Nov 26
Transport Canada and Montreal Gazette declare ZENN unsafe at low speeds!
What a nice hatchet job Transport Canada and The Montreal Gazette appear to be doing to the maker of the ZENN car.
If you missed it here is the article. and the link to the TC site.
Why am I not surprised that the Transport Canada spokesperson highlighted in Allison Lambert’s article today prefers to remain anonymous. Most of us that have been following the work of this Government group over the last year or so highly suspect their findings and their overall intentions.
Is the reporter not aware that these vehicles are allowed for use in British Columbia? Is the reporter not aware that Transportation Canada has “flipped-flopped” on the acceptability of ZENN vehicles several times over the last few years?
Why didn’t the reporter interview the likes of Kash Ram or other senior officials at Transportation Canada to understand and report the real story?
Why is Transport Canada and the Gazette spending so much time and effort to discredit ZENN. Are they being encouraged by the “Big Three” , their office towers full of overpaid lobbyists, and the millions of dollars of advertising revenues they fear losing?
What would happen to a motorcycle or scooter under the same situation? Are they recommending that motorcycles now be used exclusively on bicycle paths?
What about all the other Electric vehicles that Transportation Canada has approved for use and are being used in British Columbia?
By the way, does Transport Canada still have the Ford Van that was banned by the U.S. Safety Department 8 years ago and was involved in the recent deaths in New Brunswick on it’s ok safety list?
Maybe it is time to revisit why our hard earned tax dollars go into funding this Federal Department.
Maybe it is time to reallocate these resource dollars to the provinces, where they appear to belong.
November 26th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
If Zenn automobiles are unsafe for passengers and drivers at low speeds,then the following must apply:
Bicycles, Mopeds, Motorcycles should be disallowed.
Any one of the above can reach speeds of more than forty kilometers per hour.
They are presently on our roads with vehicles that are travelling at fifty kph plus.
Where were the Transport Canada Dingbats when the Ford Econoline was allowed to be licensed in New Brunswick while being banned in 41 American States?
It’s apparent that the Dingbatology of Lawrence(loose)Cannon has been transitioned to the present leaders in Transport Canada.
What other stumbling blocks are these blockheads considering.
Have they looked at the tricycle and kiddie car violations lately?
Can they and the Insurance Board not find any more immobilizers about which to complain?
Other than that I gave them a 0 on a score of ten.
Many may say they they really don’t deserve a zero and I agree, however, it was the lowest mark i could give.
November 26th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Hi Robert,
I don’t have much time right now but I wanted to respond to your initial letter. We’ve talked on several occasions and I think you know me to be a contentious reporter who does her homework.
But I must take umbrage with the points you outlined in your letter to me, which I don’t think are very fair and in some cases are flat-out wrong.
Apart from the headline, which I didn’t write, I think the story in today’s paper was very fair and as well researched as possible given my time constraints (under one day).
I am aware that low-speed electric vehicles are allowed in some MUNICIPALITIES in B.C. The provincial government there decided to allow each city to decide whether to permit these vehicles. In fact, Zenn does not sell its models in B.C. On a province-wide basis, Quebec is the only province in Canada that permits the use of electric vehicles, as per the pilot project I described.
I also did refer to the fact that thousands of these vehicles have been, and are on the road, in the United States.
As to your second point. If I had the luxury of time and access I would have interviewed Canada’s Transport Minister. But I had to work within the time constraints and the access constraints that I had. Believe me, if I had found conclusive evidence of a TC conspiracy against Zenn I would have eagerly printed that, but I didn’t. And I don’t suspect that you’ve found any either.
What would you have had me do? Ignore the existence of the video? Then I would have had readers shouting at me that I was ignoring concerns over public safety for the benefit of a manufacturer. While we may all share the environmental benefits of the Zenn, this is still a publicly-traded company with shareholders and earnings and commitments. Readers have the right to hear the most facts possible and make decisions for themselves.
While it is obvious to me – and to anyone who read my story – that Transport Canada and Zenn are at odds, I strongly disagree with your remark about “the Gazette spending so much time and effort to discredit ZENN.” Are we reading the same newspaper? I researched our archives for the last six months and found 4 stories about Zenn, including one of my own, published on Oct. 3 without a byline. All four stories were very positive toward Zenn. Other additional articles that made reference to the Zenn were equally favourable. I challenge you to find one story appearing recently in the Gazette that attacked the Zenn.
What’s more, I’m a bit skeptical about your insinuation that somehow the big auto-makers are out to get Zenn. If Zenn came out with its full-sized, City vehicle that can run at highway speeds, then you might be able to make that claim. But what are Zenn’s sales? I don’t know because the CEO won’t tell me, but I suspect they are quite marginal in Quebec. If there were over 40,000 electric vehicles sold in the U.S. Since 1996 (these are Zenn’s figures) what proportion is that of the entire U.S. auto industry? How many cars are sold in the U.S. each year? In 2006, there were close to 800,000.
As well, Transport Canada has approved Zenn as a low-speed electric vehicle. It does not regulate market access to these vehicles in Canada. Rather, it is up to each province to decide whether to permit electric vehicles to circulate, or not. In theory, what TC could do is require these vehicle-makers to have to pass crash tests like regular cars if they want to run on regular streets. But that would have to come from the politicians.
You make a valid point about the electric scooters and motorcycles. It’s one that the Zenn’s CEO has also made. Unfortunately, because of space constraints, I could not publish my entire interview with TC, or with Zenn in my article. I will undoubtedly follow up on this story and others pertaining to the car industry. Keep reading.
Warmest regards,
–
Allison Lampert
November 26th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Allison, Thanks for your reply. You have given me some food for thought. I know you well and I know you always do your homework, but often I hear that you or your colleagues are under time constraints and that is a shame.
It gives the impression that all your bosses want is an alarming story that can sell newspapers.
I agree with you that the story should not have been ignored. It is news and the public needs to be informed.
But, off the cuff remarks from an unknown source at Transport Canada should not be printed. If their management and team do not think enough of the report they submitted on their web site to stand behind it with their name rank and serial number then something is wrong.
How do we know that the person you discussed this issue with at Transport Canada has a bias towards GM and does not like Ian Clifford. How do we know that the person you discussed this issue with has just gone out and “shorted” the ZENN stock?
There needs to be more transparency.
May I suggest that you do a further story on what is really going on behind the scenes at Transport Canada.
Why do they lack so much transparency in the decision making and reporting process? Why do they favor U.S and International companies over Canadian entrepreneurs? When was the last time Transport Canada went out of its way to publish such a test on its web site?
The time for a full feature written by a top investigative reporter like you is overdo. But will your superior’s allow you to really do your job? It is time for the Gazette to come thru and let people know what is really going on. Please Do it before JE does it.
In summary, the main point of my issue was the “unknown source” and lack of transparency at Transport Canada. In my opinion the comments made by the Transport Canada official should not have been reported. That “they were designed for gated communities” is an odd statement at this point.
Can you just envision hundreds of seniors speeding thru gated communities in Florida crashing into each other at high speeds of 40 KMPH.
Thanks again for taking the time to clarify your position.
Cheers
Robert Lamb
P.S. from what I understand, ZENN is attempting to come out with a full sized electric vehicle that will compete with GM’s Volt, and it will be half the price. Makes me wonder what Transport Canada will do to stifle this initiative.
Why wouldn’t GM just take a couple of billion they are getting for managing the company into the ground and buy ZENN. Another issue.
November 27th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Dear Robert Lamb,
My apologies, I was out of the office at an off-site meeting yesterday and did not received your voicemail until this morning.
Thank you very much for raising the issues in this letter to the editor that we have tried to do (with Transport Canada) on numerous occasions, that is, that Highway capable vehicles are already sharing the road with bicycles, scooters, and motorcycles, all of which have safety standards appropriate to their class. If the ZENN had two wheels, we would not be having these discussions.
Kind Regards,
Catherine Scrimgeour
Communications Director
ZENN Cars
November 28th, 2008 at 1:17 am
I’d love to see a volt competitor with the polish, features and quality of a volt for half the price lmao..
Either way is there any smoking gun of the big 3, which is more like the big 2.5 paying off people to keep a vehicle down that for the most part is the answer to a question most people are not asking? Is it in their best interest to spend money they don’t have to keep glorified golf carts down? No offense but these aren’t and won’t be mainstream in any way shape or form - intriguing for their small market of automobilia of course..