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Santa Monica Alt Car Expo


AltCar 2009: Dan Neil, "Some Inconvenient Questions," and GM hints it could sell Chevy Volt gliders

On top of the test drives (Wheego Whip), test rides (Coda Sedan) and a visit to the unlimited energy booth, a highlight of the AltCar Expo last weekend was getting to hear the LA Times' premiere auto scribe Dan Neil moderate two sessions called "Some Inconvenient Questions." Neil was lucky to have on his panels some of the most knowledgeable people in the green car world who were able to discuss and promote their favored technologies (plug-in hybrids, hydrogen, etc.) without beating each other up. Well, Neil dished out a few critical hits ... Read more →

AltCar 2009: Riding in Green Vehicles' Triac, a prototype that is not quite ready Sebastian Blanco

The history of the Green Vehicles' Triac is a convoluted one. First surfacing in the summer of 2008, promised delivery dates in November and December 2008 were not kept, but Green Vehicles' Ehab ...

AltCar 2009: EF9's "unlimited clean energy" turbine could go into cars, if it works Sebastian Blanco

Mark Tanner, who does R&D for EF9 Energy Systems, was pretty wiped out by the time we got to speak with him at the end of AltCar 2009 in Santa Monica last weekend. It's understandable. He'd ...

AltCar 2009: Coda Sedan test ride; wish we could drive the $30,000 (or so) electric vehicle Sebastian Blanco

Back in August, members of the Diamond Bar Electric Vehicle Association were treated to rides in t he Coda all-electric sedan with Coda Automotive CEO Kevin Czinger at the wheel. This past ...

AltCar 2009: Wheego Whip Quick Drive - is this the Cadillac of NEVs? Sebastian Blanco

Is the Wheego Whip "The Cadillac of Neighborhood Electric Vehicles"? That's one description that we heard during our very short test drive of the NEV during the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo last ...

AltCar 2009: Touring the show with the Governator 1 month ago on Autoblog Green

During the opening day of the 2009 AltCar Expo & Conference here in Santa Monica, Governor Schwarzenegger stopped by for a tour of the green vehicles on display. He learned about the Volt from Dave Barthmuss (above), sat down in a Tango and the Wheego Whip, learned about the MINI E and ...

AltCar 2009: California Fuel Cell Partnership giving out free t-shirts w/winning slogan 1 month ago on Autoblog Green

Readers had a lot of fun with the California Fuel Cell Partnership's t-shirt slogan earlier this year. The winning slogan wasn't one of the snarky options – it's "Ahead of the Pact with a Fuel Cell Stack" – and now the CaFCP is ready to start getting the word out about hydrogen via ...

AltCar 2009: Vision Industries to display fuel cell truck at Santa Monica 1 month ago on Autoblog Green

The annual Alt Car Expo is coming up this weekend at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and Vision Industries will be on hand to display its Tyrano semi tractor. This is no typical smoke-belching, diesel-powered semi. In fact, the only thing emitted by this hauler is water vapor. The Tyrano is a ...

AltCar 2008: Some thoughts on year three 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The third Santa Monica Alt Car Expo has come and gone. AutoblogGreen has been lucky enough to attend each iteration of this growing expo, and being back in Santa Monica made us want to take a look back. In December 2006, the first event was held at the Barker Hanger not long after the Tesla ...

AltCar 2008: Terry Tamminen says green is the new red, white and blue 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Here's a tip for Terry Tamminen: retire the joke already. You know, the one about Arnold Schwarzenegger and whoever just introduced you as a speaker, how they were pumping iron together back in the day? We heard it about Ed Begley at the 2006 Alt Car Expo and then again at AFVI in 2007. When ...

AltCar 2008: TrioBike, the pedal-powered SUV for three 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Not everything at the AltCar Expo was an alternative car. Some, like the Prometheus electric motorcycle and the TrioBike (above) were car alternatives. In fact, the TrioBike is really a next-generation SUV. I mean, that designation just means sports utility vehicle, right? It doesn't have to ...

AltCar 2008: Let's get ready to alt-energy rummmble! (yawn) 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Saturday afternoon at the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo was supposed to feature an all-out technology debate between everyone's favorite gasoline alternatives. Moderated by Rick Sikes, the fleet superintendent of the City of Santa Monica, the setup was billed as "Top experts representing PHEV, all ...

AltCar 2008: Is the Lola EV the "poor man's Tesla"? 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

During the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo, someone joked to me that the Lola EV, a flashy electric kit car, was the "poor man's Tesla." Paul Pearson, the man behind the project, said, "That's a compliment," but there's really no comparison between the two other than that they're two-seat sports cars ...

AltCar 2008: AMPLE taking orders for $29,999 PHEV truck, two other plug-in hybrids 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The headline above is what we call a "bait & switch," and it recreates the feeling I got when I approached the AMPLE Motion booth at the AltCar Expo. AMPLE, a new company incorporated on Earth Day this year, is trying an unusual strategy to get the word out about its plug-in hybrid vehicles ...

AltCar 2008: Triac in the metal, deliveries to customers start in December 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

We heard about the Triac back in April and got more details in May. When we saw the prototype sitting on the floor of the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo floor over the weekend, we knew we needed to stop in and say hello. Ehab Youssef was there to give a rundown of the Triac, an all-electric ...

AltCar 2008: LA Times panel hates/loves GM, and more 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

For me, the highlight of the weekend's panel discussions at the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo was two guys just sitting around and chatting. The reason the hour-long freeflowing discussion between the men was so good was that they - Dan Neil (left in the picture above) and Ken Bensinger, both writers ...

AltCar 2008: Prometheus' solar-powered electric motorcycle 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Jim Corning had an idea. Wouldn't it be cool if you could put four solar panels on your house, and then be able to power a vehicle with the energy created with them? Corning, who founded Prometheus Solar LLC, didn't have a vehicle he could power with sunlight, but he did have a wife with a ...

AltCar 2008: "Water and Charge your batteries regularly!" 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The hurdles to moving from a gasoline-dominated private transportation environment to one that contains a lot of batteries and plug-in vehicles are many. If nothing else, that's one message we can take away from the Sustainable Mobility Seminar and the AltCar Expo this past week. So, when I ...

AltCar 2008: Details on the MIIN-AER compressed air Porsche Boxster 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

As I wrote on Thursday, one of the more interesting vehicles here at the Alt Car Expo is a one-off home conversion of a 1999 Porsche Boxster called the MIIN-AER car. We wanted to get some more information about this thing, so we talked to Glenn Bell, CEO of Air Fuel Auto. Bell talked about why he's ...

AltCar 2008: Chris Paine talks "Who Killed?" sequel, coming in 2010 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

One of the highlights of Day One of the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo was spending an hour with "Who Killed the Electric Car?" director Chris Paine and hearing stories about making both that film and his sequel-in-progress. While he said the studio/lawyers would not let him show any clips from the new ...

AltCar 2008: half of those 100 Auto X Prize teams are working on low-speed vehicles 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

During a panel discussion on public transportation today at the Santa Monica AltCar Expo, Cristin Lindsay, senior director of the Automotive X Prize, gave us a bit more information about the teams that have signed up to participate in the race. You might remember that in late August, the X Prize ...

AltCar 2008: Transforming Transit Symposium says hell yeah to buses 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The morning discussion session at the AltCar Expo here in Santa Monica today focused not on a car at all, but the Big Blue Bus. This iconic ride is Santa Monica's most visible public transportation option and is currently undergoing some conceptual redesigns. A panel of people with an interest in ...

Altcar 2008: Big Blue Buses of the future unveiled 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Three new and radical bus concepts were unveiled in Santa Monica this morning as part of the third annual AltCar Expo. The bus of the future contest is an exercise in what's possible down the road, but it's also very timely: public transportation ridership in Santa Monica is up seven percent ...

Santa Monica AltCar Expo 2008 preview rocks a parking lot 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Well, today was day zero of the third annual Santa Monica AltCar Expo. The public is invited to check out all of the green rides at the Santa Monica Civic Center starting tomorrow, but anyone who was walking by the center's parking lot this morning could get an early taste of what will be on ...

Zero Motorcycles sells out of '08s, touts '09s 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

For those of you who had been hoping to get your hands on a new 2008 Zero X electric motorcycle, we have some bad news. They are all sold out. Now, the good news is that a new revised-for-'09 model will be making its first appearance at the Alt Car Expo in Santa Monica, California, on September ...

Guess we won't be seeing UEV at AltCar this year; Spyder up on eBay 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

During the last two years' Santa Monica Alt Car Expo, we talked with representatives of Universal Electric Vehicle about their Spyder EV. There were scant updates from the company outside of those events, and now we can see that there won't be much news in the future, either. The one vehicle that ...

$8,000 for an at-home plug-in Prius conversion 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Kim Adelman's plug-in Prius was at the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo back in October, but somehow stayed hidden from my camera and eyes. The good news is that EVWorld's Bill Moore spotted the car and talked to Adelman about the car and Adelman's new company, Plug-In Conversions, which will send people ...

Autoblog Green Podcast #14 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

We're back for AutoblogGreen Podcast #14. In this installment, we recap the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo and many of the interesting things we saw at that show. Everything from converted Russian hatchbacks as NEVs to excessively fast electric drag racers. Sam is currently covering the LA Auto Show for ...

Alt Car Expo 2007: Electric car racing with Michael Kadie and 2.S.S.I.C. (VIDEO) 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

When you hear Michael Kadie say "2.S.S.I.C.," it sounds like a friend's name. In fact, Michael calls the car his baby, and from the time and effort he's put into not only making his Daytona Coupe a fast all-electric racecar but also EVangelizing (yes, with a capital EV), it's a deserved name. ...

Alt Car Expo 2007: LTU's Element One race team on track for Formula Zero starting in June 2008 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

There might be a lot of argument about the sense of using hydrogen as a gasoline substitute for millions of cars, but if you ask Mike Samaroo, it's hard to not be convinced that using hydrogen can a lot of fun. Mike Samaroo is a mechanical engineering student with a hydrogen fuel cell focus at ...

Alt Car Expo 2007: Open Source Vehicle Project (VIDEO) 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Earlier this month, I interviewed two of the people behind the Open Source Green Vehicle Project for the AutoblogGreen podcast. As you probably remember, this is a project where the hivemind is trying to design a highly-efficient vehicle, with aspirations to join the Automotive X Prize and ...

Alt Car Expo 2007: Vectrix Scooter smiles for the ABG camera (VIDEO) 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

We have already told you all about the $11,000, NiMH-powered two-wheeled all-electric scooter from Vectrix. Now, why not take a closer look at this zero-emission vehicle with a 68-mile range and 62 mph top speed. We caught up with Vectrix at the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo, and I've gotta admit, ...

Alt Car Expo 2007: BugE in the booth 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

We introduced you to the BugE concept vehicle earlier this year, and at the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo we finally got to see this strange beast in the metal. Not quite a car, more than a scooter, the BugE is one of the many entries in the city-commuter-use-only category of new vehicles. You can read ...

Alt Cat Expo 2007: OKA, the cheap, inexpensive, not pricey NEV 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

The OKA NEV booth at the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo caught people's attention for one simple reason: a price tag of $7,500. The OKA neighborhood electric vehicle is an interesting little car - seriously unhip, cheap and ready for you today. The details are not that great - 20 mile range, 25 mph top ...

Alt Car Expo 2007: All about the Electrum Spyder with UEV's Diana Lane (VIDEO) 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

When the Electrum Spyder was unveiled at last year's Santa Monica Alt Car Expo, we enjoyed getting our first taste of this ambitious all-electric sports car. A year later, the Spyder has changed a little bit (as you can see in these pictures of the Electrum Spyder from the other night when ...

Alt Car 2007: Chelsea Sexton talks Toyota, Chevy Volt and plug-in hybrids (VIDEO) 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Like many people, I first "met" Chelsea Sexton through the documentary film "Who Killed The Electric Car?" Last year, as part of the promotion for the movie, Chelsea spoke with AutoblogGreen about all sorts of things, including the fact that she won't buy a hybrid until there's a plug on one. ...

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