Last Thursday over 200 electric vehicle pioneers, early adapters and the technologically curious came together for CleanTECH San Diego’s Electric Vehicle Showcase.  (see my post of June 4th)  Here are the visuals.

The electric Tesla Roadster

Filing up with Electrons

The electric Nissan Leaf

Danny Sullivan, Holly Smithson, Byron Washom

1985 Indy 500 Winner - Danny Sullivan

CleanTECH San Diego's Electric Vehicle Showcase

The Panel

 

 

On Thursday June 9th CleanTECH San Diego’s Electric Vehicle Showcase will be the latest event focused on San Diego’s position at the front line of the largest transportation electrification project in history.  What’s so special about San Diego?

San Diego has a culture of technology early adapters.  San Diego has been one of the top markets for hybrid EVs like the Toyota Prius.  California ranks first in Prii sales and second only to Vermont in Prii Per Capita.  (Yes, the plural is Prii).  Hybrid EV owners are predisposed to consider plug-in EVs.

San Diego is one of 16 cities selected under a DOE grant headed by ECOtality to implement the largest-ever rollout of electric vehicle infrastructure.  Federal grants plus matching funds will total $230 million.

Because the ultimate utility of EVs is tied to the establishment of a charging infrastructure, Nissan, Chevy, Ford and others have focused on a limited number of metropolitan regions including San Diego.

San Diego is the #1 solar city in the #1 solar state.  40 percent of Leaf owners have solar panels according to the California Center for Sustainable Energy (Source North County Times). 

San Diego’s terrain and climate is less taxing on EV batteries than much of the U.S.

Successful integration of EVs to the grid is a task of great complexity.  For the past two years, San Diego Gas & Electric’s advancements in smart grid infrastructure has earned them recognition as the most intelligent utility in America by IDC Energy Insights and Intelligent Utility magazine. 

General Electric has partnered with the City of San Diego, San Diego Gas & Electric, the University of California San Diego and CleanTECH San Diego in Smart City San Diego, a public-private collaboration that aims to improve the region’s energy independence, empower consumers to adopt electric vehicles, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and drive economic growth.

To boost use of electric vehicles, the General Services Administration is installing charging stations for government vehicles in San Diego and four other cities.

The University of California, San Diego has been at the center of several major initiatives which are contributing to the region’s growth as a clean energy center.  The EVs which will be used by students, faculty and staff will form a living laboratory of human behavior and technology.

Qualcomm and ECOtality have entered into an agreement to implement cellular connectivity into charging stations. The solution will allow ECOtality to use a commercial cellular network to manage its Blink brand charging station operations, transfer usage data, download firmware updates and publish availability to electric vehicle drivers in real time.

CleanTECH San Diego is an important nexus for regional clean technologies of all types.  You can click through to their website to learn about their crucial mission.  While you are there you can register for the CleanTECH San Diego Electric Vehicle Showcase.  Indy 500 legend and electric vehicle convert Danny Sullivan will be the keynote speaker.  UC San Diego’s Byron Washom will lead a panel including the CEO of Flux Power, Chris Anthony and General Electric’s Michelle Lesh.  Held on the LEED Silver certified Port Pavilion on the Broadway Pier, the Showcase will include a variety of demonstrations of EV technologies and cars. 

Show up on Thursday with a fistful of business cards to network harborside and kick the tires of the EVs that are in the poll position in the race for energy efficient transportation.  Register here today. 

CleanTECH San Diego’s Electric Vehicle Showcase

Date: Thursday June 9, 2011    4 PM to 7 PM

Port Pavillion on Broadway Pier
1000 North Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92101

Click here to view Danny Sullivan’s classic moment in Indy 500 history.

On Tuesday I attended the San Diego Regional Smart Grid Working Group Stakeholder Meeting.  Organized by CleanTECH San Diego, the meeting reviewed San Diego’s leadership position in integrating Plug-In Electric Vehicles (PEV) into the grid.  With over 2,000 PEVs (primarily Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt) scheduled to hit San Diego streets this year alone, there is much to do to create an effective infrastructure to handle what will soon be a substantially larger base of electric transportation.  Included on the “to do” list is the construction of 1,400 non-residential PEV chargers.

“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there” is frequently included in the preamble of major planning projects.  Muggs Stoll of SANDAG presented an overview of San Diego’s 2050 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP).  SANDAG is the first regional planning agency in California to integrate Green House Gas (GHG) reduction targets and PEVs in its regional plan.  On Friday the SANDAG Board of Directors released the Draft 2050 RTP and its Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS). The release of the Draft 2050 RTP begins the public comment period which will extend through June 30, 2011.

Click to link to the 2050 Regional Transportation Plan.  It is a hefty 313 pages and over 50 mb if you download the PDF as one file.  SANDAG has created a three-minute video entitled “Our Region. Our Future.” about the 2050 RTP.

On September 8th I participated in the latest CleanTECH San Diego SCRUB session.  SCRUB is an opportunity for early stage cleantech companies to present their business plans to a panel of CleanTECH San Diego members.  Three local emerging cleantech ventures made their case to thirty-one CleanTECH San Diego members representing a mix of venture capitalists, engineers, marketing specialists, intellectual property attorneys as well as local leaders from industry, research and government.  The objective of SCRUB is to provide feedback and assistance to take each company to the next stage. 

This quarter’s SCRUB showcased three distinctly different cleantech businesses.  MultiSpark LLC designs, manufactures and sells a new high performance spark plug called the PowerSTAR.  Tour Engine Inc. is developing a revolutionary opposed-cylinder split-cycle internal combustion engine.  An early stage Light Emitting Diode (LED) chip company Lightwave Photonics is developing low-cost ultra high brightness green, blue and whites LEDs. (more…)

Forget about the Housewives of Wherever.  This is the ultimate reality show.  Tune in at 7:30 AM (San Diego time) on Wednesday September 16th to see if San Diego’s own Aptera Motors will be a winner of the $10,000,000 Automotive X Prize.  The Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE Winners Announcement will be broadcast live via streaming video at http://www.progressiveautoxprize.org/live.

Up to $10 million will be awarded to as many as three teams that proved their entry vehicle could meet the competition’s strictest requirements, including the ability to achieve 100 miles per gallon or the energy equivalent (MPGe) and to survive grueling real-world safety, efficiency, emissions, durability and range tests.

The finalists in the three year run for the big bucks include nine vehicles from seven teams out of an original 136 cars from 111 teams from around the world.  To make the cut each design had to be considered production-capable.

The National Geographic Channel will present “X PRIZE Cars: Accelerating the Future” at 9 PM on September 16th.  Click here for a great article from Autopia on WIRED.com and here for a link to the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE.

(Follow-up note posted September 16th.  Aptera ran out of the money.)

Next 500 is a San Diego-based media website which “takes you inside the most innovative and captivating companies set to one day emerge as Fortune 500 powerhouses”.  Several of Next 500’s high quality videos feature companies listed in CleanTECH San Diego company database.  Each of the engaging videos run about five minutes.  The host is Beck Bamberger of BAM Communications.  Take a click to view the flicks.

Solatube

ZuumCraft

Portable Farms LLC

D&K Engineering

Elliptigo

EcoATM

DriveCam

By GUEST AUTHOR Mariana Gerzanych CEO |  350Green

Last week the House and the Senate introduced separate but similar bills in support of Electric Cars.  Both are called “Electric Vehicle Deployment Act of 2010″, both have the same outcome but go about it a bit differently.  They will each allocate about (more…)

On Wednesday I participated in the latest CleanTECH San Diego SCRUB session.  SCRUB is an opportunity for early stage clean tech companies to present their business plans to a panel of CleanTECH San Diego members.  Four local emerging clean tech ventures made their case to two dozen CleanTECH San Diego members representing a mix of venture capitalists, engineers, marketing specialists, intellectual property attorneys as well as local leaders from industry, research and government.  The objective of SCRUB is to provide feedback and assistance to take each company to the next stage. 

This week’s SCRUB showcased four distinctly different clean tech businesses.  350 Green intends to provide developmental infrastructure for electric vehicle charging stations.  Butler Sun Solutions has developed a solar assisted hot water system, featuring “do-it-yourself” installation options.  Home Town Farms plans a vertical organic urban farming model that has the capacity to reduce water and energy consumption.  WaterSmart Systems provides resources to water utilities to help optimize water conservation.

In January the SCRUB featured Shrink NanoSolar, Eco ReBox, and Vari-Ro Technologies.  In the past six quarterly SCRUB sessions CleanTECH San Diego has provided advice, introductions and critical evaluations to 21 future clean tech stars.  If you have a clean tech enterprise that would benefit from a good SCRUB you should forward your business summary to Shaina Brown at shainab@cleantechsandiego.org

By GUEST AUTHOR Mariana Gerzanych CEO |  350Green

San Diego won a 1 in 30,000 jackpot when it became a city that both GM Volt and Nissan Leaf electric cars will be introduced in this fall.  Nissan dropped the price bomb last month, the war that promises to be fierce has begun.  Leaf ended up at $20,280 MSRP after a $7,500 Federal Tax break and $5,000 CA Rax rebate (or a $349/month lease).  The price astounded many, including competitors like Mitsubishi that immediately responded by dropping the price for their all-electric iMiev by $6,700. 

Even though the Leaf is priced unexpectedly low, Nissan is still making a profit.  The most expensive (more…)

The press conference which Aptera Motors held on Wednesday achieved its goal.  The Aptera 2e story has all the elements the media desires.  It visual, exotic and cutting edge with an aura of economic suspense.  On top of which, the vehicle is about to be shipped-off to compete for the $10 million Automotive X Prize.  Popular Mechanics’ coverage of the media event hit the techie high-points of the all-electric vehicle which looks like a cross between an albino lobster and George Jetson’s commuter car.  The fact that the two-person transporter has “a coefficient of drag that’s below 0.15” supports Aptera’s claim that the car is an energy miser. 

Charlie Neuman has some great photos on SignOn San Diego of the local solution for energy-efficient transportation.

By GUEST AUTHOR Mariana Gerzanych CEO |  350Green

Electricity providers and consumers have had a good marriage since the 1800s, small breakdowns here and there, sometimes scandals, regulation and deregulation but overall it’s been even keeled. That is until consumers decided they want more, demanding more electricity for their new toys: Electric Cars. Utilities ignored the whim for a decade but are starting to take notice. A study of EV impact on (more…)

This is a cell-phone quality video, but an interesting inside view of the the Aptera prototype.

Click here for link.

Sometimes it pays to be an early adapter.  In August the U.S. Department of Energy announced a grant of $99.8 million to implement the largest transportation electrification project in U.S. history.  San Diego was one of only five cities selected.  One thousand Nissan Leafs will be deployed in (more…)

Quick.  How many automotive firms are there in the United States?  Way more than I ever dreamed.  The Progressive Automotive X PRIZE attracted entries from 111 teams of which 88 are from the United States.  Competing for the $10 million jackpot are names we recognize  like Tesla Motors and those we do not including my favorite,7K Hamsters, which unfortunately did not make the cut.  On Monday the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE announced that 43 teams with 53 vehicles from 18 US States and 11 countries had made it through the stringent Design Judging phase.  Making the short list were two San Diego innovators, Aptera and SSI-Racing.  These teams will now be entering the final competition events that will be taking place from May 2010 with the announcement of the winners that Fall.  A no-show in the competition was Fisker Automotive.  I guess the opportunity to score $10 million looks like chump change compared to (more…)

My October 12^_th post, Surf City as Motor City, noted that Aptera’s “quest for funds was stymied because the Aptera 2e’s design is one wheel short of the standard four”.  A Senate vote on Thursday expanded the scope of qualifying vehicles to include Aptera-like designs.  If the bill is signed into law by the President, Aptera can apply for funds under the Department of Energy loan program for green cars just like their four-wheeled competitors.

The frequent references to San Diego as a global leader in clean tech are often illustrated by regional activities in solar, wind, water, smart grid and energy efficiency.  A perusal of the CleanTECH San Diego company database also reveals a mini-Mo Town of 25 ventures in the Transport Technology category.  Five of the companies have made the headlines recently.

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is the living legend in the venture capital universe.  Their successes include Amazon.com, Compaq, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Google, Intuit, Lotus Development, Netscape, Segway, Sun Microsystems and scores of other ventures over a 37 year history.  Their lead in the launch of San Diego-based V Vehicle Company is just one piece of their huge commitment to invest in clean tech and transportation.  Kleiner Perkins is joined in their investment by the VC arm of Google and part-time San Diegan T. Boone Pickens.  Manufacturing of the yet-to-be-unveiled automobile will take place in Louisiana.  If all the Federal and state loans fall in place, the total investment will exceed $500 million.  Former Oracle executive, Frank Varasano of San Diego, is the company’s CEO.  Wrapped in product secrecy, V Vehicle’s website has a video and information about their plans to hire 1400 workers.

Carlsbad-based Aptera has a waiting list of over 4,000 early adapters who have written deposit checks for the yet-to-be-offered three-wheeled, super aero-dynamic electric vehicle.  Looking like a cross between an albino lobster and George Jetson’s commuter car, the Aptera comes with a built-in fan club that is drawn to the car’s futuristic appearance, three-digit MPG comparisons and cocktail-party-conversation features such as solar assisted climate control.  Originally funded last year for $24 million from Google, Idealab and individual investors, Aptera seeks Federal loans to accelerate their production capability.  Their quest for funds was stymied because the Aptera 2e’s design is one wheel short of the standard four.  Local Congressman Brian Bilbray is grinding through the legislative process to include “fully enclosed vehicles that are capable of carrying two adults and get at least 75 mpg.”

The recent input of over $12 million will rev-up San Diego’s Achates Power in their efforts to build the internal combustion engine equivalent of Doctor Dolittle’s pushmi-pullyu.  Their 4.2L automotive engine design is a high-efficiency two-stroke power plant which features two opposing pistons in each cylinder.  The Achates Power value proposition is an “unparalleled combination of fuel efficiency (more…)