Dear Fellow Clean Car Supporter,

In this December issue we are offering you an opportunity to buy a gift membership and give a unique EV bonus gift to your loved one. I also share my experience with the new "love of my life." She is red and shiny with four jet black tires. And we are pleased as always to provide critical updates regarding our work. Thanks for reading and thanks most of all for all your continuing support.
Linda Nicholes, President

Holiday Giving

Looking for the perfect gift? Buy your special someone a one-year membership to Plug In America for just $50. With your gift-membership comes a choice of one of the following to be delivered by 12/25: 1) A DVD of "Who Killed the Electric Car?" 2) The book, "Plug-In Hybrids: the Cars that Will Recharge America" or 3) A unique blue aluminum Plug-in parking sign. The majority of your gift value is tax deductible. Your donation will help us continue our critical work to get plug-in cars on the road, to educate American consumers about their benefits, and to advise policy-makers about how to move our agenda forward.

Our Detroit Three Bailout Campaign Generates Thousands of Letters

We want above all thank all of our members and supporters for what you have done to prompt Washington legislators to grant automakers a short-term bailout with "strings attached".

In response to our action alert, Plug In America email subscribers sent nearly three thousand messages to their senators and representatives, insisting that any bailout package must require auto companies to manufacture fuel-efficient cars. By contacting fully two-thirds of our Congressional members, you made a difference with statements like this:

"Any bailout bill must require the money to go into retooling to produce plug-in hybrids and electric cars," wrote Douglas Smith, a magazine editor at CalTech in Southern California. "The technology exists to produce these cars today! All we need are the assembly lines." Doug points to one of America's great technological feats: when the nation entered World War II, its automobile industry converted into a powerhouse of aircraft production in a matter of months, helping to win the war. This decades-old achievement can help inspire new leadership and extinguish any doubt that Detroit can produce the efficient cars we need.

Send your own message if you haven't already done so, and please stay tuned. We may need your help again soon!

New Advisory Board

We are honored and delighted to announce the first four members of the new Plug In America Advisory Board:

• Tom Gage, president, AC Propulsion
• Alisa Gravitz, executive director, Green America (formerly Co-op America)
• Anne Korin, co-director, Institute for the Analysis of Global Security and chair, Set America Free
• Chelsea Sexton, co-founder of Plug In America and the Lightning Rod Foundation

Automakers Petition

If you haven't already, please add your name and spread the word about Plug In America's petition. It urges automakers to manufacture plug-in vehicles immediately.

Get Ready to Plug In, Tesla is Here - a message from Plug In America's president

On Nov. 12th, I turned the key to my sparkling new, radiant red Tesla Roadster and cautiously merged into 405 rush-hour traffic. After the car finally burst free from stop-and-go hell, the ride was glorious.

The ride's been glorious ever since. I've experienced crackling Tesla performance as well as an average 200-mile range through heavy- and light-footed driving. Nothing! and I mean NOTHING! beats a Tesla off the line. Could the car be a lightning bolt in disguise?

Please hold onto your Plug In America hats: You ain't seen nothing yet! As Tesla Motors' production of the first 100 Roadsters proves, new electric cars are here, they are real, and their numbers are about to grow exponentially, with Tesla leading the charge.
~ Linda Nicholes

Recent Board Member Activity

• Four members met with California Air Resources Board and California Energy Commission officials to make the case for AB118 funds to be directed toward getting more plug-ins on the road.
• Five members met with two Toyota of Japan executives, at Toyota headquarters in Torrance, CA, who asked for our experiences and opinions of driving their RAV4 EVs. This was a first. Usually, we're telling Toyota what we think without being asked. It's good to see that the tables are turning.
• Two members attended "Powering Sustainable Transportation," the Electric Drive Transportation Assn.'s annual convention, Dec. 2-4 in Washington D.C.
• Applied to take part in the Presidential Inaugural Parade in Washington D.C. on Jan. 20th (stay tuned for news).

From the Media Desk

In one day alone this month, PIA received four media calls requesting interviews. Yes, the reason for all the frenzy was the Detroit Three bailout, but can we just toot our EV horn for a minute? Clearly, Plug In America is the go-to nonprofit for comment on all things plug-in. Your continuing support makes our media outreach possible.

Letter to the Editor:

"Here in Albany, NY there was a car show at the Empire State Plaza. I printed out some of your flyers (trifold) yesterday and handed them to the reps of each car "brand" on display there. As I went down the line, I asked each one to please give us electric plug-in cars... NOW!? I said these are the cars Americans want and have wanted for more than a decade. I reminded them to please not support natural gas cars or cars that run on other wasteful fuel sources or on "corporate fuels," where we can be held hostage again by companies that control the prices of a fuel source. "I said I was ready to plug in a car and showed them a picture of my photovoltaic system. I told them it was unfair to ask for bailouts when they could have made plug-in cars all along. Inviting them to read your flyer, I reminded them that these are the cars Obama and Al Gore want us to drive! It was a blast - thank you for the resource to educate these guys (and yes, it was guys). Change IS what we need."
-Patrice McFarland