CalCars Plug Ins August 2007
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CalCars (also known as The California Cars Initiative) was a charitable,
non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
founded in 2002 to promote
plug-in hybrid A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is a hybrid electric vehicle whose battery pack can be recharged by plugging a charging cable into an external electric power source, in addition to internally by its on-board internal combustion engin ...
electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...
s (PHEVs) as a key to addressing oil dependence and
global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
both nationally and internationally.''See Chapter 2. Reinventing the car.'' ''See Chapter 3. Felix Flirts with Hydrogen. http://www.sherryboschert.com/?page_id=607'' It was active until 2010, when the first mass-produced PHEVs arrived. CalCars envisioned millions of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, charged by off-peak electricity from
renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
sources, and with their
internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combus ...
s powered by low-carbon
alternative fuel Alternative fuel, known as non-conventional and advanced fuels, are any materials or substances that can be used as fuels, other than conventional fuels like; '' fossil fuels'' (petroleum (oil), coal, and natural gas), as well as nuclear mat ...
s, as a way to significantly reduce
greenhouse gases A greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG) is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor (), carbon dioxide (), methane ...
that come from transportation.


History

With co-sponsorship from Hypercar,
Felix Kramer Felix Kramer (born April 29, 1949) is an entrepreneur, strategist and writer. After a succession of jobs and projects in the nonprofit sector and an early internet startup, he gained attention after 2002 as the founder of the California Cars Initi ...
organized what became the founding meeting of the California Car Company Initiative on July 29, 2002 in
Palo Alto, CA Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was estab ...
, which evolved into the non-profit
California Cars Initiative CalCars (also known as The California Cars Initiative) was a charitable, non-profit organization founded in 2002 to promote plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) as a key to addressing oil dependence and global warming both nationally and ...
, and shifted its focus from hydrogen
fuel cells A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen fuel, hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most bat ...
to the nearer-term
plug-in hybrid A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is a hybrid electric vehicle whose battery pack can be recharged by plugging a charging cable into an external electric power source, in addition to internally by its on-board internal combustion engin ...
. The focus was on a solution using existing technology and 120-volt household power rather than a new infrastructure. CalCars announced its dual approach of technical demonstration of feasibility and advocacy to reach "influencers" and decision-makers. Having recruited engineer Ron Gremban as Technology Lead and begun an open source Prius Plus conversion program, CalCars completed the first Prius conversion in 2004. In 2006, with a conversion by one of the independent conversion companies, Kramer became the "world's first non-technical consumer owner" of a PHEV. He flew that vehicle to Washington DC in May 2006 for the first public viewing of a PHEV on Capitol Hill. CalCars worked with allied organizations to build buyer demand for PHEVs in the United States and promote commercial production of plug-in hybrid vehicles by major automakers. It engaged in public education through its web sit
calcars.org
It displayed its + PHEVs at public and private events, showed promotional videos, and makes presentations to different audiences, including political leaders and opinion-makers. CalCars also promoted technology development for PHEVs by building example plug-in hybrid vehicles, and maintaining
open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
documentation of technological information about its prototypes. In its technology development, CalCars was closely linked with the work of Professor Andrew A. (Andy) Frank and the Team Fate design group at the
University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...
. After the first handful of Prius+ conversions, the PHEVs were displayed at multiple locations and events around the country, including the US Congress. Interest in the PHEV concept swelled, and building conversion kits for DIYers or commercial conversions took off as many small and large companies entered the space. Calcars worked closely with journalists and the media to further stoke interest. Dozens of books on the topic were released and reviewed by Calcars. CalCars tracked and commented on continuing developments through its listserv from 2005 to 2013. The CC automakers page covered the numerous developments announced by automakers, and CalCars' analysis of them. It further promoted PHEVs with leaders everywhere by featuring photos of them with their vehicles on its "Influencers" and "leaders". CalCars worked to connect PHEV owners to automakers, and welcomed GM's announcement of the Volt. An attempt was made to get companies to offer aftermarket conversions for most existing vehicles on the road, but little success was had in getting aftermarket converters to form a trade group to secure government incentives for conversions. So after several years the conversion market shrank, and currently has one provider, Plug-in Supply. In November 2009, Calcars declared a preliminary victory, with mass-produced PHEVs and fully electric vehicles set to arrive shortly. Drivers and advocates were migrated to the
Electric Auto Association The Electric Vehicle Association (EVA) is a non-profit educational organization that promotes the advancement and widespread adoption of battery electric vehicles. It was formed in 1967 in San Jose, California. Members The Electric Vehicle Assoc ...
(EEA),
Plug In America Plug In America (PIA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization that promotes and advocates the use of plug-in cars, trucks and sports utility vehicles (SUVs) powered by domestic and renewable electricity which it claims will help reduce ...
(PIA), or the
Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...
for further promotion of CalCars goal of rapidly electrifying all vehicles. CalCars built the first PRIUS+ conversion creating the first
PHEV A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is a hybrid electric vehicle whose battery pack can be recharged by plugging a charging cable into an external electric power source, in addition to internally by its on-board internal combustion engin ...
based on the 2004
Toyota Prius The is a car built by Toyota which has a Hybrid vehicle drivetrain, hybrid drivetrain, combining an internal combustion engine with an electric motor. Initially offered as a four-door Sedan (automobile), sedan, it has been produced only as ...
. This initial conversion was done with a lead-acid battery pack to prove the concept would work. The build team included Ron Gremban,
Felix Kramer Felix Kramer (born April 29, 1949) is an entrepreneur, strategist and writer. After a succession of jobs and projects in the nonprofit sector and an early internet startup, he gained attention after 2002 as the founder of the California Cars Initi ...
, Marc Geller, Kevin Lyons, Andrew Lawton. Others who helped included Tom Driscoll, Michael Geller, Richard Jesch, Les Montavon, Dan Putman, Michael Schwabe, Len Tramiel, Bob Westman, Doug Widney.


Conversions

Prius+ (also written Prius Plus) became the
open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
standard on which most plug-in hybrid kits were based. Plug-in hybrid kit manufacturers included: A123 Hymotion, Amberjac Systems, based on EDrive Systems emerged from the original EnergyCS, EETrex
Enginer
Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technologies, Plug-In Conversions Corp, Plug-In Suppl

still operating), MD-Tech Beginning in 2008, CalCars started to address the problem that the rate of market penetration (as a percentage of new vehicles into the national and international fleet) would be remarkably slow, even with optimistic assumptions. To accelerate the electrification of transportation and all of its consequent benefits, CalCars started an unsuccessful initiative: spurring the growth of a new industry that converts existing internal combustion engine vehicles into plug-ins.


Combustion vehicle mass conversions

CalCars stated that compared to crushing old vehicles, converting millions of Gas-guzzler, gas-guzzling,
internal combustion engine vehicle An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combu ...
s (
pickup trucks A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...
,
SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definiti ...
s, and full-size vans - PSVs-) would be a winning energy-saving strategy.


Key CalCars personnel

Felix Kramer Felix Kramer (born April 29, 1949) is an entrepreneur, strategist and writer. After a succession of jobs and projects in the nonprofit sector and an early internet startup, he gained attention after 2002 as the founder of the California Cars Initi ...
, founder, is a marketing strategist and communicator with an entrepreneurial track record with startups; in the environmental realm, he managed major events and run campaigns and organizations. After founding, running and selling a small Internet company, he volunteered his time to CalCars from 2001 to 2009. Since 2009 he has written articles and worked on projects involving climate change and clean energy, based at his website, BeyondCassandra.org Ron Gremban, Technology Development Lead for PRIUS+, moderator of the PRIUS+ Plug-In Hybrid Conversion Group, and electrical and
software engineer Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development. A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term ''p ...
involved in sales of
solar energy Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an essenti ...
systems, has long experience with
electric cars An electric car, battery electric car, or all-electric car is an automobile that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using only energy stored in batteries. Compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, electric cars are quie ...
—he helped design and drive the Caltech entry in the transcontinental 1968 Great Electric Car Race.See Ron Grembans out of dat
bio
.
He has been the lead EE since 2012 at Brillouin Energy in Berkeley, seeking a commercially useful form of LENR (Low Energy Nuclear Reactions). Gail Slocum, Senior Advisor, former Mayor, Menlo Park and Regulatory Attorney at
Pacific Gas and Electric Company The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, in San Francisco, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 milli ...
.


See also

*
Plug-in electric vehicles in California The stock of plug-in electric vehicles in California is the largest in the United States, and , cumulative plug-in car registrations in the state since 2010 totaled 1.072 million units. California is the largest U.S. car market with about ...


References


External links


Calcars, the California Cars Initiative
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calcars Climate change organizations based in the United States Hybrid electric vehicle advocates Environmental organizations based in California Non-profit organizations based in California Organizations based in Palo Alto, California Electric vehicle conversion Plug-in hybrid vehicles Electric vehicles in California