Why did GM never respond to the ($1.9 million) offer from drivers of the EV1 to pay the residual lease value on the remaining 78 electric cars in Burbank before they were crushed in 2005? http://www.pluginamerica.org/saveev1.htm
by 
palmagma
ANSWERS: 2
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Remember that the California Air Resources Board was forced to reversed its clean air mandate in response to law suits from automobile manufacturers, the oil industry, and the George W. Bush administration. With that victory in the bag, it seems GM didn't want any reminders of the days when it had complied with the clean air mandate and manufactured operational plug-in electric cars. Despite the pleas of those to whom these vehicles had been leased, GM quickly whisked the cars away, and when it thought no-one was looking, crushed them.
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Because the off was not even close to the cost of the vehicles involved! The entire EV1 program was run ata huge loss just to maintain access to the largest new vehicle market in the country. Once CARB lifted the EV requirment for vehicle sales in CA GM and all other manufactures quickly canceled their expensive EV programs. All of the vehicles involved were one-off hand built vehicles that would have been expensive to keep on the road. Laws dictate repair parts and service facility availability. These would have been difficult or impossible to meet. The realality it the whole program cost way too much to keep alive. It was an experiment and it was over.
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