XP Vehicles Hires Lobby Firm for More Visibility in Washington

XP Vehicles Hires Lobby Firm for More Visibility in Washington

Date:8/26/2009 3:22:00 AM

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 25 // -- XP Vehicles, a California-based electric car company, has recently hired a Washington, DC lobbying firm -- Eye on Washington -- to give the company more visibility and a voice on Capitol Hill as well as keep up to date with respect to developments concerning the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program. XP Vehicles submitted an application to allow the company to complete vehicle engineering and plant construction and begin sales operations in the United States of its electric vehicles. "We needed someone to help the company track not only developments with respect to the ATVM loan program, but also the many other funding programs available for electric car companies to help move our country away from our heavy dependence on imported oil," stated Scott Redmond, the company's Chairman. "We also want to introduce our vehicle to Members of Congress and decision makers as another viable substitute for gas-guzzling cars," Redmond added.

Eye on Washington's president Janet Kopenhaver will serve as the company's lead lobbyist and has already been meeting with key Capitol Hill offices to discuss the many benefits of the XP Vehicles cars as well as brief them on the status of the company's ATVM loan application. "We are very excited to be representing XP Vehicles on Capitol Hill," Kopenhaver stated. "One of our goals is to drive one of these unique cars to Washington, DC and allow legislators see for themselves how safe and efficient they are," added Kopenhaver.

XP Vehicles submitted their $40M ATVM application in early November 2008 and has been in extensive due diligence review by the U.S. Government for the last seven months. The company was one of the first applicants to receive notification that their forms had been considered substantially complete. "While we fully realize that our vehicles are not the silver bullet to solving our energy problems, we do know that our car will be one of the safest electric vehicles because of our pressure membrane construction that has received hundreds of millions of dollars from NASA and the federal government in safety testing," Redmond asserted. "We are only asking for a chance to move forward in production and allow consumers to start saving money on fuel costs."

The Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Incentive Program (ATVM) was established under Section 136 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and administered by the Department of Energy (DOE). The ATVM is an incentive program which provides loans and grants to automobile and automobile part manufacturers for the cost of re-equipping, expanding, or establishing manufacturing facilities in the United States to produce advanced technology vehicles or qualified components, and for associated engineering integration costs. XP Vehicles cars, as well as the company's competitive technology in energy storage, batteries, power control, software and other modules, easily qualify for the small amount of loan guarantees requested in their application.

About XP Vehicles, Inc.
In development by Clever Industries LLC for nearly a dozen years, with millions of dollars in resources already invested, spin-out XP Vehicles, Inc., is on a mission is to develop the safest, most affordable vehicle with the lowest total cost of operation (TCO) and the best power-to-weight ratio powered by alternative energy. One of the company's advantages is that the vehicles have 70 percent less parts than a regular car, thus allowing XP to cut a lot of costs. Further, the company is using novel materials that require simpler factory devices making production and manufacturing easier and less expensive. All this adds up to an expected market price for these vehicles under $20,000. For more information on XP Vehicles, please visit www.myxpcar.com.

About Eye on Washington
This Arlington-based public policy firm was founded by Janet Kopenhaver almost fifteen years ago with the aim of providing clients with professional and results-driven representation on Capitol Hill and with Administration officials. The company stresses its individualized client service packages which offer clients and organizations services that uniquely fit their specific needs. For more information on Eye on Washington, please visit www.eyeonwashington.com.