Our public conversion of a Prius was featured
outside the LA Auto Show as we partnered with
Rainforest Action Network, Global Exchange and
Plug In America to demonstrate that the Nilar
nickel-metal hydride batteries used in today's
hybrids (without the safety issues of lithium,
and with demonstrated extended life) could make
"good enough" hybrids for carmakers to start
getting cars on the road as quickly as possible.

We're expecting to write about that event;
meanwhile, here's RAN's blog report
http://understory.ran.org/2007/11/14/ran-at-the-la-auto-show/
and its Flickr photo collection:
http://flickr.com/photos/rainforestactionnetwork/sets/72157603178406709/
. Edmund's Green Car Advisor's report is at http://blogs.edmunds.com/.eea0929


THREE EVENTS AND ONE GRANT
Here's information on several events (details
will also be at
http://www.calcars.org/events.html ) and a modest
grant award to CalCars -- it's very gratifying to
gain support for our continued efforts.


NO GO ON BALI AT COP-13: We regret that we were
unable to raise the funds that would have been
required to bring a PHEV to the huge
international conference on future climate crisis
strategies in Bali in early December. We'd
described this concept several times in
CalCars-News. It would have been a great way to
link electrification of transportation to global
warming and to expand international awareness.
But while we are always disappointed about missed
opportunities, we're immensely encouraged at all the forward momentum we see!


SAN FRANCISCO AUTO SHOW
That car will be at the San Francisco Auto Show
from Thursday, November 22 (Thanksgiving Day)
through Sunday, December 2 -- see
http://sfautoshow.com. (There's a press preview 1PM Wednesday Nov. 21.)

We'll be at the booth of AAA of Northern
California, #1035 in the South Hall, next to
Toyota and Honda, along with an all-electric
converted Toyota Corolla from Sun Run Cars as
well as a veggie oil, compresssed natiural gas
and hydrogen fuel cell car. It's all part of
AAA's Greenlight Initiative
http://www.aaa.com/greenlight -- for us, it's our
third consecutive year appearing at the show with AAA.


AAA ALT FUEL GRANT WINNERS
While we're on the subject of AAA, the Greenlight
Initiative yesterday announced that Calcars, the
cities of San Jose and San Francisco have
received their first-ever Greeenlight Initiative
Grants. Here are excerpts from the announcement.

"We are so pleased to be able to offer assistance
in this fast-developing and increasingly
important field," said AAA of Northern California
spokesperson Jenny Mack. "We believe each of
these organizations will be making a valuable
contribution towards giving consumers a better
understanding of the variety of alternative fuels coming to market."

Grant winners had to demonstrate how their
programs will advance the Greenlight Initiative's
goal of promoting alternative fuels through
either an awareness program, vehicle conversion
or dedicated research. The City of San
Francisco's Department of the Environment will be
using their funding to create a multilingual
brochure about clean vehicle and alternative fuel
technologies in an effort to raise awareness
about the linkages between vehicle emissions,
climate change and public health. The City of San
Jose will launch a city-wide alternative fuels
contest for high school students in connection
with its "Go Green" schools program and provide
materials at the San Jose International Auto
Show. Grant funding for CalCars.org, a leading
proponent of plug-in hybrid technology, will help
support the organization's outreach activities as
well as the conversion of a 'regular' hybrid
vehicle into a plug-in hybrid with advanced
batteries capable of getting up to 100 miles per
gallon of gasoline (plus electricity).

"With our dependence on oil continuing to grow,
interest in alternative fuels has never been
stronger," said Mack. "AAA of Northern California
believes we are entering a new chapter in the
history of the automobile and we want to help
support organizations that play a role in this new field."


MONDAY CONFERENCE AT BERKELEY
It's not too late to sign up for the oint
Berkeley/Stanford conference on "Electrification
of Vehicles," Monday, November 19. 1-7 PM. See
the event website
http://cleantech.berkeley.edu/?q=panelists.htm
for the updated information on speakers. The lineup includes:

* Keynote Speaker: Mary Nichols: Chair California Air Resources Board
* Chris Paine, Writer/Director "Who Killed the Electric Car"
* Sven Thesen: PG&E – Clean Air Transportation Department
* Felix Kramer: Founder - CalCars.org
* Dan Adler: Vice President – California Clean Energy Fund
* Moderator – Will Coleman, Mohr Davidow Ventures
* Andrew Chung: Lightspeed Venture Partners
* Kirsten Olsen: Google.org
* Vincent Battaglia: Lawrence Berkeley Labs
* Diarmuid O'Connell, Director of Corporate Development, Tesla Motors
* Moderator – Professor Christian Gerdes, Stanford University
* Daniel M. Kammen (Introduction for Ms. Mary
Nichols), director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory


TOYOTA SUNNYVALE'S 10TH HYBRID EVENT
Toyota Sunnyvale http://www.toyotasunnyvale.com ,
one of the largest hybrid dealerships in the
nation, runs a series of public events on
hybrids. This time, the event includes a CalCars
PHEV Prius and a Tesla Roadster. Toyota engineers
will be there, as well representatives from CalCars and Tesla Motors.

6PM Thursday, Nov. 29 898 W. El Camino Real Sunnyvale, CA. 94087
They expect a crowd of 300; reserve early by
calling 408-716-1881 or email to stefaniemodos@...


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