While the Barker Hanger was still mostly empty on Friday, the day before the Alt Car Expo starts in Santa Monica, I caught up with the Phoenix Motors and Altairnano crew standing next to the electric Phoenix SUV prototype. Bryon Bliss and Daniel Elliot of Phoenix Motors said the SUV is currently going through safety testing, just like any other vehicle destined for commercial sales. In fact, that was their main message, that the electric SUV will drive and feel like an ICE SUV. The 480 ft lbs. of torque and the rest of the powertrain have been electronically adjusted to make the vehicle feel "normal." One slight difference: while the prototype model doesn't beep when backing up, the production model likely will, otherwise you might not know it's coming. Expect the Phoenix SUV in the second quarter of 2007.

I also spoke with Roy Graham, Senior Vice President for Commercial Development at Altairnano, about the nano-titanate lithium-ion batteries I first wrote about at the EDTA Conference. You can listen to Graham explaining how the batteries will work in the Phoenix SUV here (~5 min. interview, 1.3 MB file). Also, check out a picture of the batteries under the hood after the jump.

All right, my last post on the EDTA Conference is now on the site. From here, I have to get ready for the entirely different experience of the Alt Car Expo in Santa Monica this weekend. But, sine I spent the last few days writing about what was on display and what was said at the EDTA Conference (you can see the titles of all those stories in the links at the end of this post) I now realize that there are a few tidbits that didn't find a home anywhere else. And I'd like to share them with you here.

The showroom floor. UQM and the U.S. military brought the converted Silverado truck, and GM was there with their HydroGen 3, but one thing that was really missing from the show were domestic car companies. Hyundai, Honda, Toyota and Lexus dominated the "show floor" (which was in the basement of the hotel and all of the cars were driven inside the building, which makes me very glad they were low-emission vehicles). The best showing by a domestic company, inside, was ZENN (GM and Ford did bring their fuel cell vehicles to the ride and drive). I know that this distinction between domestic and foreign is becoming less and less discernable (Toyota plants in Kentucky, GM plants in Mexico and all that), but the domestics were outgunned by foreign auto companies at EDTA.

Many, many presenters at the conference mentioned the fact that most Americans drive less that 30 miles a day, made up of 3-5 short trips. This statistic, floating on its own, makes it seem like a modest-range EV could really make headway in the market. I'm not discounting this possibility at all, but it's going to take more than the right specifications to sell units. American consumers are not known for buying what they need, but what they want. It's going to take a lot of work and marketing to make LSVs take off, but I think it'll happen in the next few years when the cars get better and cheaper and people realize they can work their lives with an EV..

On PHEVs: One speaker in a session on PHEVs gave the warning that we need to address issues of the actual plug that will be part of these plug-in hybrids. There are differences physical plugs in different countries (esp. Europe), different voltages and safety issues, and questions of how customers will pay for the electricity they get from the grid. Communication between car and the grid needs to be figured out as soon as possible, whether this is through smart meters and/or official electric meters on the vehicles themselves. These issues need to be addressed now; otherwise plug-in hybrids will never really be able to plug in.

Lastly, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the entire conference was made carbon neutral thanks to carbon offsetting by Carbonfund.org's Carbonfree program.

AutoblogGreen's complete coverage of the 2006 Electric Drive Trade Association Conference:

• Who loves the electric car? EDTA does, and their expo starts today
• EDTA Conference 2006: Ride and Drive photos
• UQM Technologies shows off electric Chevy Silverado at EDTA Conference
• EDTA Conference: Q&A with Honda VP Edward Cohen
• EDTA Conference: Q&A with Argonne Lab's Don Hillebrand
• EDTA Conference: kick off session is 99 percent unbelievably upbeat
• EDTA Conference: revisiting Altair Nanotechnologies' NanoSafe batteries, Phoenix EV Truck
• EDTA Conference: Tesla Motors ready to license battery tech to other companies
• EDTA Conference: Screw the Prius. Combat hybrids are "not your mother's hybrid"
• EDTA Conference: secret effects of EESTOR ultracapacitor info from ZENN Motor CEO
• EDTA Conference: The East Coast GM plug-in hybrid announcement
• EDTA Conference: Government solutions for electric drive vehicles
• EDTA Conference: Who Killed the Plug-in Hybrid?
• EDTA Conference: More details on UQM's electric Silverado
• EDTA Conference: Miles Automotive chairman previews 2007 LA Auto Show
• EDTA Conference: how to land the fat government grants for advanced vehicle research

EDTA president Brian Wynne officially opened this week's conference with a moment of silence for David Hermance, an engineer for Toyota who recently died while flying his plane off the coast of California. After that quiet moment, the message from Wynne and all of the other speakers at this morning's opening plenary session was up, up, upbeat.

Alexander Karsner, assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy (EERE) spoke on behalf of the Bush administration and told the attendees that, "You are in play," which he explained meant that clean cars are hot in Washington. He said that in all of his meetings in the White House and elsewhere today, electric drive topics are/were a part of the discussion. So, the electric drive industry is doing a good job of getting its message to the administration, but the reverse is not necessarily true. The administration doesn't get the message out well enough that President Bush is highly commitment to cleaner vehicles, Karsner said. To that end, the Department of Energy is sending a lot of representatives to the various sessions throughout the EDTA conference. Karsner said he remembered the long lines during the oil shortages of the '70s and said that this type of situation – not being able to fill up your car with gasoline – should never happen again. His point was that, as he said his veteran father used to mutter under his breath while waiting in line, "America can do better."

Next up was John Bryson, chairman, president and CEO of Edison International. EI is a long-time electric drive supporter, getting their first electric vehicle prototype in 1987. Southern California Edison currently has a fleet of about 300 EVs, including many RAV4 EVs and this year, the company took delivery of a plug-in hybrid van prototype. At the company's Rosemead, CA offices, construction workers are building a hydrogen refueling center and company officials support legislation for consumers who buy PHEVs, because of the vehicles' expected higher environmental benefits.

In the next few years, all 4.7 million SCE customers will get smart meters, Bryson said, which give more information than current home meters and will make charging an EV overnight the obvious choice. Electricity is the only alternative fuel with an existing and ubiquitous infrastructure in place, Bryson said and called on all power utilities to engage with automakers since their work is converging.

The last keynote speaker was James Press, president of Toyota North America. Press had gotten up early today and headed to the pool, where he happened to swim with Jimmy Carter, who Press said was "one of my heroes." It was a fitting chance meeting, since a lot of the reasons Press got involved in building cleaner cars were things that happened during Carter's presidency (the oil crisis and Carter's early promotion of clean energy). Press made the bold statement that the goal should be to, "Free the U.S. of the bonds of fossil fuel." The specific items Toyota is working on in this direction that Press mentioned are things we're familiar with here at AutoblogGreen, like the Lexus LS sedan's first full-hybrid V8 engine and that company engineers are aiming for a 50 percent reduction in the cost of hybrid technology by the middle of 2008, but we don't mind hearing them again. If there was ever a challenge the crossed all segments of society, this is it, Press said. And with that we moved on into the breakout sessions.

As we mentioned, the Electric Drive Transportation Association Conference and Exhibition kicks off today. Before things get started, I wanted to make sure I had a good overview of what the conference is all about. Since I'm learning something, it makes sense to me to also let you know what the deal is.

Considering the show is focused on electric drive trains, it's no surprise that EVs, hybrids and fuel cells are the stars of the week. There will be a luncheon dedicated to plug-in hybrids and the "Infrastructure of the Future" (which I hope will be similar in scope to the hydrogen economy predictions I heard in Honolulu a few weeks ago). The major workshop will deal with finding federal money for electric drive support. The keynote speakers for the conference will be:

• Jim Press, President, Toyota Motor North America
• John Bryson, Chairman, President & CEO of Edison International
• The Honorable Alexander Karsner, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and
• Senator Byron Dorgan

Representing the auto industry - even though everyone and their brother is at the L.A. Auto Show this week - will be General Motors, Global Electric Motorcars, Hyundai, Toyota, American Honda Motor Company, Lexus and Zenn. Electric drive train-related companies Enova Systems, Southern California Edison, UDM Technologies and more will also be there (you can see the complete list here).

Last year's EDTA show was in Vancouver, which is a lot prettier than Washington, D.C. at the end of November, but because the association's stated goal is to "examine federal policy options to accelerate the adoption of electric drive," holding EDTA 2006 in our nation's capital does make sense. If you're interested in anything specific from the EDTA show, please post your comments at the end of my previous post. I'll be checking that post out for your contributions. Thanks.

[Source: EDTA]