ZAP Names Respected International Trade Attorney and Businessman Gregory E. Kirkelie to Advisory Board

ZAP Names Respected International Trade Attorney and Businessman Gregory E. Kirkelie to Advisory Board

Kirkelie Experienced in Creation of Successful U.S. Business Relationships with Companies in Japan, China and Other Asian Countries

SANTA ROSA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 29, 2005--ZAP (PCX:ZAAP - News), pioneering the next generation of advanced transportation and energy technologies, announced today that veteran international trade attorney and successful businessman Gregory E. Kirkelie, Esq., has been named to its Advisory Board.

Mr. Kirkelie brings ZAP an extensive background in business and tax law, international trade, merchandising, advertising and real estate. He has specialized principally in tax practices in corporate and business, real estate and entertainment and has represented numerous publicly held and private businesses. Over the past 10 years, Mr. Kirkelie has been involved closely with Japanese associates very active in introducing new environmentally-friendly products and processes into the Asian marketplace. Mr. Kirkelie assists his associates by researching and recommending prospective U.S. manufacturers and suppliers.

"I am pleased to join ZAP's Advisory Board," Mr. Kirkelie stated. "I have been very impressed by the professionalism and commitment to excellence of everyone I have met at ZAP. ZAP is becoming increasingly recognized around the world as a leader in pioneering and advancing environmentally-friendly products, and I am excited to be able to participate in this exemplary endeavor."

In early 2004, Mr. Kirkelie formed Kirkelie Enterprises LLC for the purpose of engaging in international trade in conjunction with his Japanese, Chinese and Southeast Asian associates and contacts developed over a career of almost 30 years. He has traveled and continues to travel extensively to countries within those regions. Mr. Kirkelie is also a legal and business advisor to the Japanese-American Sports Federation, promoting exchanges and competition between Japanese and American youth teams in all sports.

"ZAP is very pleased to have Mr. Kirkelie's experience and talents in our corner, particularly as we expand our operations and relationships in Asia and throughout the world," said Steve Schneider, CEO of ZAP. "We believe Mr. Kirkelie will provide invaluable guidance in our efforts to identify valuable new business partnerships in the U.S. and abroad."

Among his many accomplishments, Mr. Kirkelie was one of the founding investors in GOTO.COM, which later changed its name to OVERTURE, which Yahoo acquired and uses as their highly successful "pay-for-performance" search engine.

While he was a partner in the law firm of Ervin, Cohen & Jessup, in Beverly Hills, Mr. Kirkelie was engaged as the General Counsel to what became one of the world's best known celebrity merchandising companies, responsible for negotiating worldwide licensing rights to the names and likenesses of many prominent celebrities and motion pictures for merchandising purposes, some of which included Elvis Presley, "Star Wars," "Rocky" (Sylvester Stallone), "Flash Gordon," "Superman" (Christopher Reeve), "Popeye" (Robin Williams), and various others. He negotiated numerous contracts with Warner Communications, Columbia Pictures, Universal, MGM, United Artists, 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures. He traveled extensively throughout the world, negotiating celebrity merchandise licensing contracts with major national and international manufacturing and service companies located in the United States and abroad.

Beginning in the late 1970s and for many years thereafter, Mr. Kirkelie represented Dentsu, Inc., the world's largest advertising agency, headquartered in Japan and with offices worldwide, as its legal counsel in the United States, negotiating the rights for celebrity endorsements of products manufactured and/or sold by Dentsu's clients. In addition to representing Dentsu, he assisted the Prefecture of Nagano, Japan, in winning selection as the site of the 1998 Winter Olympic Games. He has taught seminars for Japanese entrepreneurs and managers at American universities on how to do business in the United States under the sponsorship of JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization), the Japanese government's worldwide network to promote trade with and by Japanese companies.

Mr. Kirkelie graduated in 1970 from the University of Southern California School of Law, receiving his Juris Doctor degree with honors (Order of the Coif). He was admitted to the State Bar of California in early 1970. He joined Ervin, Cohen & Jessup, the largest and oldest law firm in Beverly Hills, in 1970, and was admitted as a partner in 1974. Mr. Kirkelie was active in the legal education community, and was a former Instructor in the University of Southern California School of Law's Advanced Professional Program, a lecturer and author for the University of Southern California School of Law's Tax Institute, and lecturer for the California Continuing Education of the Bar program.