Ford and the Environment

[shãybare]

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What do y'all think about the following from a Norwegian newspaper? I personally think it terrible.

"Ford blasted for crushing 'Think' cars
Environmental activists occupied the roof of Ford's Norwegian headquarters south of Oslo on Tuesday. They're calling for Ford to reverse its decision to destroy hundreds of Norwegian-produced electric "Think" cars, after Ford pulled the plug on the venture.
Electric car enthusiasts want to keep cars like this new "Think" model humming.

Think sold and saved -
'Think' ponders investor interest -
Opposition teams up to save electric car -
State won't bail out electric car maker -
Ford seeks state bailout for 'Think' -
Former minister wants to aid 'Think' -
Ford pulls plug on electric car -
The early-morning demonstration by Greenpeace was set to be followed by another protest action at Oslo's City Hall. Drivers of "Think" cars still on the road in Norway planned to gather at the City Hall, and then drive out to the Ford headquarters at Kolbotn to also make their voices heard.

Norway's government minister in charge of transport, Torild Skogsholm, also has protested Ford's decision, calling it "incomprehensible." She notes that "we have use for the cars in Norway... and it's amazing that Norwegian-produced cars are being destroyed in California."

They're all furious over Ford's moves first to abandon its Norwegian electric car venture called "Think Nordic," and then to decide to crush the "Think City" cars that had been exported to the US, mostly to California to satisfy air pollution requirements in place at the time. When those requirements were eased, Ford had no more political need for its electric car venture and literally pulled the plug.

The little "Think" cars that Ford leased for a few years have a loyal following, however, and their drivers wanted at the very least to be allowed to buy them. Protests also have been held recently in the San Francisco Bay area to fight the move by Ford.

There also are long waiting lists for the cars in Norway, where officials have encouraged use of electric vehicles. But Ford has said it doesn't want any liability for the vehicles. Instead of shipping them back to the new owner of Think Nordic north of Oslo, the cars are being collected and destroyed.

'Unacceptable'

[shãybare]

http://oakhurstonline.com/icon/cool4.gif
What do y'all think about the following from a Norwegian newspaper? I personally think it terrible.

"Ford blasted for crushing 'Think' cars
Environmental activists occupied the roof of Ford's Norwegian headquarters south of Oslo on Tuesday. They're calling for Ford to reverse its decision to destroy hundreds of Norwegian-produced electric "Think" cars, after Ford pulled the plug on the venture.
Electric car enthusiasts want to keep cars like this new "Think" model humming.

Think sold and saved -
'Think' ponders investor interest -
Opposition teams up to save electric car -
State won't bail out electric car maker -
Ford seeks state bailout for 'Think' -
Former minister wants to aid 'Think' -
Ford pulls plug on electric car -
The early-morning demonstration by Greenpeace was set to be followed by another protest action at Oslo's City Hall. Drivers of "Think" cars still on the road in Norway planned to gather at the City Hall, and then drive out to the Ford headquarters at Kolbotn to also make their voices heard.

Norway's government minister in charge of transport, Torild Skogsholm, also has protested Ford's decision, calling it "incomprehensible." She notes that "we have use for the cars in Norway... and it's amazing that Norwegian-produced cars are being destroyed in California."

They're all furious over Ford's moves first to abandon its Norwegian electric car venture called "Think Nordic," and then to decide to crush the "Think City" cars that had been exported to the US, mostly to California to satisfy air pollution requirements in place at the time. When those requirements were eased, Ford had no more political need for its electric car venture and literally pulled the plug.

The little "Think" cars that Ford leased for a few years have a loyal following, however, and their drivers wanted at the very least to be allowed to buy them. Protests also have been held recently in the San Francisco Bay area to fight the move by Ford.

There also are long waiting lists for the cars in Norway, where officials have encouraged use of electric vehicles. But Ford has said it doesn't want any liability for the vehicles. Instead of shipping them back to the new owner of Think Nordic north of Oslo, the cars are being collected and destroyed.

'Unacceptable'

[Garry]

The big companies always try to run the world. I wonder if Gov. Arnold will get involved.

Jr.

[nacktman]

March 17th is Companies That Care Day, but I don't see FORD gettings any kudos this year. http://oakhurstonline.com/icon/wink3.gif

[RalphVa]

Ford, GM and now others are cashing in on the leaning towards bigger and bigger vehicles. Early on, a Ford CEO actually apologized for making the Excursion when it came out. However, even Nissan and Honda have gotten into the lucrative big truck market. These are trucks that are so impractical that you have to be at least about 7 to 8 feet tall to load and unload them from the side, which is easily done a 2wd small truck. Women need another step or running board to help them to get in and out of the vehicles. They're not women or little people friendly from the factory. Same goes for huge vans, like our church van. They're not that practical right out of the factory, just BIG.

The US and Canada will be a much better place when our best selling vehicle will be what are now small pickups. Our imported oil requirment could go to almost zero if the (probably 90%) people who could use small pickups bought them instead of those, impractical huge ones. We're two nations of gluttons.

[NudistGuy47]

Ford, who is facing massive monetary losses, is trying most anything to stem the flow of red ink. Although I do not condone the cancellation of the electric car, from a business viewpoint, I can understand the decision. At least Ford has discontinued the assembly of the Expedition. That is one less huge SUV on the roads.

[shãybare]

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What bothers me the most on this, is the fact they destroyed the vehicles rather than do something more productive with them.

[joeaguy]

Ah, I remember these cars. There used to be a program where you could lease one from new york state, and they would give you a free parking space at a train station, reduced monthly train faire, free charing at the train station, and a charger to use at home. These vehicles have a range of about 50 miles. The program was successful, especialy since the usual waiting list for a parking space at most stations is years long. Now those special spaces just sit empty with the chargers still there.

Its sad that Ford is going to destroy these vehicles but I'm sure its a liability issue. If they are allowed to continue to exist their maitenance responsibilities would be very costly, as well as legal liability for any problems. I think for a lot of reasons fully electric cars aren't really the answer. Remember the electricity for them needs to be made by some nasty power plant somewhere. Still it would be nice if they could continue to exist, but I doubt the law would let ford disclaim them.

On the good side ford I think is the only american auto maker to offer hybrids. I do think Ford is trying to do its part at least in some baby steps. They aren't in a industry that can act particularly quickly, and they have to deal with us dumb americans that want suvs. I think for the sake of the earth, its environment, and its economies, the big corporations need to be acting faster than they are, but I also think they are going to control the pace of such innovations in a way that maximizes their profit.