Yesterday I read
Action - Pasadena Blocks Electric Car Crushing by harrier and promised to go to Pasadena to take a look.
Being an Angeleno, electric cars are something I care about. I also care about the environment, energy independence and new technologies. The Nissan Hyperminies operated by the City of Pasadena intrigued me very much.
So today I went to Pasadena. My plan was simple; interview John Hoffner, the man who blocked Nissan from recovering "their" cars, take pictures and publish a diary.
My plan got derailed from the beginning, when I asked for John Hoffner, Water and Energy Conservation Manager at Pasadena Water and Power, I was told he was on a well deserved vacation for a couple of weeks.
To get past the gate where Nissan was stopped you needed an appointment.
A couple of Jedi moves later I was inside the Transportation Yard of the City of Pasadena.
And in one of the buildings I hit pay dirt, three Nissan Hyperminis being serviced.
There I met Jeff Wong who actually maintains the very cute electric mini SUVs.
Jeff told me he needs no help from Nissan to maintain these electric cars. Nissan's main argument for not wanting to sell these Hyperminis at any price to the City of Pasadena is that it is too costly for them to maintain them.
Bullshit! Mr. Carlos Goshn (Nissan CEO)
Notice the Hyperminis have the steering on the Japanese side (Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Australian, New Zealand and British side).
Shockwave having some fun getting his hands on what Nissan could not.
Another great guy in the motor pool. These guys keep them going and they are all very proud of their work.
Eventually I could sense a disturbance on the force so I had to leave.
I hope that those of you who want to do contact Paul Scott at Plug In America who is helping organize a resistance to Nissan.
And I hope John Hoffner returns from his vacation so that he and Bill Bogaard, the Mayor of Pasadena, can firm up their defense of the last of the Hyperminies before they get crushed like all other electric cars.