Thrift Aims to Charge Image with Electric Car

Hawthorne Financial Corp. wants to electrify its customer base. Literally.

In a public relations move, the El Segundo, Calif., thrift has leased one of General Motors' new EV1 electric cars as its official company vehicle. The hope is that the car, which will be used for delivering documents and other bank business, will also drum up some favorable publicity.

The $847 million-asset thrift has also opened up public electric-car charging stations at its headquarters and one of its branches. And it's free: There's no charge to recharge.

"Community banking is a lot of things, but part of it is just being involved in the community in unique ways so that people notice you," said executive vice president David Hardin. The car is "cheap advertising," he said. "It makes people realize that you're different."

No other California financial institution has made such a move, though one of the biggest is considering it, according to officials at Edison EV, which distributes the vehicle-charging systems.

"If you want to find an interesting way to get attention to yourself, that's certainly a positive one," said David M. Partridge, director of financial institutions practice at Towers Perrin in San Francisco. "The real question is: Can they translate that into short-term economic impact for their shareholders? A lot of the next-generation trends happen in California first. This wouldn't happen anywhere else."

The move also demonstrates the extent to which banks and thrifts will go to jazz up their stodgy public images and differentiate themselves.

"It's a new marketing tool, and a great service to provide, and something that the public is very receptive toward," said Julie Goldstein, manager of charging infrastructure at Edison EV, a subsidiary of Edison International. "Many organizations are starting to be more interested in providing public charging because they see the value it can bring to their organization."

Mr. Hardin noted that using the car, with the thrift's logo on its side, is far cheaper and more effective than traditional newspaper or billboard advertising.

"For my $6,000 a year, I've gotten a lot of mileage out of the advertising vehicle, as we like to call it," Mr. Hardin said. "You pull into a parking lot, and people ask you questions, and the bank's logo is right there. It takes time, but that's what getting yourself known in the community is all about."

Since Dec. 5, when General Motors made the EV1 available to the public in Southern California and Arizona, 166 cars have been leased in the two states.

About 16 vehicles have been leased by businesses like Hawthorne; the rest were leased by individuals, utility companies, and governments. Most charging stations are at the drivers' homes, but 75 are at public sites.

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