Cruisin' in fast and strong, the Auto Show makes its 103rd annual pit stop to Los Angeles this week, bringing along energy, technology, and, most importantly, opportunity to our city.
The automotive industry has always been linked to our City's economic health.
The Auto Show alone generates about 20% of the Convention Center's annual revenue, and auto dealers are the largest contributor of sales taxes--approximately $271 million--to the City's budget.
Oh, and the dealerships employ about 5,200 hard-working Angelenos.
But now the auto industry can be linked to our city's sustainability as well. This year, the Auto Show presents a unique moment of opportunity for us: we're standing at the forefront of the electric vehicle revolution, and it's time to transform LA from the car capital of the world, into the electric car capital of the world.
So today, I announced that the City of Los Angeles will be leveraging the LADWP's considerable resources to enhance our electric vehicle support grid, encourage Angelenos to purchase electric cars, and create good local jobs in our growing green economy.
Times are tough, so the DWP is offering an EV discount of 2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour to encourage EV owners to charge during off-peak, nighttime hours. In other words, a family who currently spends about $60 per week on gasoline for one car could pay as little as $15 on their electric bill by charging their vehicle over night.
Not only does this save money, it saves energy!
With automotive companies like Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and Fiat offering electric vehicle cars just a mere mile away at the Downtown Auto District, we can steer Los Angeles away from the unsustainable path of pollution, dependency, and waste, and turn towards a cleaner, greener future.
The manufacturers here today have made it clear: that Los Angeles is an early launch market for electric vehicle deployment.
So today, we are making a clear statement back: LA is ready for electric cars.