The URL for this announcement at the CalCars News Archive is http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/­group/­calcars-news/­message/­224

NEW PARTNER
CalCars is exploring with Free Range Studios -- creators of The Meatrix and Store Wars -- ways to plug Flex-Fuel Plug-In Hybrids. It's part of our continuing campaign to increase public awareness and participation, and let car makers know how many institutions and consumers want them to build PHEVs.

We chose Free Range Studios http://www.freerangestudios.com because of their track record in creating clever, funny, eye-catching campaigns. We see them as the world's leading innovator in online "viral" communications. Their most well-known works, The Meatrix < http://www.themeatrix.com and Store Wars < http://www.storewars.org have won wide acclaim and awards for promoting new ways to think about and see the world. Each has been seen by over 10 million people. Washington- and San Francisco-based Free Range has already delivered environment/energy/automotive-related messages for the Union of Concerned Scientists, Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace. They'll be great partners for CalCars' and our allies' efforts to bring much cleaner, better cars to market.

BUILDING ON SUCCESS AND MOMENTUM
In 2006, we hope to reach many more people with the message that we need to get 100+MPG Flex-Fuel Plug-In Hybrids on the road as soon as possible! These days, about half the people we meet have heard that hybrids could plug in. Organizations, companies, elected officials and opinion leaders are signing on to promote PHEVs. We hope our efforts will expand national and global awareness, deepen understanding, and help them get involved in programs like those under way by Plug-In Austin http://www.pluginaustin.org.

NEW SPONSOR
Joining CalCars as a co-sponsor of our work with Free Range will be Americans for Energy Independence http://www.ei2025.org, a nonprofit-pending California corporation founded by business executive Chris Wolfe, located in Studio City, CA. Its mission is to use mass media to raise American public consciousness about the critical need for energy independence and to encourage solutions, strategies and citizen action to achieve that independence by 2025. Americans for Energy Independence has done print, billboard and radio ads, and collects signatures for a National Petition for Energy Independence. Welcome aboard!

NEW PITCH
We need your help to keep up the momentum we've gained in 2005. If you like what you've just read, we need your help to make this and other new projects happen. You can make a tax-deductible contribution by credit card, check or PayPal. $25 or more gets you the bumper sticker shown at CalCars Sponsor http://www.calcars.org/­sponsor.html. For $95 you become a Charter Sponsor. Gifts in the three figures are highly appreciated. Donations in the four-to-five figures will get you a phone call from CalCars' Founder Felix Kramer or Technology Lead Ron Gremban and, schedules permitting, a ride in a plug-in hybrid.

We'd like to hear what themes and approaches you think could be most effective for our project (and about the video described below) at our HybridCars.com blog: "Would you buy a plug-in hybrid? Would you mind plugging in? What's an entertaining and effective message?" http://www.hybridcars.com/­blogs/­power/­would-you-buy.

AND WHILE WE'RE ON THE SUBJECT
of multi-media communications about plug-in hybrids:

The Hybrid Consortium has just completed and put online a 7-minute video asking "people in the street" (at the mall, actually) what they think about hybrids, plug-in hybrids, 100+MPG hybrids, plugging in, etc. The Consortium makes no claim that those interviewed are "representative" of the public at large, but it's fun to watch and helps us understand the market.

You can view it at http://hybridconsortium.org/­news/­video/­index.html If you have a slow connection, http://hybridconsortium.org/­news/­video/­consumers_50.html For either one you need QuickTime version 5: http://www.apple.com/­quicktime/­download/­

You can comment on it at our blog, http://www.hybridcars.com/­blogs/­power/­would-you-buy.