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Southern Co. Implements Largest Corporate EV Lease Program in US

April 06, 1999 by Jeff Shepard

Southern Co. (Atlanta) is implementing what it calls the largest corporate electric vehicle lease program in the United States, whereby 400 electric vehicles will be leased to employees at an affordable price over the next four years. The company plans to lease at least 100 vehicles each year for four years, bringing the total number of EVs in the firm's fleet to almost 600 by the year 2003. "We have two goals for this program," stated Southern Co. Chairman, President and CEO A.W. Dahlberg. "We want to help create the mass market for automakers to produce electric vehicles nationally and help clean the air by removing the tailpipe emissions of hundreds of cars from roadways."Employees of the Southern Company and its largest subsidiary, Georgia Power, will be able to choose from the Ford Ranger electric truck or the GM EV1. The pickup will be leased for $150 month, and the GM EV1 will lease for $200 per month, with payments automatically deducted from employees' paychecks.