Steve Schneider Listed Among Green Technology Leaders of North Bay

Congratulations to ZAP Jonway Co-CEO Steve Schneider for being listed in the North Bay Business Journal’s list of 46 leaders in the Green Technology business community. Published in the March 21 issue of the North Bay Business Journal, the report highlights 46 North Bay professionals in various fields who have been leading development and implementation of environmentally sustainable technologies, such as solar electric and geothermal energy, erosion control for better stream water quality and energy-efficient construction.

ZAP Jonway Co-CEO Steve Schneider

Other notable inclusions to the list, to name just a few, are Mike Benziger of Benziger Family Winery, Grant Davis of the Sonoma County Water Agency, Greg Fowler of Constellation Wines, Ann Hancock of the Climate Protection Campaign, John Kennedy of Autodesk, and John Schaeffer of Real Goods Solar.

Schneider said his interest in electric cars and green technologies started at an early age.  When he was very young, his parents moved the family away from the hectic urban-lifestyle of New York to raise their children on the undeveloped island nation of Roatan off the coast of Honduras. Schneider said he was literally cut off from civilization, with no running water, no electricity, no television, no radio, no roads and no cars.  It helped him develop an appreciation for the environment which he still carries to this day. Ironically, his father was the first person to introduce a motor vehicle to Roatan, a moment Schneider remembers fondly and one that apparently made an indelible impression upon him throughout his career.  After moving back to the United States, Schneider’s first job was working at an auto dealership at the age of 17.

More:

• North Bay Business Journal: Spotlight: Leaders in Green Technology
• Biography: Steve Schneider, Co-CEO of ZAP Jonway

Earth2Tech’s Green Overdrive Visits ZAP Electric Vehicles

Al Unser Jr. being interviewed at ZAP by Earth2Tech

A video production team from Earth2Tech Media’s Green Overdrive came out to ZAP on Monday to test drive our latest vehicles and meet ZAP Alias XPRIZE driver Al Unser Junior.  Katie Fehrenbacher and Chris Albrecht also caught up with ZAP CEO Steve Schneider and Founder Gary Starr.

Fehrenbacher acknowledged that ZAP is one of the oldest electric vehicle companies out there and asked Starr about ZAP’s initial approach.  Starr said ZAP started in 1994 by focusing on affordable electric vehicles, introducing electric bicycles, scooters, ATVs, trucks, then eventually cars.  During the segment Fehrenbacher has some fun on ZAP’s smallest EV, the wheel motor driven ZAPPY3 electric scooter.

ZAP also presented its new project with China’s Jonway Auto, an all electric SUV project launched a year ago.  Fehrenbacher brought up ZAP’s recent acquisition agreement to acquire a majority share in Jonway Auto with the right to acquire the rest by next year.  They went for a drive at freeway speeds in the ZAP Jonway all electric A380, a test drive eerily reminiscent of a video taken in December 2009.  Fehrenbacher asked how fast the electric SUV goes and ZAP engineer Joe Rajakaruna pointed out that they have never focused on top speeds, because for ZAP’s target market the focus is to comfortably travel freeway speeds, and indeed at minute 2:30 in the video Fehrenbacher estimates they easily reach 60 MPH.  The ZAP Jonway electric A380 is the official electric vehicle of the U.S. Pavilion at the World Fair in Shanghai.

Steve Schneider

Later Fehrenbacher caught up with CEO Steve Schneider, touching on media reports critical of ZAP’s “failures” in delivering electric vehicles, a question that completely ignores the fact that ZAP has delivered over 117,000 of a broad range of electric vehicles from bikes, to scooters, to trucks.

Q: Katie Fehrenbacher: You talk a little bit about being misconstrued as a marketing company and a little bit about some of ZAP’s failures – SS: Mis-categorized — in being able to scale up manufacturing wise and I think there’s been a variety of dates missed on commercial productions that’s been widely reported…”

A: Steve Schneider: And I don’t think if you looked at any other auto manufacturer that is introducing a vehicle, that the dates that we targeted, (and we’re not a manufacturer; we had the contracts but we had third parties to deal with besides ourselves, but I don’t think you could come up with a manufacturer that hasn’t come out with a product that has missed their target date and had control of their manufacturing), we never had control of our manufacturing, so we always gave the target dates that our contract manufacturers had given to us.  And so, because of those things and missing those target dates, we focused very heavily in the last 18 months to have our own manufacturing capacity so that we can control that.  We still might miss a target date like everyone else, but at least we’re in control of it, we were not in control of it before.

Despite the inquiry on ZAP’s ability to deliver electric vehicles, there is no mention in Green Overdrive’s video of its most popular EV currently, the ZAP XL electric truck.  ZAP recently sold a small fleet of electric trucks to the City of Riverside.  Likewise, there was no mention of ZAP’s engineering contract with the U.S. Postal Service to convert one of its Long Life Vehicles to run on electricity. Obviously there is much more going on at ZAP than you can cover in a 5 minute video.  You can watch a 30 minute tour of ZAP by Steve Schneider on YouTube that covers the XL truck and USPS contract.

Al Unser Jr. with the ZAP Alias electric car

Finally, Fehrenbacher interviewed Al Unser Jr., two-time winner of the Indy 500 and co-driver for the ZAP Alias team entered in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE.

Katie Fehrenbacher: So you’re doing this partly for environmental reasons, becoming a do-gooder after a lifetime of driving race cars.

Al Unser Jr.: I’m doing this mainly to develop the automobile in the area of alternative fuels and getting away from the addiction to the petroleum products.

KF: What do you think of it compared to a gas based car?

AU: I loved it , the major difference first and foremost is how quiet it is; there’s just no sound coming out of it. And it’s instant power, I noticed that the torque is very high on it, when you drive the car, it drives just like a regular car, except again for how quiet it is, it’s just super quiet.

KF: You think that’s a good thing, you don’t miss the big, booming engines?

AU: Not at all.

Learn more about the ZAP Alias Team entered in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE on their Team Blog.

See more at Earth2Tech’s Green Overdrive.

Army of One Makes Electric Truck Fleet a Reality

April 20, 2010 – The U.S. Army this Earth Day gave out its highest individual environmental award to the person responsible for deploying ZAP trucks on a military base in Korea, Environmental Chief Robert J. Chartier.

Mr. Robert J. Chartier, the former environmental division chief at the Army's Daegu Korea installation, captured the individual award in the environmental quality category of the FY 2009 Secretary of the Army Environmental Awards Program. Chartier competed with teams and individuals from across the Army for this honor and was the only individual Army environmental award winner this year.

According to a press release, “Mr. Robert Chartier captured the individual award in the environmental quality category of the FY2009 Secretary of the Army Environmental Awards Program… Chartier competed with teams and individuals from across the Army for this honor; the only individual Army award bestowed this year.”

Other military bases have followed Chartier’s example with electric truck purchases of their own.  Fleet operators like the greater payload and save hundreds of dollars a week by using the energy efficient trucks for jobs in which a larger gas truck isn’t needed.  Several large EV fleet operators have acquired ZAP electric trucks and vans in the past year.

Designs for an all-electric SUV in partnership with Jonway Auto of China are now available in China for government, corporate and taxi fleets.  ZAP is in talks with distribution partners in places like Korea to further expand distribution in Asia.

Chartier did much more than implement electric vehicle technology, he created a multifaceted plan that included community outreach, environmental awareness events, such as the Earth Day 5K, tree planting, environmental displays at the Armed Forces Day Open house, developing the first International Organization of Standardization 14001 environmental management system for an overseas base, an improved waste and recycling program, and a wetland restoration project at Camp Carroll in Daegu.  Read below and follow the links to learn more about the amazing accomplishments of Robert J. Chartier.  Thank you, Chief!

Press Release from U.S. Army Environmental Command:

U.S. Army Environmental Quality Award Nomination Pictures ZAP Electric Truck

Chartier was recognized for his superb management of all environmental program areas for the Daegu garrison. “It’s always an honor to be recognized, especially at this level; however, many of these achievements would never have been possible had it not been for the outstanding support I received from my entire environmental staff and the Daegu garrison leadership who supported my vision for the direction of the environmental program.

From Award Nomination: “Mr. Chartier conducted research with the garrison Directorate of Logistics and received approval from the command to purchase a small fleet of Zero Air Pollution (ZAP) electric trucks to help the command meet its fleet vehicle managemetn goal.  The ZAP electric truck, a small pickup truck used on USAG Daegu, performs better than the Neighborhood Electric Vehicles issued to installations in the continental U.S.  The installation purchased five trucks, providing them to the Fire Inspector, Department of Public Works, Environemtnal Division and the Safety Office.  These replaced the gasoline-fueled non-tactical vehicles currently in use.”

From recycling to wetland restoration to electric vehicles, Chartier’s vision was felt throughout the garrison, and even outside the gates.

Below is a video of our XL truck, similar to the ones now being used in Korea.

ZAP Delivers Fleet of Electric Trucks

Mayor Ron Loveridge accepts keys to one of the new electric vehicles purchased from Ramon Alvarez, owner of Alvarez ZAP.

New Dealership Alvarez ZAP Makes Sale to City of Riverside

SANTA ROSA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Electric vehicle pioneer ZAP (OTCBB:ZAAP – News) today announced that its newest dealer, Alvarez ZAP, has opened in Riverside, California and will be serving commercial and government markets throughout the entire Inland Empire.

Alvarez ZAP has delivered its first shipment of six electric trucks to the City of Riverside during a Grand Opening press conference last week. While accepting keys to one of the vehicles, Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge said, “Today we take another step forward in the greening of Riverside by transitioning from gas to electrically operated vehicles. We are proud to add ZAP trucks to our fleet.”

Dealer president, Ramon Alvarez is widely recognized as one of the leading Hispanic entrepreneurs in the Inland Empire through his long time affiliation with Lincoln, Mercury and Jaguar. Also attending the Grand Opening were six City Councils members and the City Manager as well as Joel Ayala representing the Governors’ office of Economic Development.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Alvarez to the New Motor Vehicle Board in March 2007 and Alvarez is now a Vice President of that organization. He stated, “As a member of the New Motor Vehicle Board, I have seen the evolution of alternative energy vehicles to the point where they are moving into the automotive mainstream and I believe ZAP represents the best opportunity to capitalize on that trend.”

Commenting on Alvarez’s decision to become the newest ZAP electric vehicle dealer, ZAP CEO Steven Schneider said, “Ramon has passion and understanding…he genuinely gets it. He knows the importance that new energy vehicles play today and in the marketplace of tomorrow.”

About ZAP

ZAP is one of the world’s oldest and most experienced electric vehicle providers, having delivered over 117,000 of a broad range of vehicles to more than 75 countries since 1994. ZAP supplies electric trucks and vans to military, government and corporate fleets and is an innovator of electric motorcycles, scooters and ATVs. The Santa Rosa, California based company offers some of the only electric city-speed cars and trucks in production today and is leveraging its accrued technology know-how in developing a cost effective high-speed electric car called the ZAP Alias. Further news and information is available at https://zapglobal.wordpress.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, continued acceptance of ZAP’s products, increased levels of competition, new products and technological changes, ZAP’s dependence upon third-party suppliers, intellectual property rights and other risks detailed from time to time in the ZAP’s periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Contact:

ZAP
Alex Campbell, +1-707-525-8658 ext. 241
Corporate Communications
acampbell@zapworld.com
or
Pat Meier Associates Public Relations, for ZAP
Pat Meier-Johnson, 415-389-1700
patmeier@patmeier.com