July, 2000

Jim Carlucci sent the following comments to Sky News following their report on job losses at the Nissan car plant in Sunderland:

Sir/Madam,
Why are we all supposed to feel sympathy towards the UK's ailing Motor Industry? And why do the media refuse point blank, year after year, to ask questions about the PRODUCT itself that the carmakers continue to foist on us? An antiquated product, the Internal Combustion Engine, that costs £4 a gallon to fill up and fuel: a product that still continues to fill the nostrils and lungs of pedestrians, cyclists, babies in puschairs etc. with the noxious stench of exhaust fumes.

The greatest scandal however is that, even though Nissan's European Technology Centre is located in Sunderland, its excellent high performance cheap-to-run saloon-size *electric* Nissan Altra is perversely only being marketed, publicised and made available in the US (gas less than £1 a gallon) and Japan. The Nissan Altra costs about 1p a mile to charge up(1 tenth of cost of petrol power!!), has a top speed of 78 mph, 125 mile range, great acceleration and very low maintenance costs. The Toyota RAV4 electric, the second generation GM EV1, the Solectria Force, the Honda EV Plus all have similar performance but are also being steadfastly kept from these shores.

Carmakers - and YOU the car-lobbied media - refuse ABSOLUTELY to talk about vehicles like these - clean, high-performance, long-range, zero emission vehicles that actually *deserve* to be manufactured and promoted in the 21st Century. Thank God we now have a 21st Century source of information - ie. the internet, that does not rely on car-ad sponsorship and - unlike SKY and the rest of the traditional media - is not forever grovelling to automotive vested interests. When it comes to the car, petrol price campaigns etc. I'm afraid that many of us take your "news" agenda with a yawn and a very BIG pinch of salt...
Yours, Jim CARLUCCI