Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Zap Called on the Carpet by Wired Magazine

Wired calls Zap a "Hype Machine" with a scathing article pointing to over a decade of broken promises, deceptive business practices, and a consistent shady use of its companies equity to pay debts.

Simple breakdown about Zap as described by the article:

They promised vehicles they couldn't get.

They assumed and claimed relationships with Chrysler they never had.

They took money in exchange for dealership territories and left their dealership network to fail without a true supply of alternative fuel vehicles.

Those vehicles they did deliver were electric and could not perform adequately to actually sell, were shodily put together, and were poorly supported by warranty.

Oh yeah - Warranty work was left unpaid and hanging as well.

All while continually paying people in ever greater issues of company stock.

So in short - the bad things you hear about electric vehicles - probably Zap.

I saw this the weekend the magazine came out. Wanted to do a post on it but found that Wired hadn't put it online yet. Came across the magazine this morning and remembered how significant this is. So much for Zap (though rumors, problems, and complaints had already been heard and well known in electric vehicle circles for a while now).

I called a friend of mine who was involved in the launching of EcoMotion (an EPA Smartway certified and electric vehicle dealership here in Portland, Oregon). His immediate comment was not one of surprise.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I interpreted the negative press to
be an evident, full blown, one-sided attack on ZAP. I am able to relate
to some of the obstacles and difficulties stated with my own experiences
but they are forgiven and forgotten as they are expected growing pains.
I kindly invite anyone in disbelief to interview me or enter my showroom
doors to see first-hand simple evidence that an Electric Vehicle
Dealership can be viable if done the right way.

Respectfully,

Jonathan Ortiz
Foreign Affairs
1681 North Military Trail
West Palm Beach, FL 33409
T: (561) 478.9999
F: (561) 689.7000
www.foreignaffairsauto.com