The case for electric transportation.

The emerging electric vehicle industry holds the promise of addressing a host of Southern California's most pressing problems, including poor air quality and unemployment. Electric vehicles (EVs) are 97% cleaner than gasoline-powered vehicles, even when factoring in emissions from power plants that charge the cars. They would reduce pollutants in the Los Angeles Basin, which now has the worst air quality in the nation.

Manufacturing EVs could generate 70,000 new jobs in California by 2010, restoring health to an economy weakened by the cutbacks in aerospace and defense industries. They would position Los Angeles as a leader in a cutting-edge technology with global appeal and provide cleaner, cheaper transportation options for Los Angeles-area commuters.

For Los Angeles-area business people, there's also another factor to consider: Most businesses have been laboring for years to meet rules on disposal of wastes and reduction of emissions, yet about two-thirds of the air pollutants come from mobile sources, including cars, trucks, trains, ships and planes. Successful EV commercialization can achieve significant mobile source pollution reduction, thus relieving pressure on stationary sources to reduce emissions further.

Recognizing the air quality benefits of EVs, the California Air Resources Board has passed regulations requiring that by 1998, 2% of all vehicles offered for sale in California must be zero-emission. Today, only electric vehicles meet this criteria, although many other technologies are developing. Furthermore, a group of regulators representing 12 Northeastern states and the District of Columbia voted to have the Environmental Protection Agency impose many of the same tough California emission standards on them.

These states, together with California, are home to slightly more than 50% of the nation's population, clearly adding impetus to the effort to make alternative-fueled vehicles a part of our transportation system before the turn of the century.

Currently, there are many commercial applications for EVs, including delivery vans, fleet cars, shuttle buses, trolley buses, school buses, airport ground vehicles for food and baggage handling, and off-road vehicles, such as forklifts, tow tractors, golf carts and material handling vehicles.

Virtually every automaker -- large and small, domestic and foreign -- is involved to some degree in developing EVs. Ford has a fleet of EVs being tested that go 90 mph, have quick acceleration, and travel 120 miles per battery charge. Later this year, Edison and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) will team up to kick-off a two-year field test of GM's sporty Impact electric car.

Consumers have demonstrated tremendous interest in EVs as evidenced by the volunteers to take GM's Impact for a test drive. In Los Angeles, nearly 10,000 responses were received, although only about 4,000 were expected. In New York, 14,000 responses were received, with only 5,000 expected.

Efforts are now being focussed on overcoming two major obstacles to greater public acceptance of EVs -- higher purchase price and limited range.

Combined government incentives of tax credits and exemptions is expected to lower the purchase price of early EVs by $4,000 to $6,000. In time, mass production is expected to make EVs cheaper than gasoline cars to buy, own and operate.

Limited range, however, appears to be more perception than reality. With a current range of 50 - 120 miles between battery charges, electric vehicles easily meet the distance requirements of 90% of daily commuters in metropolitan areas, such as Los Angeles.

Many households would be satisfied with less than 100 miles of range. According to a study by Dr. Daniel Sperling of the University of California, Davis, half the households interviewed indicated that, after reviewing their travel patterns of the previous week and reflecting on their occasional long trips, they needed only 50 miles or less of range for their electric car, and that 90 miles would be comfortable under almost all circumstances.

A 1992 survey of Californians -- 70% of whom were aware of electric cars' limited range -- reported that more than 60% expressed an interest in buying an electric car and were willing to pay slightly more to do so.

To help its customers enter the new era of transportation, Edison has asked the California Public Utilities Commission for approval of a sweeping package of programs designed to further promote the commercialization of electric vehicles and develop an EV infrastructure. Edison has asked the CPUC for approval to:

* Install the necessary recharging equipment in the homes of new electric vehicle owners within 72 hours of the purchase of the vehicle.

* Provide rates for charging EVs that give significant savings for recharging overnight, ranging from 4 to 4.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.

* Build prototype recharging stations in public and employee parking lots, malls and other convenient sites.

Because charging will occur primarily at night during off-peak hours, Edison and the LADWP can accommodate about 1 million vehicles without building new power plants, thereby spreading fixed costs and reducing the average cost per kilowatt-hour for all Edison customers, whether they drive an EV or not.

The yearly fuel costs for a 25-mpg gasoline-powered car, assuming 15,000 miles and gasoline at $1.25 per gallon, would be $750 -- or 5 cents per mile. A comparable EV fuel cost, with today's technology and an electric rate of 4.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, would be $303.75 a year -- or only 2 cents per mile.

Maintenance and repair for EVs will cost less, too, because they have far fewer moving parts than an internal combustion engine.

The forces driving the emerging electric transportation industry provide California with an economic opportunity it badly needs. An EV-related market of several billion dollars is projected for California by the turn of the century, along with 70,000 EV-related jobs by the year 2010.

Already, a consortium of utility, industry, government, labor, and environmental organizations, CAL-START, is promoting the development of advanced transportation technologies by transferring skills and technologies from the shrinking aerospace and defense industries to the alternative transportation field.

Clearly, electric transportation is a way to help resolve Southern California's most pressing problems -- a sluggish economy, congested free-ways and poor air quality. As a result, it offers the promise to improve California's quality of life and help California reclaim its reputation as an excellent place to work, live and do business.

Diane Wittenberg is manager of the Electric Transportation Division for Southern California Edison Company.