Association for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles - Providing information on the commercialization and spread of electric vehicles.

To leave the beautiful Earth for our children in the future: this is our strong desire which has driven us to establish an organization to promote electric vehicles. The goal of the organization is to preserve the global environment and to realize a sustainable society. Now is the time for us to take action in order that the future generations, including our children and grandchildren, can continue living a healthy life in rich natural environment as we have, and we believe that this is our responsibility.

In addition to the major automobile companies, small to mid-size enterprises have also focused their knowledge on the development of the electric vehicles and are making remarkable achievements in recent years. With the Association for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles, we hope to assemble the wisdom and power of various organizations such as business corporations above, individuals, and research institutions, and to support the development, diffusion, promotion and subsequent commercialization of electric vehicles from general public's perspective.

It is our intention to acquire broad cooperation from people in positions throughout various industries to exert their influences in all directions. This will realize a world where many consumers consider electric vehicles among other candidates for personal transportation and actually select one. We would sincerely like to request you for the endorsement.

Chairman - Soichiro Fukutake,
Director and Chairman, Benesse Holdings, Inc.

Chief Commissioner - Nobuhiro Tajima,
Chairman and CEO, Tajima Motor Corporation

Commissioner - Hiroshi Fujiwara,
Representative Director, Nano-Optonics Energy, Inc.

Commissioner - Kohei Kusaka,
Professor, School of Engineering, University of Tokyo

The Earth is warming rapidly and disasters due to abnormal weather are occurring repeatedly all over the world. Global warming also alters the ecosystem of plants and animals, and biological diversity is beginning to be lost. The new world economy hailed by the growth of developing countries such as China, India, Russia and Brazil should be welcome. However, the rapid expansion of the market for internal combustion vehicles is also causing the destruction of the global environment and the exhaustion of energy resources due to the huge consumption of oil and other fossil fuels. In order to resolve these problems, the creation of new industries through the promotion of an environmental energy revolution is needed. Against this background and with the aim of realizing promptly a low-carbon society and leaving the beautiful Earth for our children in the future, we hereby announce the establishment of the Association for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles composed of the following executives on June 29, 2010. Our goal is to diffuse electric vehicles (EVs), to wage information campaigns, and to propose and maintain a new future environment brought about by EVs, from the perspective of the creation of a new EV industry.

This association aims to share information through creating a network of business entities, research institutions, and various organizations that are engaged in EV related business, research or promotion. We also encourage the entry of new and existing automobile manufacturers into the EV industry, while supporting activities to convert existing gasoline vehicles to EVs that are currently carried out on an individual basis. We will also make endeavors in social infrastructure outfitting for EVs through public relations and policy recommendations.