My wiki - User contributions [en]

2007 Maker Faire

2007-05-29T19:55:44Z

Felixkramer: Modified photo captions

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[http://www.makerfaire.com http://www.makezine.com/blog/makerfaire.jpg]
See also our 2006 [[Inaugural Maker Faire]] page.

[[Image:IMG 1171.jpg|thumb|left|500px|The Make Faire team: left to right, Ron Gremban, Jim Bernard, Carolyn Coquillete, Chris Ewert, Walt Ferris , Nick Rothman, Cody Philippi, Robb Protheroe, Tom Driscoll, Felix Kramer, Jim Philippi. Not shown: Randy Reisinger, Ailian Chong, Amanda Kovattana, Marc Geller, Fraser Smith.]]


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== Pre EVent Messages ==
=== From Felix ===
We're a bit last minute in announcing this, hope you can come help.
Below is the announcement I just posted to [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/calcars-news/ CalCars-News].

To help with the tens of thousands of people coming by, we could use:
* 1 or two people to help with Friday work area set-up
* Before the event, anyone who uses Adobe InDesign for some help updating posters etc.
* A large supply of "Why Plug-In Cars" (I keep running out) and any Bay Area EAA chapter info
* 1 volunteer for Sat and 1 for Sun exclusively responsible for holding up Sherry's book, being a talking blurb, and selling it (could be 1 person for both days)
* 1 or 2 volunteers for our Public Education/PR Team; doesn't have to be both days; we're short on Saturday (our Tech Team is set)
* Of course, the invitation at the end applies to all members...

If you can help, please write back and change subject line to indicate how!
Thanks, Felix

SUBJECT: Next Weekend: Public PHEV Conversion@Maker Faire San Mateo:
Bigger & Better Year 2

This second annual event, twice as large as last year, includes
amazing projects, demonstrations, workshops and presentations. Here's
how O'Reilly Media, its organizers, describes it: "A two-day,
family-friendly event that celebrates arts, crafts, engineering,
science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset. It's for
creative, resourceful folks who like to tinker and love to make
things. We call them Makers." Join us at the Maker Faire, Saturday
May 19, from 10-6 and Sunday May 20 from 10-5 at the San Mateo
Fairgrounds.. Save $5 on the $15/day/$20/weekend admission (lower for
students and kids) by buying tickets online <http://www.makerfaire.com>.

At this ultimate Invention/Conversion/Do-It-Yourself event, CalCars
will convert a Prius into a PHEV for the second time. Everything will
be in public view, with a technical and an educational crew
explaining what's going on, and, if our experience last year is a
model, dodging the TV and private videographers and tech paparazzi
covering the event.

Our general description below, the brief listing at
http://makerfaire.com/pub/e/339 are complemented by Ron Gremban's
announcement of the event at <http://www.eaa-phev.org/maillist/eaa-phev.html?go=1&show=2007./5./56>.
This conversion ties into both the late stages of the Electric Auto
Association-PHEV "Do It Yourself with technical help" Project and
CalCars' planned spin-off of a for-profit PHEV conversion company.

The EAA-PHEV PROJECT CONNECTION (technical details and discussions at
<http://www.eaa-phev.org>).
Last year the Prius we converted Ryan Fulcher's Prius with lead-acid
batteries. The car went home to Seattle, becoming the first PHEV in
the Pacific Northwest. (That vehicle has since been further modified
to include a new design by Manzanita Micro.) For last year's event
see the Treehugger report with Daryl Hannah
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51nMDhu7qIE#GU5U2spHI_4>, CalCars at
Earth Day 2006 Maker Faire <http://www.calcars.org/makerfaire.html>
and much description, photos etc. at
<http://www.eaa-phev.org/wiki/Inaugural_Maker_Faire>.

We had hoped by this time to have a full "Do It Yourself " solution
for Prius owners in the form of:
# a fully open-source design
# public documentation
# easy-to-order parts
# a method to connect Prius owners with technical helpers

But this all-volunteer effort is not yet complete. Last November, in
Phase 2, we converted a Prius for the Thesen-Kramer family of Palo
Alto (no relation to Felix Kramer). You can watch that happen on
KQED's new QUEST TV program -- see
<http://www.calcars.org/audio-video.html> and see a photo of the team
at <http://www.calcars.org/photos-groups.html>. That car became the
fourth PHEV Prius in the Bay Area. Since then, four other members of
the EAA-PHEV group, in Illinois, New York and England have done
conversions using our designs-in-progress and control and display
systems we've helped make available (see
<http://www.calcars.org/where-phevs-are.html>).

'''THE CAR OWNER'''

We'll be adding to a stock 2006 Prius with lead-acid batteries our
latest versions of the control electronics and cooling and charging
systems, integrating it all in Jim Philippi's car. Last November, Jim
traveled all the way from Houston to be part of that conversion team.
This time, Jim will drive back in his very own PHEV to become the
first private owner of a PHEV in Texas, where he lives with his wife
Vickie and son Cody. Jim works at Continental Airlines and is
interested in solar energy, wind power and energy efficiency. Jim
says, "We decided to convert our car in November 2006 and slowly we
have been buying parts. We are very glad to have this opportunity to
work with CalCars to achieve this goal, and to further spread the
word that cleaner cars can be made with current technology. It's
better for the environment, and for our national security. In the
future we want to put solar panels on our home to charge our new
PHEV. We would like to thank everyone who helped make our dream possible."

'''THE PROJECT MANAGER'''

CalCars volunteer Jim Bernard, an electrical engineer from
Pleasanton, CA, is Project Manager for the Maker Faire. Jim is a
senior product and business development executive with a background
at Sun Microsystems, and Adaptec. He says, "recently I attended a
presentation in SF by Sherry Boschert on her plug-in hybrid
book. For about six months I've been educating myself on various
aspects of Green Technology as I transition from my high tech career
track to my next phase. I plan to strike a different balance in my
life, one which gives back by contributing towards big goals. I've
been looking for a focus area within Green Tech, and may have found
one in plug-in hybrids."

'''THE NEW COMPANY CONNECTION'''

In January we announced
<http://www.calcars.org/calcars-news/658.html> plans to begin a
project to install Valence Saphion lithium-phosphate batteries in two
Prius and two Ford Escape Hybrids, and create a company to deliver
volume conversions (while continuing CalCars as a non-profit). Our
motivation was primarily the slow pace of availability to individuals
of after-market conversions, which continues (though recent
developments among aftermarket companies give indications that may
improve in 2008 -- see <http://www.calcars.org/news-archive.html> and
<http://www.calcars.org/howtoget.html>). While we continue our
advocacy activities, we're working to recruit a management team (see
<http://www.calcars.org/jobs.html>, and we expect to have some of the
components on display at the Maker Faire. The car we convert at Maker
Faire will benefit from "trickle-down" technologies from that
project, including use of an early prototype version of an innovative
battery box that allows access to the spare tire.

We hope you'll visit us at the event, in the main Fiesta Hall. And if
you consider yourself a PHEV advocate, you're welcome to join us in
talking to people streaming by. Stop by/stay for an hour/spend a whole day!

:-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
:Felix Kramer fkramer@calcars.org
:Founder California Cars Initiative
:http://www.calcars.org
:http://www.calcars.org/news-archive.html
:-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

=== From Ron ===
Due to uncertainty as to what we would be ready and able to do in time for the Maker Faire, we waited until the last minute to decide what to do this year! Last year we converted Ryan Fulcher's Prius into CalCars' second lead-acid PHEV. This effort, which was successful a day after the finish of the Faire:

# helped spawn this website, sponsored by both [http://www.calcars.org CalCars] and the [[EAA]] and graciously maintained by Ryan himself.
# began in earnest CalCars' efforts to document and facilitate do-it-yourself (DIY) [[PriusPlus]] PHEV conversions.
# inspired Ryan and Rich Rudman to develop a different [[PiPrius]] conversion kit now being sold by Manzanita Micro.

We were hoping that by now we would have complete plans and parts availability for DIY Prius conversions. Though we didn't make it, we are getting close. I designed a new, much better, more flexible, and easier-to-use, control board (not yet fully refined and debugged, but expected to be complete in time); many people have worked on documentation; and Chris Ewert has a nearly-complete and running conversion in Chicago.

In the meantime, CalCars has been making headway on a parallel project using safe Li-ion batteries from Valence Technologies to design and market in quantity a Li-ion Prius PHEV conversion kit. This will of course be more expensive than lead-acid DIY conversions. Some of the components will be on display at our Maker Faire booth.

To spearhead, speed, prove, and publicize the final stages of CalCars' DIY Prius conversion project, we decided to do another DIY Prius conversion at this year's San Mateo Maker Faire. James Philippi of Texas has been gathering parts to convert his 2006 Prius, and CalCars has a commercially-designed Li-ion battery box available from our Valence project. We plan to bring these two pieces together at the Maker Faire into the best yet DIY conversion, while once again showing to the public and media what can be done in a short time by a dedicated crew of amateurs and professionals.

Jim Bernard, an able EE and manager, has just joined our CalCars team and is our project manager for the 2007 Maker Faire. He is jumping in with two feet at a critical time, as we have little time left to prepare and I will be gone next week at the Advanced Automotive Battery Conference in Long Beach. Many of last year's team will also be joining us for this outstanding event.

Please come watch and visit with us if you can. If not, watch this site for news as well as for improved DIY documentation from the completion of James Philippi's, Chris Ewert's, and more conversions that will soon be complete.

== Post EVent Messages ==
=== 1st From Ron ===
Jim, in case you're worried about not yet having heard that your conversion is working, here is its status:
# We got within minutes of being able to do a smoke test before everyone began cleaning up and leaving the Maker Faire. At that point, I made an executive decision to delay the smoke test until we have had a chance to check out the conversion by eye against the diagrams and by voltmeter at a less hectic pace. That way we might find something before it becomes a problem.
# We were going to do the follow-up work today until I realized that it can be done later this week, while my Brussels slides must be done by tomorrow (Tuesday) night. So we are scheduling for later this week -- tomorrow if I get the slides done tonight (unlikely at this point).
# I found Norm's original instructions for reprogramming the V4 CAN-View in my saved email (something I didn't manage to do while at the Faire), and plan to try again to reprogram your CAN-View before giving up and sending it back to Norm. I'll let you know the outcome. In any case, we can use my CAN-View to verify your conversion.
# We have begun a list of things you will have to complete after you get your car home. It is not a huge or extensive list, but contains things we noticed such as the need for some kind of brace to keep the batteries from tilting backward, e.g. in case of getting rear-ended or squealing out with dragster acceleration.
# Tell Cory "Hi", and that we hope he had a good time with us -- and your wife that I look forward to meeting her, and we hope she likes what we've done to your (collective) car.

=== 2nd From Ron ===
James Philippi, whose 2006 Prius we converted at the Maker Faire last weekend, is now the proud owner of CalCars' latest PHEV conversion. An excellent team [[#2007 Maker Team|(named below)]] did a great job in public during last weekend's Maker Faire at the San Mateo fairgrounds. Ryan (eaa-phev.org's webmaster) is creating a new webpage with pictures and descriptions of the process.

Jim's lead-acid conversion has a few special features not found on previous conversions:
* The battery box, originally designed to house another project's a Li-ion pack, was adapted to this conversion. It features a hinged steel frame with gas shocks to allow tilting up for access to the spare tire. We are considering having a better-adapted version of this box fabricated for DIY converters. It, along with an accompanying wiring harness, would save a huge amount of labor.
* As with Sven Thesen's conversion, it has a charger custom built at the last minute and donated by Delta-q, a company that is coming out in 2008 with a line of chargers specifically for PHEVs. In this conversion, the PHEV battery cooling fan blows on the charger's fins during charging, obviating the need for a separate charger fan.
* Jim has bought and installed a CAN-View screen that hides itself, when not in use, in the compartment below the radio.
* Jim has installed an auto computer that can also display on the same screen, providing internet access, logging, and other capabilities.
* There are now three cars (mine isn't one of them yet) running with my new control board: Jim's, Chris Ewert's, and Kurt Jensen's new Prius conversion using a pack of his company's special NiMH batteries. There have been a few teething problems, but the second version of the PCB layout, due in a couple of weeks, should solve them all (I don't recommend stuffing any more of the original fabrication run, as each will need to have a handful of mods applied).

NOTE: Chris Ewert has agreed to be our new DIY project documentation manager. All documentation questions and suggestions should be addressed to him. Chris has already made significant contributions to the documentation at [[PriusPlus]] and has begun reorganizing the site. He will be helped by Jack Wiren and Eric Simon.

=== From Jim Bernard ===
Thanks to you all who made the Maker Faire a very successful event for CalCars. As the new guy, I am very impressed with the team's dedication and passion for the mission. I talked to many Faire goers who stopped by, and their enthusiasm and support for our efforts was quite evident and it felt good.

Plug In!

== 2007 Maker Team ==
Thanks to all the members of the two Maker Faire conversion teams:
* Jim Bernard, project manager -- arrived two weeks before the event and hit the ground running
'''Technical team:'''
* Ron Gremban, CalCars' technical lead and designer of the DIY conversion
* Tom Driscoll, designer of the previous battery box (Tom and Robb designed the mods to this battery box)
* Jim Philippi, owner of the converted Prius and installer of most of the non-battery-box pieces and wiring
* Robb Protheroe, mechanical engineer with electronics experience
* Chris Ewert, tied with Kurt Jensen as builder of the first independent Prius conversion using CalCars' DIY plans
* Carolyn Coquillette, mechanic extraordinaire and Prius service technician/business owner
* Nick Rothman, a Prius service technician/business owner -- and a Hymotion installer
* Walt Ferris, electronics engineer, did the layout of the control board
* Jack Wiren, tech writer, working on our DIY documentation
* Fraser Smith, a last-minute addition to the team, who fabricated all the high power cables during the Faire
'''Documentation team:'''
:Education team (had the majority of contact with the public, thereby fulfilling a major goal of the event while also giving the technical team the space to do their thing):
* Felix Kramer, CalCars' founder
* Marc Geller, co-founder of Plug-in America
* Randy Reisinger, project manager of CalCars' Li-ion CONV project
* Ailian Chong, selling Sherry Boschert's book, "Plug-In Hybrids: the Cars that Will Recharge America" on Saturday
* Amanda Kovattana, selling Sherry Boschert's book, "Plug-In Hybrids: the Cars that Will Recharge America" on Sunday

== Photos ==

=== Photos from Chris Ewert ===
These are photos that [[User:Cewert]] has shared with us from the EVent.
<gallery>
Image:Maker Faire 2007 1.jpg|
Image:Maker Faire 2007 2.jpg|
Image:Maker Faire 2007 3.jpg|
Image:Maker Faire 2007 4.jpg|
Image:Maker Faire 2007 5.jpg|
Image:Maker Faire 2007 6.jpg|
</gallery>

=== Photos from CalCars ===
These are photos provided by Felix of [http://www.calcars.org CalCars.org].
<gallery>
Image:IMG 1171.jpg|The Make Faire team: see top of page for names.
Image:IMG 1179.jpg|Outside the building, at the main entrance to Maker Faire, the team posed Ron's car (world's first Prius conversion) and Felix's car (with Valence lithium-ion batteries)
Image:IMG 1154 2.jpg|Applying the vinyl lettering to Jim's car.
Image:IMG 1186.jpg|Securing the battery box frame to the body of the car.
Image:IMG 1187.jpg|The battery box fits above the battery and tilts up to allow access to the spare tire.
Image:IMG 1188.jpg|Last-minute wiring diagrams.
Image:IMG 1190.jpg|Our work-site had crowds all day Saturday and Sunday.
Image:IMG 1205.jpg|Installing components inside the battery box.
Image:IMG 1208.jpg|Custom-made circuit boards included.
Image:IMG 1215.jpg|The team worked late Sunday night to wrap up the project. (We'll have reports from Texas soon.)

</gallery>

[[Category:PHEV]]
[[Category:Prius]]
[[Category:Prius PHEV]]
[[Category:CalCars]]
[[Category:Maker Faire]]

WhiteBird

2006-10-30T05:50:41Z

Felixkramer: minor text edits and typos

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'''"WhiteBird"''' is the name of the [http://www.plugincenter.com Chelan County’s Advanced Vehicle Initiative] Prius PHEV conversion which was finished in early October 2006.

{{Clear}}
==Press Release==

[[Image:IMG_3156.JPG|thumb|right|The build crew during the conversion of WhiteBird]]

Since the unprecedented success of the [[PHEV]] conversion of Ryan Fulcher’s [[PriusBlue]] at the [[Inaugural Maker Faire]] last year, with much help from [http://www.calcars.org CalCars]<ref>http://www.calcars.org - California Cars Initiative</ref> and the [http://www.sfeva.org San Francisco EAA]<ref>http://www.sfeva.org - San Francisco Electric Auto Association</ref>. Ryan, a member of the [http://www.seattleeva.org Seattle EVA]<ref>http://www.seattleeva.org - Seattle Electric Vehicle Association</ref> and a contributor to the [http://www.eaa-phev.org EAA-PHEV web site]<ref>http://www.eaa-phev.org - Electric Auto Association - PHEV Project</ref>, has been furthering the cause for PHEVs throughout the Pacific N.W. Through these public relations efforts, Ron Johnson-Rodreguez, head of Economic Development for Eastern Washington State’s Chelan County, contacted Steven Lough, president of the Seattle EV Association, and a fruitful working relationship has developed over the last 6 months. After several trips back and forth between Seattle and Wenatchee Washington, plans were set in motion to convert several county [[Toyota Prius]] vehicles to PHEV.

Using [[CAN-View]] technology from [http://www.hybridinterfaces.ca Hybrid Interfaces]<ref>http://www.hybridinterfaces.ca - Hybrid Interfaces CAN-View</ref> of Canada, and the very versatile AC-to-DC & DC-to-DC capable charger from [http://www.manzanitamicro.com Rich Rudman's Manzanita Micro]<ref>http://www.manzanitamicro.com - Rich Rudman's Manzanita Micro</ref> company, and much volunteer help from Seattle EV Association members, [http://www.plugincenter.com Chelan County’s Advanced Vehicle Initiative]<ref>http://www.plugincenter.com - Chelan County’s Advanced Vehicle Initiative</ref>, and the Automotive Technology program at Wenatchee Valley College, the first project was put on the road in PHEV mode on October 15th, 2006.

Both the [[PiPrius]] vehicles [[PriusBlue]] of Ryan Fulcher, and the just-completed Chelan County car, named “CCPort [[WhiteBird]]” utilize a [[MM-PFC|PFC40H]] charger which doubles as a DC-to-DC converter. In DC-DC or run mode the PFC40 is connected between the add-on pack and the Prius OEM pack, thereby maintaining the Prius battery voltage during extended periods of low-speed exclusive (EV-Only) or higher speed enhanced ([[Mixed-mode]]) driving. In the system's final configuration, both DC-to-DC “boosting” of the Prius pack, as well as grid charging of the add-on pack are switched automatically. As the CAN-View reads data from the Toyota computer systems, it acts as both user interface and management device to orchestrate various aspects of the PHEV mode's automatic operation.

The Battery Management System (BMS) consist of a Mark 3 Rudman Reg for each of the 15 Genesis lead-acid batteries, which fully protect each battery from over- and under-voltage events. The regs help to direct the charger's actions and are interactive and programmable via a standard serial port (RS232) found on most laptops.

[[Image:WhiteBird Car.jpg|thumb|right|CCPUD WhiteBird<br>PHEV Prius]]

Chelan County’s Advanced Vehicle Initiative plans to use WhiteBird for display at events, conferences and festivals in addition to driving to and from meetings in Washington and other county business. In the future, they plan to create a fleet of plug-in hybrid vehicles for lease to potentially use for event shuttles, area tours, rafting shuttles, delivery services. We plan to monitor these vehicles for fuel efficiency, emission reduction, battery capabilities, charging speed, etc.

Contact Ron at info [at] plugincenter.com or (509) 663-5159 for more information about this vehicle.

<references/>

==Photos==
<gallery>
Image:WhiteBird Car.jpg|CCPUD WhiteBird
Image:Picture 057 low.jpg|'''First weekend'''
Image:Picture 062 low.jpg|Dash Disassembled
Image:Picture 064 low.jpg|Installing [[CAN-View]]
Image:Picture 066 low.jpg|The crew that weekend
Image:WanacheBuild02.jpg|Stock Gas Plug
Image:WanacheBuild01.jpg|New Electric Plug
Image:WanacheBuild03.jpg|Also installed [[Prius EV Mode Button|EV-Button]]

Image:IMG 3156.JPG|The build crew during the '''2nd weekend''' conversion of WhiteBird
Image:IMG 0058large.JPG|The relay cable which comes from the [[CAN-View]] can be seen.
Image:IMG 0078large.JPG|Installing the battery interconnects for the new battery pack.

Image:IMG 3127.JPG|
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Image:IMG 3159.JPG|
Image:IMG 3160.JPG|

</gallery>

[[Category:PHEV]]
[[Category:Prius]]
[[Category:Prius PHEV]]
[[Category:PiPrius]]

User:Felixkramer

2006-03-02T04:46:17Z

Felixkramer: personal profile

I'm the founder of [http://www.calcars.org The California Cars Initiative] and a startup person for a long time -- see [http://www.nlightning.com/resume.html About Felix Kramer] though some paper recently said I was an upstart, which is OK too.

Main Page

2006-03-02T04:17:52Z

Felixkramer: Updated writeup on Calcars

'''Welcome to the new home of the EAA-PHEV Project''', which formerly lived at the [[SEVA:|SeattleEVA.org]] site.

We're still moving in to the new site so please bear with us, the migration plan can be found on the [[Talk:Main_Page|discussion]] page. The old EAA-PHEV page will be named '''[[Prius PHEV]]''', the EAA-PHEV_PRIUS_Documentation is now named '''[[PriusPlus]]''', and the old Conversion Hybrids & PHEV Projects pages are now on the '''[[History]]''' page. We're also making room for more pages to address the potential conversion for each of the current production hybrids, many of which have similar powertrains to that in the Prius.

Here on the main page we should address some of the basics, such as:
* What is a Hybrid, versus an all electric vehicle?
* What's all the fuss about "plugging in", what differance does it make?
** [http://www.calcars.org/vehicles.html CalCars' Plug-In Hybrids page] has a good explanation; Ron Gremban's [http://www.calcars.org/calcars-technical-notes.pdf PHEVs: the Technical Side] presentation notes follows up with a technical overview of gasoline vs. flex-fuel vs. Diesel vs. hybrid vs. plug-in hybrid vehicles, followed by the (positive) social implications of PHEVs and especially flex-fuel PHEVs.
* What changes do we make to convert a gas only hybrid to a Plug-In Hybrid?
** Basically, one either replaces or adds to the vehicle's hybrid battery for greatly increased energy storage capacity, adds a charger that plugs into a wall outlet, and arranges for the hybrid system to use more (or only) electricity and less (or no) gasoline for propulsion until the battery is mostly depeleted. This last bit is the tricky part, as the control systems of all the hybrid vehicles are proprietary and secret.
* What does the number after the PHEV represent, how do we measure their mileage and performance?
** This number represents the electric propulsion range of the PHEV before it must depend upon its internal combustion engine for motive power. In English-system (vs. metric) countries like the U.S, it is in miles. A PHEV-20, for example, has a 20-mile electric-only range. Due to its limitations, the PRIUS+ is more complex to describe, as, in mixed city and highway driving it is only 50:50 electric/gasoline. CalCars' original PRIUS+, though actually a PHEV-10, generally travels 20 miles at double its hybrid gasoline mileage (rather than 10 miles powered purely electrically) before its battery is depleted.
* What types of hybrids are there? ''Full'', ''Mild'', Series, Parallel, Series-Parallel
* etc...

----

[[Image:Pluginpartnerslogo.gif|right|80px]]
[http://www.pluginpartners.com PlugInPartners.com] is a national grass-roots initiative to demonstrate to automakers that a market for flexible fuel PHEVs exists today. ''"'''Forget Hydrogen, Forget Hydrogen, Forget Hydrogen'''".'' ''"It's a coalition between the Tree-Huggers, Do-Gooders, Sod-Busters, Cheap Hawks, and the Evangelicals".'' --James Woolsey, former director of the CIA. Sign the petition, watch the webcast, and spread the word. In short, a PHEV delivers all of the advantaged of a BEV while retaining the ''unlimited'' range of traditional gas vehicles.

----

[[Image:Calcars-logo-large.png|left|160px]]
[http://www.calcars.org CalCars.org] The California Cars Initiative is a nonprofit startup. We're a group of entrepreneurs, engineers, environmentalists and consumers promoting high-efficiency, low-emission cars and harnessing buyer demand to help commercialize plug-in hybrids. Somewhat uniquely, we focus both on public policy and technology development.

Formed in 2002, our efforts for "100+MPG Hybrids" took off when we built PRIUS+, the world's first plug-in Prius). We've been working on others to show what can be done now with existing technology. Our efforts began to be noticed in early 2005 when we were covered in The New York Times, Business Week, TIME, Newsweek, National Public Radio, and local and network TV.

By early 2006, the solutions we promote had become so broadly welcomed that they were supported by President Bush. Yet they are still far from adoption. Our projects tackle national security, jobs and global warming -- at the same time.
Our goal: get carmakers to build PHEVs.

----

<div style="float: right; margin-left: 20px">[http://eaaev.org http://www.pluginamerica.com/images/EAAad.gif]</div>
Electric Auto Association Description goes here.
<br><br><br><br><br>