How Plug-in Hybrids Tackle National Security, Jobs and Global Warming

Thu, Sep 22
4:00pm-6:00pm
free

Five years ago, most people didn't know what a hybrid car was. The
few who did saw it as a narrow niche product. Today, hybrids are
reaching the mainstream. The automakers who were skeptics are
scrambling to catch up with their customers.

Yet as good as they are, despite their batteries and motors, hybrids
remain more efficient all-gasoline cars. People concerned about
global warming, energy security, and revitalizing the auto industry
are working to add a next evolution to cars: a second power source.
Now "plug-in hybrids" (PHEVs) that power drivers' daily local
commutes with cleaner, cheaper, domestic electricity are no longer a
theoretical possibility. This year, CalCars' PRIUS+ conversion,
following pioneering work at the Electric Power Research Institute
(EPRI, in Palo Alto) and prototypes built at UC Davis, brought a
national spotlight to a little-known available-now solution, using
existing technology.

Since then, efforts by CalCars.org and others have generated support
for PHEVs beyond the usual suspects to such diverse sources as
national security "hawks," utility fleet managers, auto industry
observers and Senators from Republican Hatch to Democrat Obama.
Entirely new players joining the effort include: EDrive Systems, a
company that will sell after-market conversions; Plug-In Austin, a
soon-to-go-national campaign by utilities and city governments; Plug
In America, a coalition of environmentalists and electric vehicle
advocates; the Advanced Hybrid Vehicle Development Consortium, a
trade association of component makers; and Set America Free, energy
security advocates. The goal: to motivate automakers to build PHEVs.

Felix Kramer sees PHEVs as the keystone component of a strategy to
address global warming both nationally and internationally. He
envisions millions of cars, charged from off-peak electricity from a
modernized grid and from distributed photovoltaic and wind power,
with the "range extension engine" powered by zero-carbon cellulose
ethanol, as a way to significantly reduce the more than 30% of
greenhouse gases that come from transportation.

Felix Kramer describes CalCars' 2002 founding as a nonprofit startup
in Palo Alto. Formed by entrepreneurs, engineers and consumers,
involved both in advocacy and technology development, CalCars draws
energy from online communities, emphasizes market-based solutions and
harnesses multiple tools to build buzz. He explains CalCars' focus on
early adopters and a fleet market that will expand as state,
international and eventually, federal efficiency and carbon
requirements are phased in. He describes a plan in development to
spin off a for-profit company to partner with an automaker.

In the parking lot after the talk, CalCars Technology Lead Ron
Gremban will demonstrate and offer drives in CalCars' PRIUS+,
converted through an Open Source-style collaboration

Felix Kramer is a startup executive with experience in
communications, marketing, business development and strategy. In
2001, he sold eConstructors.com (marketplace for web development) and
began advising Rocky Mountain Institute/Amory Lovins' Hypercar Inc.,
which led to the launch of CalCars. Previously, Kramer was an early
online marketer starting in 1994. One of the first desktop publishers
beginning in 1985, he co-authored "Desktop Publishing Success," (Dow
Jones-Irwin,1990), the first book on the business side of electronic
publishing. During several decades in New York City, he was a
Congressional legislative aide, ran a nonprofit energy conservation
services company, created a trade association for association for
conservation businesses, directed a three-day citywide solar energy
event and wrote investigative exposes of computer and health trade
schools. A graduate of Cornell University; for more details of his
resume, click here. He presents his big-picture views at his blog,
Power, Plugs and People.

Venue:

Palo Alto Research Center (formerly Xerox PARC)
George Pake Auditorium, 3333 Coyote Hill Road
Palo Alto, CA
650-812-4000
http://www.parc.com/events/forum/default.php

From 101 North and South

* Exit Embarcadero/Oregon Expressway
* Follow signs to Oregon Expressway
* Oregon Expressway will become Page Mill Road
* Continue on Page Mill Road
* Left on Coyote Hill Road [small street sign, if you reach 280,
you have gone too far]
* PARC is on the left, just past the crest of the hill

From Rte 280 South
* Exit at Page Mill Road; head East (downhill)
* Right on Coyote Hill Road (second street, watch for a small
street sign)
* PARC is on the left, just past the crest of the hill

Main Lobby

Upon entering the parking lot, veer left (up the hill) to the
visitor's parking lot. The main lobby is to the right as you drive to
the parking area.

Additional Info:

http://www.parc.com/cms/get_article.php?id=483