Testing LEAFs in Santa Monica

This weekend was the first stop on Nissan's public test drive extravaganza. The lead off venue just had to be the 5th AltCar Expo in Santa Monica given its history of teasing us with the potential of "some day soon" production EVs. I spent the previous four iterations of this early October expo in a Plug In America booth with veteran PIA board members and a legion of well educated volunteers dispensing our brochures and telling folks of the coming alternatives to oil. My prediction after last year's AltCar that the next one would herald the dawn of the new EV age was spot on. The 2,000 or so lucky people who got a chance to drive the LEAF and Volt would agree.

In addition to the LEAF, the expo had the winner of the Automotive X-Prize, an incredibly fast motorcycle, the E-Tracer, ably demonstrated by Plug In America's own Stefano Paris. Both the Coda and Volt were there available to buy, although delivery for all of these cars would be toward the end of the year. I heard many people have been talking to dealers about putting in orders.

Ironically, this was the first year Plug In America didn't have a booth since Zan and I, who usually take the lead in organizing the booth, were instead working for companies displaying vehicles for sale. Zan was helping AC Propulsion with PR for their part in supplying the drive train for the ultra-fast E-Tracer, and I spent both days assisting the Nissan folks demonstrate their LEAF.

As much as I love informing people about the coming EV revolution for Plug In America, it was vastly more exciting to actually ride with people in an EV that they not only could buy, but one that many of them had already purchased. Well over 500 LEAFs have been sold as Nissan makes its way through the 20,000 "hand raisers" who have deposited $99 for a place in line. Quite a few of my friends, who had never driven an EV, and who bought a LEAF having never seen it, much less driven it, were there to confirm they'd made the right decision.

To a person, they were all excited about the performance of the LEAF. Even the old timers who have driven EVs for years were impressed.
Here's Doug Korthof, the EV movement's bulldog, giving the LEAF a thumb's up after his test drive. Those who know Doug will understand how significant this endorsement is.

One of my favorite customers is ex-Fox News producer, Bob Tarlau seen here displaying his "EV grin".













Steve Factor, my co-worker at SolarCity expresses his disdain for the effluent coming from the tailpipe of a soon-to-be-extinct gas burner. Not soon enough for us, but they will go away eventually.





Last night, after the final test driver had left the lot in Santa Monica, I watched as the crew dismantled the elaborate glass "tents" and loaded the LEAFs on transport trucks. I was suddenly struck by the similarity of this view to that of March 2005 when GM workers loaded the last of the EV1s onto similar trucks and hauled them into the Arizona desert where the jaws of an industrial crusher sealed their fate. Instead, these gleaming LEAFs were being carefully treated by the crew so that at the next stop on the LEAF tour, a few thousand enthusiastic Americans would get to slide behind the wheel and glide through their first experience in a quality EV.


It's my goal to ensure that when this young man is old enough to buy his first car that there will be nothing but plug-in vehicles in the market. He and his friends deserve a world with clean air, a strong economy, and no wars over oil.

Photos courtesy Nissan.

Zero Motorcycles gets Schwarzenegger nod

Gov. Schwarzenegger famously rides his Harley up the Pacific Coast Highway on weekends with his buddies, but yesterday, he took some time out of his busy schedule to talk about the benefits of zero-emission bikes when he showed off several Zero Motorcycles outside the capitol in Sacramento.

Zero seems to be gaining ground in this burgeoning market of quiet, yet powerful 2-wheel scooters and motorcycles. Several companies are vying for the upper end of electric motorcycle world, Mission Motors, Brammo and Honda among others. Zero, however, has been selling their super quick dirt bike for over a year now and have added a road version to entice commuters wanting some excitement in their ride to and from work.

I had the opportunity to ride the Zero a while back at Santa Monica's AltCar Expo and was thoroughly impressed. As a rider of the super smooth Vectrix Maxi Scooter, I was ready for some quick acceleration, but what I got was way more than I was prepared for. The 0-30 was a scary quick 2 seconds! I know, I know, we usually hear 0-60 times, but you have to experience this off-the-line speed on a virtually silent bike that weighs a mere 172 lbs to understand how cool that is. By comparison, my Vectrix hits 30 in about 4 seconds and weighs in at a hefty 465 lbs.

I'm looking forward to trying the Zero road bike next. Maybe I'll check them out at Hollywood Electrics, a new store specializing in electric bikes of all kinds.

For those who live in big cities in warm climates, the electric two-wheeler is a great option for getting from point A to point B with a minimum of energy or effort. Now, I'm gonna take a quick ride down to the beach for the sunset!


On the far right is Plug In America's super-effective legislative director, Jay Friedland. When you finally go to pick up your shiny new EV at the the showroom of GM, Ford, Nissan, Volvo, Mercedes or any other OEMs making them, say a little thank you to Jay for the $7,500 federal tax credit and the $5,000 CA state tax credit ($1,500 for motorcycles:~). Jay was instrumental in making those happen.

AltCar #4 The Last of its Kind

I spent both Friday and Saturday at the AltCar Expo in Santa Monica. This convention has been showing alternative vehicles to the public for four years now, but little in the way of highway capable cars that the masses can buy.

On Friday night, Gov. Schwarzenegger dropped by with an entourage that included CARB Chair, Mary Nichols, and former CA EPA head, Terry Tamminen, the subject of an earlier blog. I watched as the Gov spoke about his Hydrogen Highway with a smug Tamminen beside him. I had to bite my tongue.

At least the Gov was able to see that the rest of the show included plug-in vehicles almost exclusively, and by the time he left, my hope was that batteries had mostly replaced pie-in-the-sky fuel cells in his mind.

As for the show, it was smaller than last year, both in attendance and vehicles. However, there was a palpable feeling in the crowd that wasn't there in years past. Everyone seemed to understand that this was the last AltCar at which you would not be able to buy a highway capable EV from a major OEM. Thus, the countdown has commenced. By the time of next year's AltCar Expo, several major, and a few minor, car makers will have vehicles in the market.

As a testament to this, the parking lot had a sprinkling of Teslas and Mini Es. I expect that next year's event will have much, much more.

Paul
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