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Book, Articles, Profiles, Videos; Woolsey + Rybak Get PHEVs
Mar 10, 2008 (From the CalCars-News archive)
CalCars-News
This posting originally appeared at CalCars-News, our newsletter of breaking CalCars and plug-in hybrid news. View the original posting here.
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Here's an accumulation of important resources on PHEVs from recent weeks:

  • "Earth The Sequel" book on low-carbon energy technologies
  • Popular Mechanics story on development of PHEVs
  • Tesla raises money for second generation car--a PHEV
  • EnergyTechStocks.com's 3-part interview on PHEVs
  • CNET Greentech Blog on Silicon Valley's future with plug-in cars
  • Fortune Magazine articles on batteries and plug-in cars
  • Detroit Free Press profile of GM's Frank Weber
  • Salon.com's primer on PHEVs
  • Google.org's videos of roundtable with Brilliant/Brin/Page/Friedman
  • Former CIA Director James Woolsey finally gets a PHEV
  • First Mayor to get a PHEV: Minneapolis's R.T. Ryback
  • Raser and partners to build PHEVs
  • Harvard Magazine's story on PHEVs and wind
  • Tacoma News-Tribune op-ed on Washington State policies


NEW BOOK ON GLOBAL WARMING SOLUTIONS:
"Earth: The Sequel -- The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming" goes on sale today. It's by Fred Krupp, President of Environmental Defense Fund and EDF staffer Miriam Horn. The book surveys the most promising solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, biofuels, geothermal, ocean and other technologies: you're likely to encounter something unfamiliar! On pages 216-228, included in the race to develop and use low-carbon energy are trailblazing plug-in solutions including including Tesla, Think, Chevy Volt, Zap-X and Aptera, along with brief discussions of battery technologies and the potential of vehicle to grid. For more, see www.earththesequel.com and you can order the book at http://www.calcars.org/­books.html


POPULAR MECHANICS:
Inside Plug-in Car Tech's Race to Production (and Top 10 Rides)
By Chuck Tannert Published on: February 6, 2008
http://www.popularmechanics.com/­automotive/­new_cars/­4248082.html
Overview of battery technologies and car in developments.


TESLA MOTORS closes $40M bridge financing
http://www.bizjournals.com/­sanjose/­stories/­2008/­02/­18/­daily18.html?jst=b_ln_hl
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal
Funds raised largely to continue development of its second generation "White Start" four-door, five passenger sport sedan for 2010, which is likely to be a PHEV.


ENERGYSTOCKS.COM three-part interview by Bill Paul, former Wall Street Journal reporter and author of "Future Energy: How the New Oil Industry Will Change People, Politics and Portfolios" with what he grandly calls "Foremost Plug-in Car Expert Felix Kramer"
Explosion of Hybrid & Electric Cars Coming in 2010-2012
http://energytechstocks.com/­wp/­?p=898
New Technology May Cut Gas Use Up to 50% in EXISTING Cars
http://energytechstocks.com/­wp/­?p=907
How Next U.S. President Will End America's Oil Addiction
http://energytechstocks.com/­wp/­?p=909


CNET Green Tech Blog
Is Silicon Valley the new Detroit for electric cars?
http://www.news.com/­8301-11128_3-9877157-54.html?tag=nefd.top
February 22, 2008 2:24 PM PST
Posted by Stefanie Olsen
Report on Joint Venture Silicon Valley's "The State of the Valley"
panel on plug-in cars, featuring speakers from CalCars, GM and AC Propulsion


FORTUNE MAGAZINE: "Three Continents, Two Teams, One Goal," Fortune March 3, 2008: three-page spread (not online) pages 32-34 showing 16 members of the LGChem/Compact Power and A123 Systems/Continental teams developing batteries for the Chevy Volt, along with Bob Boninface, Design Director for the Volt.

Also at FORTUNE: The great battery race: Dramatic developments in stored-power technology make electric cars more viable than ever. http://money.cnn.com/­2008/­03/­04/­magazines/­fortune/­taylor_batteries.fortune/­index.htm
March 5 2008 By Alex Taylor III, senior editor
Includes coverage of Chrysler's intention to build a hybrid version of every Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep, and news of General Electric's investment in Think and in A123Systems.


In charge of Chevy Volt
Do-it-yourselfer Weber oversees plug-in project
http://www.freep.com/­apps/­pbcs.dll/­article?AID=/­20080224/­BUSINESS01/­802240692
By Katie Merx, Detroit Free Press Business Writer, February 24, 2008
Profile of Frank Weber, Global vehicle-line executive and chief engineer for E-Flex systems


SALON.COM: In the online magazine's "How the World Works" series by Andrew Leonard:
A primer in plug-in hybrid economics
http://www.salon.com/­tech/­htww/­2008/­03/­04/­plug_in_hybrid_economics/­index.html
Summarizes the results of a ten-page academic study, by Dereke Lemoine, Daniel Kammen and Alex Farrell from the Berkeley Energy Research Group. "An innovation and policy agenda for commercially competitive plug-in hybrid electric vehicles" appearing in the March issue of Environmental Research Letters
http://www.iop.org/­EJ/­article/­1748-9326/­3/­1/­014003/­erl8_1_014003.pdf
concluding that California's current power grid can support a million PHEVs without new capacity if they charge at night. It also examines the economics of PHEVs. See also the "Editors' Choices" letters in response.

GOOGLE.ORG: At its blog, if you have time to watch these videos, they're most worthwhile. In the first half-hour or so, you'll find great discussions of PHEVs and renewable energy:
http://blog.google.org/­2008/­01/­googleorg-at-world-economic-forum-davos.html
Google.org at World Economic Forum, Davos
Wednesday 1/30/2008 04:40:00 PM
Posted by Jacquelline Fuller, Head of Advocacy and Communications, Google.org
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Larry Brilliant held a spirited Conversation on Climate Change and Google.org which was moderated by Tom Friedman. During the question and answer session, audience members Al Gore and Van Jones spoke on the need for a strategic persuasion campaign and green collar jobs.


JAMES WOOLSEY GETS HIS OWN PHEV (FINALLY)
Here's the report from Set America Free; see http://www.setamericafree.org/­wordpress for photos: In a special ceremony at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference, Former CIA Director and Set America Free co-founder Jim Woolsey got the keys to his newly converted Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicle. The Prius was upgraded by Watertown, MA-based A123Systems using an advanced Lithium-Ion battery developed at MIT. The conversion allows the Prius to achieve 100+ mpg and travel up to 40 miles on predominantly electric drive from one overnight charge. Each charge takes about 4 hours and costs about 65 cents in suburban Maryland." "And if my Prius had an ethanol, other alcohol, or bio-based diesel engine using 85 percent biofuels," said Woolsey, "I would get close to 500 mpg on the petroleum fuel in the engine." President Bush dropped by to take a look at Jim's newly converted plug in hybrid vehicle and admired its "bin Laden Hates This Car" bumper sticker


MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR: Four months after Mayor Rybak became the first Mayor in the world to drive a PHEV http://www.calcars.org/­calcars-news/­888.html , the city's new online newspaper, MinnPost, has a story, "R.T. Rybak's plug-in car: It keeps going and going" and a 4-minute video update. http://www.minnpost.com/­stories/­2008/­03/­07/­1022/­rt_rybaks_plug-in_car_it_keeps_going_and_going


RASER/PG&E/WHEEL TO WHEEL-TECSTAR/ELECTROVAYA
collaboration on building and selling a plug-in hybrid: Also see articles at GreenCarCongress.org
http://www.rasertech.com/­news/­scripts/­full-news.php?1204205280


HARVARD MAGAZINE: March-April 2008 issue has an article http://harvardmagazine.com/­2008/­03/­saving-money-oil-and-the.html by by Environmental Prof. Michael B. McElroy, "Forum: Saving Money, Oil, and the Climate: Using non-fossil energy sources to power our vehicles" that's very much worth reading. The downloadable PDF version has very attractive graphics. The sidebar http://harvardmagazine.com/­2008/­03/­running-on-wind.html explains the benefits of connecting wind power and PHEVs.


TACOMA NEWS-TRIBUNE ran an op-ed on Feb. 24, "Washington should be leader in push for all-electric cars" www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/othervoices/story/291414.html by Steve Marshall, a senior fellow with the Cascadia Center for Regional Development and Bill Gaines, director of utilities at Tacoma Public Utilities, arguing for state-level steps to promote plug-in cars.


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