Last Saturday the LA Times lead editorial, "From 0 to 60 in 40 watts", concluded that PHEVs were "the car of the future." This Saturday, the paper is running a letter encouraging public support for PHEVs. It's written by Chelsea Sexton, Executive Director of Plug In America http://www.pluginamerica.com, an organizations that's been formed to promote both pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids vehicles.

If you missed the original editorial, see http://www.latimes.com/­news/­opinion/­editorials/­la-ed-car29apr29,0,4790158.story?\coll=la-news-comment-editorials> or http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/­group/­calcars-news/­message/­372.

http://www.latimes.com/­news/­opinion/­letters/­la-le-saturday6.4may06,0,3704866.story?coll=la-news-comment-letters May 6, 2006 Re "From 0 to 60 in 40 watts," editorial, April 29

Finally, plug-in hybrid technology is getting the attention it deserves. As a former GM employee on the EV1 electric vehicle program, we proved that the best way to get people to use less oil is to give them the opportunity to use none - without compromise in performance, safety and convenience. The public embraced that concept more easily than the automakers, and we were collectively gutted when GM abandoned its EV programs.

It has been difficult to get the large automakers to embrace plug-in hybrids because of an intangible conflict: To produce and market a car that is clean and quiet, you inherently imply that your core products - larger cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles - are none of those things.

Many automakers are learning that in order to succeed, they must build vehicles that people want to buy. What that means for the public is that there is no better time to ask for what we want. Until we do refuse to settle for less, plug-in hybrids will remain "the technology of the future."

CHELSEA SEXTON
Executive Director, Plug In America
El Segundo

[Chelsea is also featured in the forthcoming Sony
Classics film, "Who Killed the Electric Car?,"
now at film festivals, opening June 28 in LA and
NY -- still photos at
http://whokilledtheelectriccar.com, original
trailer at:
<http://video.google.com/­videosearch?q=%22Who+killed+the+electric+car%22http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22Who+killed+the+electric+car%22>]