While at Hybridfest in Madison, Wisc., I had the chance to speak with Wisconsin Public Power, a regional power company serving 49 customer-owned electric utilities. WPPI is very involved in clean, renewable energy, converting a hybrid Prius to a PHEV, among other projects.

Dr. Andy Frank is faculty advisor to the Challenge X team, from UC Davis. While at the GM Proving Grounds for some of the event, I had the opportunity to speak with him about the event and the vehicle his students built for the competition. A ...

As host of The Next Gear, I get to meet people who are trying to bring about postitive changes in the automotive industry. Many of the people I meet are entrepreneurs whose inventions have the potential to change the world, and many of these people are using their own money, ...

In the race to bring to market the first scalable PHEV, it all comes down to developing the best battery that delivers the furthest range, longest life and lowest cost. And one company may have it figured out. Altairnano, a Reno, Nev.-based company with prototyping and design operations in ...

One of the new technologies that has me very excited is the promise of V2G, or Vehicle to Grid, technology, where PHEV’s plug into the electric grid to help handle periods of peak energy demand. In this second of a two-part series, I delve further into this idea, and the ...

My thanks to Sherry Boshert for fitting me into her busy schedule of speaking engagements, and meeting me for lunch to talk about her new book. Author of Plug-In Hybrids, The Cars That Will Re-Charge America, Sherry is known as Miss Plug-In for her tireless efforts on behalf ...

It’s no secret that we rely on our batteries to power just about every consumer electronic device, or that we are increasingly relying on those devices for just about everything we do. Lithium-Ion batteries are considered the next generation battery technology, offering longer life at a lower cost. This ...

So how much does it cost to convert a Prius into a PHEV? I spoke with Greg Hanssen, partner in Monrovia, Calif.’s EnergyCS and president of its offshoot, EDrive Systems, to find out. Along with his company, he has done about 12 conversions for state, government, ...

“Green tech is the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century,” says CalCars.org’s Felix Kramer. I spoke with Kramer at the Alternative Car & Transportation Expo in Santa Monica, Calif., about the promise of PHEVs and “plugging in,” the non-partisan group Set America Free and what else ...

Plug-In Partners is a national, grass-roots initiative to demonstrate to automakers that a market for flexible-fuel, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) exists today. The mission of the organization’s national campaign is to garner support in the form of online petitions and endorsements by cities across the country, procuring “soft” ...

Mickey Bly is General Motors’s director of engineering for hybrid vehicles. He spoke with PodTech’s Matt Kelly at the L.A. Auto Show about company’s comittment to alternative fuel vehicles. He talked about the new Belt Alternator Starter hybrid system (BAS) soon to be available on the Saturn Aura ...

“The technical hurdles are real but we believe they are surmountable.” During his keynote address at the L.A. Auto Show, General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner announced that the company has begun work on a Saturn Vue plug-in hybrid production vehicle, as well as other alternative ...

LOS ANGELES, November 13, 2006, (PodTech News)–It’s no myth, the 100 mpg car exists — the rub is, they’re built in your neighbor’s garage, not a giant production plant. One company at the forefront of the technology is the California Cars Initiative, CalCars, a group of entrepreneurs, environmentalists, engineers ...