We want to start increasing demand NOW. We believe there is a critical window of less than 2 years before vehicles, incentives, infrastructure programs and the like will start going away without increased demand. We don't have to do this forever; at some point there will be enough cars sold that almost everybody knows somebody that has one, and this work will be unnecessary.
Tesla links
Some have said, this is all great for most plug-ins - but why does Tesla need help? Tesla doesn't have demand problem, they have a production problem. That is true for now. But obviously demand will be lower if federal and state incentives disappear (and imagine the negative press about electric vehicles as this happens). Worse, what if ZEV credits disappear - what would that do to Tesla's profit margin? Maybe they'd survive without it; but Tesla's goal has always been to inspire other automakers to build plug-in vehicles, and I don't see any way this would happen if the whole support system collapses.
How you can help
We believe that plug-in vehicles have enormous benefits for their owners, our country and the environment. But the only way for those benefits to be meaningful is to sell more cars. We believe that by far the fastest way to sell more cars is to give more rides. We do not see anybody else stepping up to do this in any sort of organized, large-scale way, and we believe Plug In America is perfectly situated to do so. If you believe the same things, can you help us make it happen?
You can donate online HERE or by sending a check to
2370 Market Street #419
San Francisco, CA 94114
Thank you,
Chad Schwitters
President, Plug In America
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