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/­greencaradvisor/­2007/­11/
la-auto-show-plug-in-advocates-throw-a-different-demonstration.html.

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://www.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 joint 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@...