During Hybridfest 2007 in Madison, Wisc., I met Theodore (Ted) Bohn of Argonne National Laboratory. As a power electronics engineer, Bohn is at the forefront of assessing advanced and hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) technologies for the FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program. I found myself mesmerized by him ...

The Solar Living Institute, home of Real Goods (one of the first Green Catalogs), is like a big, green playground. The 12-acre plot was developed as a demonstration site for renewable and clean technologies like solar and wind power, green building and permaculture. We were excited to be ...

GM’s Chief Engineer of the Volt, Nick Zielinski, has been in the news a lot lately. So, I thought I’d post this interview I did with him back at the Detroit Auto Show that never got published. A lot of skeptics think the vehicle will never be built. ...

Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, Inc., announced a major initiative to spur the adoption of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles and Vehicle-to-Grid technology, called RechargeIT.org. More than just a Website, the effort brings together the innovators and industry leaders from PG&E, Hymotion and ...

Texas Tech competed in Challenge X by converting a Chevrolet Equinox into a hybrid electric vehicle fueled with both hydrogen and E85. The vehicle uses a COBASYS NiMH battery pack to provide energy storage and electric power to the motor. To maintain the high voltage battery ...

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 ...

GM’s Nick Zielinski, Chief Engineer of the Volt and Gary Smyth, GM’s Director of Powertrain Systems, sat down to dinner with a group of bloggers including Sam Abuelsamid of AutoblogGreen, Todd Kaho of Green Car Journal, Lyle Dennis of GM-Volt.com, Philip Proefrock of Ecogeek and ...

Something different on today’s show — an interview with blogger Doug Korthof. He and his wife Lisa are passionate EV advocates, having driven electric vehicles for more than ten years, including two EV1’s and now a Toyota RAV 4 EV. This advocacy must be genetic, as their son ...

AeroVironment is a Monrovia, Calif.-based pioneer in the conception and development of alternative energy vehicles, having helped to develop the solar-powered GM Sunraycer and the all-electric GM Impact, a prototype for General Motors’ EV-1 electric automobile, and others. If you watched the movie, Who Killed the ...

T3 Motion of Irvine, Calif., produces personal mobility vehicles for government, security and law enforcement uses. The T3 is a 3-wheeled, zero-emission, all electric vehicle retailing for just under $8 thousand, powered by two lithium polymer battery packs. T3’s Neil Brooker introduces us to the T3 during the

Keith Johnston is managing director for GoinGreen, UK distributors of the G-Wiz, an electric vehicle designed in California and manufactured in India by the Indo-Reva Electric Car Company. GoinGreen’s mission is to minimize the effects of climate change by encouraging carbon-neutral motoring. That mission has made London one ...

During the Alternative Fuel & Transportation Expo in Anaheim, Calif., we enjoyed a moment of Zenn — that’s Zero Emissions, No Noise — with Bill Williams, VP of North American sales for Zenn, a Toronto-based motor company building low-speed electric vehicles. Rumor has it they will soon offer ...

During the Alternative Fuels & Vehicle Expo in Anaheim, we hitched a ride with Alex Campbell in the Zebra Zero truck, a solar electric truck from Zap, a Santa Rosa, Calif.-based company providing advanced transportation for land, air and water. A Neighborhood Electric Vehicle, the Zero is ...

During the Alternative Fuels & Vehicle Expo in Anaheim, we rode along with Richard Kasper, president and CEO of GEM, a division of DaimlerChrysler, in the e6 Low Speed Electric Vehicle. Sold through Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep dealerships, LSV’s or Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, are street legal, ...

A five-door, five-passenger, high-speed lithium-ion-powered vehicle capable of traveling 150 miles at 85mph from the Miles Automotive Group will be available to the masses within 18-24 months — for less than $30k. If I were GM, Toyota, or any of the other major automotive brands, I’d be looking in ...

Richard Griffiths is the visionary behind Hybrid Technologies, a publicly traded company building electric vehicles powered by Lithium Ion. The company’s philosophy is to change the world by reinventing power. During the New York International Auto Show, Richard gave us a ride in his L1X-75, an italian-styled roadster that ...

Tom Winkleman is head of business development for the Good Earth Electric Vehicle Company out of Fayetteville, Ark. Good Earth uses a battery similar to a deep cycle marine battery that is so efficient, it’s capable of powering their vehicles over 100 miles at 45-50 mph with zero emissions. ...

Nick Banks is general manager of Dynasty Electric Car Corporation, a Canadian company near Vancouver, building all electric, zero-emission LSVs. The company has four models to choose from and produces 100 cars per year and is looking to expand production. I spoke with Nick during the Alternative Fuels ...

Kurt Bauerly is general manager of Princeton, Minn.-based e-ride Industries, a manufacturer of low-speed Neighborhood Electric Vehicles. On today’s show, Kurt introduces us to the exv4 electric transportation vehicle and the exv2 electric utility vehicle, two environmentally friendly, reliable, zero-emissions and virtually maintenance-free vehicles.

“Plug In. Charge up. Drive On.” That’s the slogan of Carl Lawrence and his team at Hybrids Plus, a Boulder, Colo.-based group dedicated to converting Hybrid Electric Vehicles into Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicles and minimizing the impact of transportation on the environment. In September 2006, they launched their ...

One of my newest heroes is John Q. McMillan, a gentleman from Tennessee, who, along with his business partner Xander Carey and a group of Canadian investors, has designed a “purpose-built” electric car, the Predator, an efficient, three passenger, electric car built by their company, Shockwave Motors. It’s 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, ...

Size matters — especially when you put it in the context of an urban area with traffic congestion and parking capacity. That’s the thinking behind Spokane, Wash.-based Commuter Cars Corp. The company has unvelied an ultra-narrow, high performance zero-emissions vehicle, the Tango. But this isn’t a neighborhood electric vehicle ...

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 ...

In the first in a two-part series, I examine the emerging “Vehicle to Grid,” or V2G technology, where Plug-in Electric Vehicles use their excess battery power to recharge the electrical grid during periods of peak demand. Several energy utilities are studying this green energy source, including Minneapolis-based Xcel ...