(Written for 3 minutes; pared to 2 minutes when read at c. 1130
today)
Thank you
for this chance to speak with you on behalf of my entire family. My
name is Chip Sharpe. I’m a 76-year-old, 40-year resident of
Northern California.
Thank you for your exemplary work to advance clean
cars.
My
wife and I purchased our first EV in 2014, the first new car that
either of us had ever wanted, because we were excited by this way
of protecting our planet. We bought our second EV in 2016 and will
never again purchase anything with an internal combustion engine.
We felt blessed to be able to ride in such a comfortable, safe, and
responsive car. In 2018, we drove to North Carolina and back,
impressed by ease and abundance of charging opportunities
throughout the 8,000 mile trip.
We
also felt blessed to have had enough money to buy two expensive
cars that we could plug in at home, ready to roll each morning. We
have become vocal advocates for all-electric vehicles, eager to see
the day when everyone could enjoy similar safety, cost-savings, and
convenience. To several acquaintances, we offered to share $500 or
more of the California rebate we’d received, if they would
purchase a new or used EV. However, at that time, the cost
was still out of their reach.
Even with today’s advent of more affordable models,
widespread adoption of EVs is going to require government and
community support. This includes requiring manufacturing and
infrastructure corporations to focus on providing EVs in low-income
neighborhoods that suffer the most from tailpipe emissions.
For those living near poverty levels, larger rebates, manufacturer
discounts, and low or no interest loans will be necessary. Home
charging must be facilitated for apartment dwellers and those
without a garage.
To
assuage range anxiety, outlets should be provided at workplaces,
shopping areas, and along city streets, such as at bases of
lampposts.
This is a
matter of life and death, putting safer vehicles on our roadways
and preventing the thousands of deaths that now occur every year as
a result of polluted air.
Thank you for enlisting, and requiring, the assistance of major
corporations, especially vehicle manufacturers, in achieving our
goal of making EVs accessible to everyone. We’ll be doing our
best to reach 100% zero-emission sales BEFORE 2035.
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