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To: WALT REISCH who wrote (3352)	3/18/1999 10:52:00 AM
From: jacq	Respond to of 8393

Georgia is active also though not using our technology yet. I really like the terms of their lease. Don't you too Don. Georgia Power Offers Employees EV Lease Program An Interview with Gary Floyd By Bill Moore According to Gary Floyd, the manager of Georgia Power's new EV commute program, the Atlanta-based electric utility began to take an active interest in electric vehicles in 1992, starting with EV conversions. Floyd told EV World that this experience exposed the company to many of the performance and reliability issues associated with conversion, including problems he characterized as "bugs." Undaunted, it seems, Georgia Power has pressed ahead with its commitment to electric vehicles amassing one of the nation's largest EV fleets totaling some 179 vehicles including Rangers, Chevys, Toyotas and GM vehicles. Now that fleet is about to increase by 55.8% with the acquisition of roughly equal numbers of Ford Ranger EVs and GM EV1s (both lead-acid battery versions) as part of an innovative program to lease these vehicles to company employees. As Floyd explained it, Georgia Power not only sees EVs as a future market for its electricity, but as means of helping improve the air quality of the 13 counties that make up the metropolitan Atlanta region. This region does not currently meet EPA standards and as a result is in jeopardy of losing much of its federal highway funding if it cannot come up with solutions. "We're under the federal Clean Air Act gun to meet our (air quality) attainment and we're not doing it," Floyd admitted. "When we're not doing it, we have to start looking for solutions that either get people out of cars or find clean-type of transit. We are not meeting attainment as the federal clean air act says and that can cause some problems in terms of getting federal dollars for highway construction." EV Interest Starts with 1996 Summer Olympics Georgia Power, in cooperation with its Olympic organizing committee, brought in a number of electric vehicles including shuttles and OEM-built cars and pickups to help move athletes around the 1996 Olympic Village. These cars were driven by Georgia Power employees, selling many of them to the potential of the technology. "Our employees got a taste for (EVs) as well, because they were showing them off, and they said,'Why can't we do the same thing and use these electric vehicles?' They'd been hearing about California. Our employees had been wanting to see (EVs). And once they got in, they saw the technology is here and they saw it was a viable technology." Floyd said that employees who drive the company's current fleet of EVs are experiencing the same level of by-stander interest and enthusiasm as EV owners in California. "They've really become EV enthusiasts. They've driven electric vehicles and we've put a lot of miles on them and we've seen some of the employees' reactions and they've been ecstatic. They're stopped on the side of the road, people are rolling down their windows going sixty miles an hour on the Interstate, asking what kind of vehicle is that. And when we go to a grocery store and when you come out... it's the same reaction I guess I lot of people get out in California. People really want this vehicle." Lease Details The EV lease program will be offered to 100 Georgia Power headquarter employees initially. Floyd explained the reason for this is because of Atlanta's EPA non-attainment status. Employees must live within 40 miles of work and be willing to lease the EV for 12 months, expendable to. The terms are extremely reasonable by EV terms with the employee paying about $200 a month for the EV1 and $150 a month for the Ranger. This is about half what they'd expect to pay for the same vehicle in California or Arizona. The lease will also include the installation of a charger at the employee's home. Georgia Power is offering the choice of either a Ford Ranger EV or GM EV1 in three different colors. As might be expected, there's a waiting list. About half the employees are selecting Rangers and the other half EV1s. The company plans to add 100 more EVs to the program in 2000 and another 100 each year thereafter through 2002. Floyd stated that Georgia Power is willing to help underwrite the leases as part of its effort to help Atlanta reach its EPA attainment goals. "The thing is, you're going to see a lot more vehicles in Atlanta and people are going to be asking for it," Floyd stated. "The ultimate goal is to bring the (EV) market here to Atlanta. We're considered still a secondary market to the automakers. With this tremendous increase in vehicles, they're going to have a lot of other people beating down their doors asking them to bring these electric vehicles to Atlanta." Floyd knows whereof his speaks because he's starting to get inquiries from Georgia Power customers wonder how they too can lease an EV. In addition to bring more EV's into Atlanta, the company plans to double the number of public chargers available at shopping malls and elsewhere from the current 25 to 50 this year. MARTA, Atlanta's light rail transit system, will install more public chargers at its train stations to encourage more EV drivers to do more park-and-ride. According to Floyd both GM and Ford are supportive of the program. "We need their commitment to make it work and to bring more EVs to Atlanta." Extending EV Tax Credits and More In a show of true bipartisanship, Georgia Congressmen Collins (R) and Lewis (D) will be offering legislation this year to extend and amend the current 10% tax credit on EVs in the US tax code. What the Collins/Lewis initiative would do is extend the credit to the year 2008 and amend it to a flat $4000 tax credit. A second component of the bill would allow leasing companies who lease EVs to the government to also qualify for the $4000 credit which they currently don't qualify for under present tax regulation. Floyd is confident the legislation will be passed, in part because of it is supported by members of both major US political parties, but especially because the nation needs to find ways to encourage the purchase of EVs to help address the problem of air pollution. Gary Floyd fully expects other electric utilities to emulate Georgia Power's employee lease program, but he hopes other companies besides utilities will also introduce similar programs for their employees. The new employee-leased EVs from Ford and GM begin arriving in late May and early June which is when the program officially kicks off. Audio Cassette Tapes Available This interview is available on audio cassette for US$12.00 plus $3.00 S&H (USA Only). Send check or money order to: Digital Revolution, P.O. Box 461132, Papillion, Nebraska 68046. REALAUDIO INTERVIEW Interview Length: 20:03 minutes Helpful Links Georgia Power Web Site The New Electric South Is This Information of Value To You ? If so, please consider becoming a supporter of EV World. Learn how you can help keep EV World free to spread the word about EV technology. How To Become A Supporter. AltaVista Translator Language translation available through AltaVista. Click Translator button to launch application. To listen to EV World interviews you will need a computer capable of audio and equipped with the RealAudio 5.0 plugin or better. Corporate computers behind firewalls may not be able to accept streaming media. Click here to download FREE RealPlayer for both Windows and Macintosh. Windows '95/98 users can also listen to EV World interviews using Microsoft's new Windows Media Player For The Latest News, Interviews and Previews of Electric Vehicles... Read EV World:This Week © Copyright 1997-98 Digital Revolution. All rights reserved. P.O. Box 461132, Papillion, NE 68046 Telephone: (402) 339.9877 FAX: (402) 597.6183 E-mail: editor@evworld.com