Chelsea Sexton
Encyclopedia
Automotive industry
The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue....
at the age of 17 after buying her first Saturn. She wanted to put herself through college by working at Saturn, but she ended up finding that she loved the cars more than what she was studying, so when General Motors announced the EV1
General Motors EV1
The General Motors EV1 was an electric car produced and leased by the General Motors Corporation from 1996 to 1999. It was the first mass-produced and purpose-designed electric vehicle of the modern era from a major automaker, and the first GM car designed to be an electric vehicle from the...
electric vehicle
Electric vehicle
An electric vehicle , also referred to as an electric drive vehicle, uses one or more electric motors or traction motors for propulsion...
program three years later, she jumped on it. Focusing on building a market for alternate-fuel vehicles through partnerships with corporate and non-profit stakeholders, shaping public policy and incentives, developing marketing strategies, and working directly with the drivers themselves, Sexton became well known as an advocate for clean, efficient, transportation.
Sexton was laid off at the end of 2001 when General Motors closed their EV1 assembly line. She became a consultant to auto manufacturers and clean energy providers helping bring alternate fuel vehicles to market, as well as increasingly clean ways to power them. In 2005, Sexton joined the X PRIZE Foundation and led the creation of a prize effort, which to deal with both energy and automobiles. In 2006, she managed an alternative fuel division for the Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
based start-up Zag.com and also serves as the Executive Director of Plug In America
Plug In America
Plug In America is a 501 non-profit educational organization that promotes and advocates the use of plug-in cars, trucks and sports utlilty vehicles powered by domestic and renewable electricity which it claims will help reduce dependence on fossil fuels, improve the global environment and...
, a coalition of individuals and organizations that advocates for the preservation and manufacture of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and electric vehicles.
Since then, she has gone on to become the founder of the Lightning Rod Foundation.
Chelsea is one of the key individuals interviewed in the 2006 documentary film Who Killed the Electric Car?
Who Killed the Electric Car?
Who Killed the Electric Car? is a 2006 documentary film that explores the creation, limited commercialization, and subsequent destruction of the battery electric vehicle in the United States, specifically the General Motors EV1 of the mid 1990s...
She is married to Bob Sexton, a former EV1 service technician. She also has a 13 year old son named Christopher
External links
- Plug In America
- http://www.urbanitebaltimore.com/sub.cfm?issueID=73§ionID=4&articleID=1238
- Myspace page
- Exclusive Q&A with Chelsea Sexton about the EV1, why the Prius gets a 'C, and who really killed the electric car (2006)
- Mother Jones Power Q&A: Chelsea Sexton (2008)
- Reviving the electric car: An interview with Chelsea Sexton (2009)
- Chelsea Sexton weighs in on EVs/PHEVs and solar (2010)
- The Geekcast #207 – Chelsea Sexton Interview