New Survey in California Finds Owners Put Neighborhood Electric Vehicles to Good Use

- Owners Cut Their Ozone-Forming Emissions by One-Third

- With 15,000 Vehicles in Use, California is Nation's Leading State for NEVs

- DaimlerChrysler GEM Leads Market with 80 Percent Share

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 7 -- Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) users in California are eliminating one-third of ozone- forming emissions they would normally produce each year, according to a new study of street-legal EV use. In all, California's 15,000 owners of neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) cut the state's total ozone-forming emissions by 8.5 tons per year.

"About one-third of a NEV owner's yearly harmful tailpipe emissions are eliminated simply by using the electric vehicle instead of a conventional vehicle for short trips," said Larry Oswald of DaimlerChrysler Corporation. "By using a NEV for short trips, combustion engine cold starts are eliminated and this is where a large portion of ozone-forming emissions are created."

Oswald is CEO of Global Electric Motorcars, LLC (GEM), a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler and the world's largest manufacturer of NEVS. Oswald and GEM President Rick Kasper presented findings of the recent California study during the Electric Drive Transportation Association Conference & Exposition in Vancouver, Canada, Dec. 7.

GEM brand NEVs make up 80 percent of all neighborhood electric vehicles in use in California, with more than 12,000 in use. Across the nation, more than 30,000 GEMs are on the road.

"On average, GEM owners use their vehicles for six short trips every day," Oswald said, citing findings of the recent survey of NEV users. The survey updated a study of NEV use in California first conducted in 2003. The new survey confirmed that NEVs "are well entrenched as an important mode of personal, commercial and small fleet transportation in California," according to Oswald.

GEMs are in use in planned communities, industrial, school and medical campuses, state and national parks, and in small and mid-sized towns, the survey found.

GEMs are built at the Global Electric Motorcars plant in Fargo, North Dakota, and are available in four models: two- and four-passenger cars, and long- and short-bed utility vehicles. Information on GEM vehicles and dealers can be found at http://www.gemcar.com/ .