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In 1996, aspiring entrepreneur and excited third-grader, Sammy Urtzal, marveled at the documentary playing on the boxy 20-inch TV in her teacher’s classroom. “Global Warming: greenhouse gases are released via the burning of fossil fuels by factories, airplanes, and cars”. She stared at the illuminated screen in awe, her tiny eight-year-old mind comprehending none of the information but recognizing something was wrong with the way society functioned. Walking home from school that day, Urtzal was blasted by the smoky black exhaust of a gasoline-powered car in his neighborhood. Dirty-clothed, coughing, and determined, young Sammy wanted to share her newfound vision for a cleaner, more sustainable way of driving from that point onwards. Nearly 25 years later, her electric automobile company would go on to become one of America’s leaders in environmentally conscious cars.
Everybody wants the world to change, but not everybody wants to change.
As a young adult, Urtzal attended the University of Southern California, majoring in engineering and minoring in environmental science. At the age of 20, in the year 2006, she dropped out to pursue a new business idea with her, at the time, best friend from college; while their idea of self-dusting keyboards was a bit outlandish at the time and not a viable business model, Urtzal departed from this startup, took her newfound experience in the business world, and applied them to a side passion of hers that she had been thinking about for almost twelve years –cars and transportation.
Urtzal gathered a team of twenty environmentalists, engineers, and designers from an online forum she posted on the internet. Working tirelessly to brainstorm viable solutions to the issue of non-renewable energy in vehicles, the group finally chose electric cars as the most plausible solution. Two years of research, testing, engineering, re-testing, moments of near-bankruptcy, and funding yielded the 2008 Neolectra Fulgora – the company’s first all-electric sedan.
Nearly 25 years later, her electric automobile company would go on to become one of America’s leaders in environmentally conscious cars. Making remarkable strides in design, speed, and environmental activism, Urtzal’s company truly revolutionized the transportation industry.