In the first 24 hours since we announced our plan and goal, 72 people from 20 states, (plus Toronto and Quebec) -- mostly from the 3,321 subscribers to CalCars-News -- plus one substantial donor have given us $9,915.

That brings us 40% toward our destination -- all the way to South Dakota, as you can see on our map at http://www.calcars.org/­phevtodc.html. This is the URL where we hope those of you who haven't yet contributed will visit. Contributions of $10-$10,000 are welcome.

See the original posting explaining the event at http://www.hybridcars.com/­blogs/­power/­help-send-calcars-to-dc

We've gotten a few questions:

Q: Why not spend that money building a car in Washington? A: No one in or around Washington is equipped to do this, and even if we'd thought of this weeks ago, we'd never have made it in time. See a previous blog entry http://www.hybridcars.com/­blogs/­power/­sf-bay-area-second-phev for a list of the 10 converted PHEVs currently completed or in late stages of development.

Q: Why not drive the car? A: We have tightly-scheduled events before and after in California, and can't spare the car for 7-10 days -- or risk it on 6,000 miles. A: I would be unhappy entrusting my car to a team of sincere drivers.

Q: Won't the car-makers say, "See? This car can't even drive long distances"? A: We'd love to engage them on that level. We'd love to have the chance to talk about my trouble-free 1,800 daily driving miles since I picked up my converted car last month, Ron Gremban's 12,000 and EnergyCS's 35,000. That would also give us the opportunity to explain that PHEVs drive long distances as conventional hybrids. Their benefit comes in daily commutes. Going across the country, only the first 50 or so miles daily benefit from electric fuel.

Again, that URL to click is http://www.calcars.org/­phevtodc.html. Thanks to all of you who have supported or are considering supporting this event, CalCars in general, and plug-in hybrids.