This is going to be fun and important.
First the press release from O'Reilly's
publicists, then text of my blog posting.

FOR RELEASE:
CONTACT:
Mark Ballard Rachel Sussman
mark@... rachel@...
212.255.8455 ext. 25 212.255.8455 ext.31

MAKER FAIRE Gets GREEN!

CalCars.org to modify Toyota Prius to "plug-in" hybrid at Maker Faire

"…when we eventually run out of oil, have a
worldwide computer crash, or another global
catastrophe, it's the sort of people who will
subscribe to Make who will help us all survive."
- Knoxville News Sentinel

Sebastopol, CA (March 1, 2006)- Following
President Bush's recent endorsement of advanced
hybrids, and coinciding with Earth Day weekend,
The California Cars Initiative (CalCars.org) will
publicly convert a Toyota Prius hybrid into a
"plug-in" hybrid during the inaugural Make magazine Maker Faire, April 22-23.

Over two days, CalCars engineers, along with a
cadre of volunteers, will build and install a
battery pack and make hardware and software
adjustments to the stock Toyota Prius. The
finished "PRIUS+" will drive back to Seattle,
Washington after the Faire with a 10-mile
low-speed all-electric range in addition to its regular hybrid extended range.

Unlike a standard hybrid, which uses the gasoline
engine to power its battery, a plug-in hybrid
adds a larger battery that can re-charge from a
household 120-volt outlet. The result: a 100+
MPG plug-in hybrid fueled with gasoline plus
cleaner, cheaper, domestic electricity.

Coming to the San Mateo Fairgrounds in San Mateo,
CA, Maker Faire is a celebration of science and
technology projects and the new Do-It-Yourself
(DIY) mindset. "Make was created to expose the
fun of technological hacking and discovery - and
what could be more fun, not to mention
worthwhile, than hacking a real world solution to
our world's energy woes?" explained Make magazine
publisher Dale Dougherty. CalCars.org founder
Felix Kramer added, "If a handful of independent
experimenters can create a plug-in hybrid over a
weekend, imagine what auto-makers could do in a few months."

In addition to the CalCars project, other Maker
Faire highlights include: 6 exposition & workshop
pavilions (Weird Science, Ultimate Garage,
Robotics, Digital Entertainment/Gaming, Green
Tech & Electronics Recycling, Ultimate Workshop),
5-acre outdoor midway, over 100 exhibiting
Makers, hands-on workshops, demonstrations, DIY
competitions, crafting for Makers, Make: Movies,
and the very latest in tools, kits and DIY resources.

The Details:

* When: Saturday, April 22, 2006 (10am - 6pm)
Sunday, April 23, 2006 (10am - 5pm)
* Where: The San Mateo Fairgrounds
2495 South Delaware Street, San Mateo, CA
* Admission: $12/Adult; $5/Teens; $25/Family; Under 12 free
For the very latest information and updates, please visit:
www.makezine.com/faire

For press information and registration please
contact Mark Ballard at 212-255-8455 or Mark@....
For more information on CalCars.org, please
contact Felix Kramer at 650-520-5555 or fkramer@....

About CalCars
The California Cars Initiative www.calcars.org is
a Palo Alto-based nonprofit startup focused on
technology and advocacy. It's a group of
entrepreneurs, engineers, environmentalists and
other citizens promoting high-efficiency,
low-emission cars and harnessing buyer demand to
help commercialize advanced technologies. Formed
in 2002 by entrepreneur Felix Kramer, CalCars'
Technology Lead is Ron Gremban, a CalTech
engineer who helped build and drive one of the
competitors in the first transcontinental
electric car race between MIT and CalTech in
1968. CalCars.org's efforts for "100+MPG
hybrids" began to be noticed in 2005 with
coverage in major national print and broadcast
media. Since then, support for PHEVs has grown
among many constituencies, including President
Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative. CalCars is
investigating strategies, including sponsoring a
for-profit company to partner with one or more
automakers to meet the high fleet demand for PHEVs.

About O'Reilly Media
Founded in 1978 and based in Sebastopol, CA.,
O'Reilly Media is the premier information source
for leading-edge computer technologies. The
company's books, conferences, and web sites bring
to light the knowledge of technology innovators.
O'Reilly books, known for the animals on their
covers, occupy a treasured place on the shelves
of the developers building the next generation of
software. O'Reilly conferences and summits bring
alpha geeks and forward-thinking business leaders
together to shape the revolutionary ideas that
spark new industries. From the Internet to XML,
open source, .NET, Java, and web services,
O'Reilly puts technologies on the map. www.oreilly.com

# # #

From our FAQ, Power, Plugs and People at Hybridcars.com:
<http://www.hybridcars.com/blogs/power/prius-makeover-at-maker-faire>

See a Prius Makeover at Inaugural Maker Faire

CalCars' next project is quick: we'll convert a
Prius in a weekend. This will be fun and important.

Our partner is MAKE, the acclaimed year-old
magazine from O'Reilly Media. The venue is MAKE's
Inaugural Maker Faire
<http://www.makezine.com/faire> at the San Mateo
Fairgrounds, April 22-23. See their press release
at our page,
<http:/www.calcars.org/makerfaire.html>. At that
page, we'll follow up this announcement soon with
additional details: what we'll be doing; a look
at our All-Star Conversion Team; how you can help.

This PHEV will recharge in hydropower-rich
Seattle. It's a dry run for the EAA-PHEV effort
(see <http://www.eaa-phev.org>) That project is
developing Open Source (non-proprietary)
electronic designs, instructions and recommended
components so experienced engineers can complete
"do-it-yourself" conversions on their own. Along
with the two private companies now about to offer
after-market installed retrofits, this will put
some plug-in hybrids on the road. Meanwhile, we
plug away at getting the car-makers to do it
right: bigger, better and cheaper and of course,
bigger -- bringing PHEVs into the fleet faster
and more broadly than all the conversions anyone could envision.

Here's a run-down of our current programs (see
also our 2006 Goals <http://www.calcars.org/2006.html>:

ADVOCACY AND PARTNERSHIPS most important first:
* We remain focused on our main goal: encouraging car-makers to build PHEVs.
* We're trying to partner with an open-minded but
skeptical car-maker to supply some PHEVs to
fleets and high-visibility early adopters -- to
stretch at least as far as DaimlerChrysler is
going for larger commercial vehicles with its Sprinter Van PHEVs.
* We're building support for the fleet-purchase campaign of Plug-In Partners.
* We continue a broad range of efforts to
increase visibility and support for plug-in
hybrids -- talking to journalists, presenting at
events, trying out new communications strategies
and tactics, and meeting with public- and private-sector decisionmakers.

TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATIONS in chronological order
* We're documenting the everyday performance of
our original PRIUS+, the first converted hybrid.
* We're troubleshooting/refining and improving
our conversion in Connecticut with Electro
Energy, Inc. using bi-polar nickel-metal hydride batteries.
* We're exploring partnerships with other
battery-makers to show that while PHEVs can be
built now, they can be even better in the future.
* We're awaiting a conversion any week now by EDrive Systems.
* We're hoping to get one of Hymotion's early retrofits for evaluation.

Comments and suggestions appreciated. (Before you
ask, "how can I get one?" or you say, "PHEVs
bad," etc., please, first at least look at the
CalCars FAQ <http://www.calcars.org/faq.html>.)

To see comments/add yours, go to:
<http://www.hybridcars.com/blogs/power/prius-makeover-at-maker-faire>.


-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Felix Kramer fkramer@...
Founder California Cars Initiative
http://www.calcars.org
http://www.calcars.org/news-index.html
http://www.hybridcars.com/blogs/power
http://www.eaa-phev.org
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --