Jody Foster, CEO of Bad Boy Buggies

Jody graduated from The University of Southern Mississippi in 1995 with a BS in Construction Engineering. For the next ten years, he worked for one of the largest general contractors in the country in various roles from Project Manager to General Superintendent – traveling all over the Southern United States. Jody managed $200 million to $800 million projects–  with a focus on scheduling, production, cost control, and labor.

In 2004, Jody ventured out to start his own construction company and development company during which time he worked as a consultant to several large construction companies. He has also managed several very large disaster relief contracts for hurricane recovery work over the last few years. An avid outdoorsman and hunter, Jody took the opportunity to join Bad Boy in 2008 where he has streamlined production, supply chain, and assembly processes.

Interview Date: February 23, 2009

Steve Frambo, Co-Founder of Aptera

Steve Fambro, the founder of Aptera, drew his inspiration to create an electric vehicle while sitting in interminable Southern California traffic. As he watched motorcycles and cars zip by in the carpool lane while his own car sat motionless, he became motivated to design a vehicle that would allow him to travel freely in the carpool lane. This vehicle would be safe, comfortable and more fuel-efficient than anything ever produced. Hence, the idea for Aptera was conceived.

Steve holds a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from the University of Utah. Prior to founding Aptera, he worked as an engineer for a leading genetics company called Illumina, where he managed multiple projects from concept to reality that, ultimately, contributed to the company’s patent portfolio.

Steve began tinkering on the future Aptera vehicle is his garage in 2004 and, since then, getting the company off the ground has been his passion, replacing all of his other hobbies and outside interests. Thankfully, Steve’s wife Tricia is very understanding. The couple lives in Carlsbad with their daughter, Phoebe.

Interview Date: January 16, 2009

Henrik Fisker, CEO and Founder of Fisker Automotive

Interview Date: January 15, 2009

Linda Nicholes, President of Plugin America

Interview Date: December 5, 2008

Mike McQuary, Founder of RTEV

Interview Date: November 26, 2008

Staff at Vectrix

Interview Date: November 25, 2008

Dale Vince, Founder of Ecotricity

Interview Date: November 19, 2008

Larry Conningham, Integrity Automotive

Interview Date: November 12, 2008

Michael Siegel, President of Micro Bubble Technologies

Interview Date: November 10, 2008

Brian Howell from Electric-bikes.com

Interview Date: November 7, 2008

Chuck Greenwood, Creator of the HumanCar

Interview Date: November 6, 2008

Jim Motavalli, Author, Industry Expert

Interview Date: November 5, 2008

Gary Starr, Founder of ZAP!

Interview Date: November 4, 2008

Cole Quinnell, Chrysler Public Relations

Interview Date: October 24, 2008

Mark Murphy, Creator of the BugE

Interview Date: October 23, 2008

David West of Raser Technologies

Interview Date: October 22, 2008

Dr. Peter Podesser, CEO of Smart Fuel Cell

Interview Date: October 20, 2008

S.T Tripathi, Founder of ElectricCityMotors.com

Interview Date: October 17, 2008

Gene Banman, CEO of Zero Motorcycles

Gene Banman grew up riding his Dad’s Honda 90 into the San Gabriel Mountains above Los Angeles.  When he went to college it was with his Honda 305 Scrambler, the granddaddy of today’s dual sport bikes.  In his “old age” he has been spending most of his trail time on a full suspension mountain bike, which coincidentally was designed by Neal Saiki, our founder.  Gene joined Zero Motorcycles because he felt this new category of electric motorcycles was desperately needed in the world.  He also felt that the industry needed another American Motorcycle company.  He wanted to apply his 30 years of business experience to this task.

Gene was an executive at Sun Microsystems where he ran the Workstation/Desktop Computer Business Unit, the Sun Japan subsidiary and a number of other sales and marketing jobs over a 15 year period.  He was CEO of NetContinuum and President of Mirapoint.  He has a Physics degree from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon.  He is dedicated to making sure Zero Motorcycles is run by competent, caring people who design and build great electric motorcycles and support our customers to the limits of our ability.

Interview Date: October 8, 2008

Greg Zanis, Founder of Dream Car 123

Interview Date: October 6, 2008

Kahrl Retti, CEO of Solaroad Technologies Group, LLC

Interview Date: October 2, 2008

Dr. Paul Moller, Founder of Moller Industries

Interview Date: September 29, 2008

The Myserious EEstor Blogger

The EEstor blogger is perhaps he foremost expert on the information surrounding the company EEstor, the creators of what many to beleive to be the "holy grail" of energy storage technology. 

The EEstor blogger wishes to remain anonymous for many reasons, but you can learn a bit more about him by reading his blog at http://bariumtitanate.blogspot.com .

Interview Date: September 24, 2008

Jay Giraud, Founder, President and CEO

An
 entrepreneur
 since 
the
 age 
of
 18 coupled with proven results in the automotive retail sector, Jay is catalyzing a tranformation in the industry. An experienced entrepreneur and manager, he has founded and run many successful ventures including Athena
 Apparel. During the 90’s he was ranked number 9 for top professional snowboarders in Canada. He has been well known as a passionate evangelist for electric vehicles since 2005.

Interview Date: September 15, 2008

Myers Motors is dedicated to providing creative, innovative, functional, responsible and fun alternative forms of transportation to meet the desires of its customers, and the needs of our world.

Myers Motors has created the "NmG" for "No More Gas".  The one-seater commuter car with a lot of spunk and even more pizzazz.

Interview Date: September 12, 2008

Dr. Andrew Alfonso Frank of University of California, Davis and his teams of students have been experimenting with various advanced vehicle technologies for the last 25 years. He is most widely recognized as the father of the modern plug-in hybrid.?His pioneering inventions in plug-in hybrid vehicle technology and transmission systems developed at UC Davis have been licensed to Efficient Drivetrains Inc. (EDI) of Palo Alto in Silicon Valley.

Interview Date: September 11, 2008

Mr. Noble, as an environmental designer, architect, industrial designer and environmental technology entrepreneur, has been the recipient of numerous regional and national awards for his industrial and architectural designs, technology innovations, and business development activities. During his six year tenure as Partner and CEO of Tucker Sadler Architects of San Diego, the size and revenues of the firm quadrupled, and Tucker Sadler became a regional leader in sustainable design and advocacy. During his career, he has led project and technology collaborations with numerous major U.S. companies and international partners in Japan, Sweden and Taiwan. Mr Noble's  technology development, industrial design and architectural experience spans a full spectrum of project types, including master planning, residential, theatrical, commercial, retail, industrial, high-rise and mid-rise office buildings, manufactured housing, health-care, sustainable materials, sustainable design and renewable energy projects.

Interview Date: September 10, 2008

Danny bought a Gwiz EV 3 years ago, and started to document his experiences. Since then, he has started covering new developments and alternative fuel vehicles on his site DannysContentment.net. 

Living in the UK, Danny specializes in the European market.

Interview Date: August 29, 2008

Dr. Lyle Dennis writes and publishes this site. Although a full-time physician, Lyle is a highly-committed advocate for widespread use of alternative energy and petroleum displacement, and believes the adoption of this vehicle will have a tremendously positive impact both on this country and the world as a whole. Although he has some engineering background, Lyle does not in any way work for General Motors (GM) or the car industry at all. Below is a video of Lyle at the Volt Nation event in NY March 2008.

Interview Date: August 23, 2008

The MIT Electric Vehicle Team (EVT) is a multidisciplinary group of undergraduate and graduate students that designs, builds, and tests electric vehicles (EVs) for fun. EVT is based out the Sloan Automotive and Electrochemical Energy Laboratories at MIT. The team meets every Monday night at 8:00PM in 31-156 to get organized for the week ahead and has work times throughout the week.

Interview Date: August 21, 2008

Rick Woodbury is the CEO and Founder of CommuterCars, the maker of the "Tango" that has been made famous by George Clooney (and that guy from Google).  The Tango is an ultra-narrow, freeway-capable, stable, safe vehicle that fits anywhere a motorcycle fits.

The Tango will revolutionize commuter transportation in the 21st century. It was designed to be so much fun and so convenient that if you are going anywhere by yourself or with a friend, there should be no hesitation in deciding which car to take.

Interview Date: August 20, 2008

Shiva Vencat, MDI Vice President and CEO of Zero Pollution Motors

Shiva Vencat, MDI Vice President and CEO of Zero Pollution Motors, has a career in the raw material and mining industry has spanned 25 years. He has been involved in a wide range of metals and minerals ranging from aluminum to zinc. However, his experience has been primarily focused on high technology materials such as germanium and includes his participation in the U.S. government panel to determine the germanium specs for its Strategic Stockpile. He has been involved in the marketing of the world’s largest producer of cobalt to Eastern Europe and China. He joined the MDI team as an investor and a promoter of the technology in the mid 90’s.

Interview Date: August 19, 2008

Robert Q. Riley is an author, industrial designer and a mechanical engineer with successes in a wide range of product categories. His automotive experience includes vehicle styling, packaging, and power train design. He has produced energy-efficient, high-performance three-wheel road vehicles, electric and hybrid cars, and conventionally powered automobiles of up to 128-mpg fuel economy. Early on, he pioneered the automotive application of FRP/foam composite, designed GM's Drive I electric car, and developed the urban car now on display at the American Museum of Science and Energy at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Today, he is considered one of the world's foremost pioneers in the design of low-energy-demand passenger cars. His most recent work is the 225-mpg XR3 Hybrid. 

Interview Date: August 11, 2008

From 1998 – 2006 Richard Lowenthal provided business formation consulting services for high-tech startup firms as sole proprietor of Berteleda Consulting. Through his consulting firm, he has been involved in starting several companies, including Lightera, Pipal Systems and Procket Networks. From 1996 to 1997, Mr. Lowenthal was vice president and general manager of Cisco's WAN Access Products Division. From 1990 through 1995, Mr. Lowenthal was vice president of Research and Development for StrataCom, a telecommunications product development and manufacturing company. Prior to StrataCom, Mr. Lowenthal was co-founder and vice president of Engineering for Stardent Computers, a high-performance computer company in Sunnyvale, California. Mr. Lowenthal was also vice president of Engineering for Convergent Technologies in San Jose.

Interview Date: Aug 8, 2008

Jerry Asher is driving his PHEV Prius conversion to all 50 states to promote Plug-In Electric Vehicle technology to the masses. His conversion was done by our very own Mike Harvey. Follow his exciting journey chronicled on the Spirit of DC website.  Find out when he's in a town near you!

Interview Date: Aug 4, 2008

IC Bus, headquartered in Warrenville, Ill., is an affiliate of Navistar, Inc. The nation's largest integrated manufacturer of school buses, IC Bus is a leader in passenger protection, chassis design, engines and ergonomics. The company is also a leading producer of commercial buses for several markets. All IC Bus buses are sold, serviced and supported through a renowned dealer network that offers an integrated customer program encompassing parts, training and service.

Interview Date: Aug 1, 2008

Founder Felix Kramer is a marketing strategist and communicator with an entrepreneurial track record with startups; in the environmental realm, he has managed major events and run campaigns and organizations. After founding, running and selling a small Internet company, beginning in 2001 he volunteered his time to CalCars. In April 2006 he became the world's first non-technical consumer owner of a plug-in hybrid. See Kramer Communications and Felix Kramer Bio, his Feb. 14, 2005 OpEd on global warming, Kyoto and Beyond. and Power, Plugs and People, his 2005-2006 blog. A Cornell graduate, he lives with his wife and son in Silicon Valley.

Interview Date: July 30, 2008

Nathan Armstrong serves as Motive's President and Vice President of Engineering.  Building on the success of his previous company A3Design, Nathan is responsible for business development as well as overseeing the company's design engineering projects.

Nathan has over twelve years experience in transportation engineering. He began his career in aerospace engineering, working for Boeing and Arrowhead Products before moving on to automotive engineering working as VP of Engineering for Metalcrafters and Aria Group.  In 2004 Nathan founded A3Design Group, which has now evolved into Motive Industries. To keep active in the community and have a fresh outlook on the industry Nathan teaches a Design for Manufacturing class at the Alberta College of Art and Design.

Interview Date: July 28, 2008

The spirit of DC is a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle that will travel all around America (PHEV3A). We invite you to join us in our effort to teach the public about plug-in vehicles and the power of electricity in automobile transportation. Our first objective is to visit each state and demonstrate in a "show & tell" fashion the practicality of PHEVs. We expect the Spirit of DC to reach over 10,201 miles in its first 101 days while attempting to average 101 miles per gallon by using plug-in electricity as much as possible.

Interview Date: JULY 25, 2008

Barry D. Bernsten is working on bringing affordable electric cars to the American market. Bernsten's production plan is to bring 3-4000 units to market in 2008 and over 20,000 in 2009.

Interview Date: July 23, 2008

Tom Turrentine, Ph.D., is an anthropologist and director of the Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Research Center at the University of California at Davis.

Dr. Turrentine studies the role of travel and movement in the evolution of culture, society and lifestyle. He focuses on understanding automobile-based lifestyles, applying anthropological methods and theories to explore potential responses of car users to new technologies and policies aimed at mitigating the negative impacts of automobile infrastructure and use. He has studied consumer responses to electric vehicles, alternative fueled vehicles, micro-vehicles, station car systems, advanced traveler information, and other intelligent transportation systems. Dr. Turrentine also studies travel behavior and road systems in environmentally sensitive areas, focusing on Yosemite National Park and the Sierra Nevada region in California.

Interview Date: July 14, 2008

Simon Hauger has a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering and Masters of Science in Instruction from Drexel University. He teaches physics and mathematics at the West Philadelphia High School Academy for Automotive and Mechanical Engineering, where he is also the program director. In 1998, he began the academy’s innovative Electric Vehicle Program where he leads students in designing, building and competing with Alternative Fuel Vehicles (AFVs).

Interview Date: July 11, 2008

The star of over 50 feature films and television programs, Alexandra Paul will be seen in 2008 starring in the independent film TRU LOVED as a gay mother, as well as starring in the movie A DATE WITH MURDER for Here! tv. Alexandra is also featured in the highly acclaimed, award winning documentary WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR, now out on DVD and a top ten documentary on Netflix. She films FAMILY OF FOUR early in 2008, where she stars as the alcoholic unfaithful wife at a crossroads in her life.

Interview Date: July 10, 2008

Electric vehicles capable of going 40 to 45 miles per hour are currently available for sale, yet are limited by Federal low speed vehicle (LSV) regulations to 25 miles per hour. EV drivers in Montana and Washington have modified these zero-emission vehicles to travel at 35 miles per hour under new state laws that permit a faster speed.  Russell Sydney is the coordinator of this effort called the "medium speed vehicle initiative".

Interview Date: July 3, 2008

Chelsea Sexton is known for her experience in the auto industry, most notably on the General Motors EV1 electric vehicle program. She continues to advocate for clean transportation and energy, leading the creation of the Automotive X PRIZE in 2005, and founding her non-profit organization, Lightning Rod. Chelsea is one of the key individuals featured in the 2006 film, "Who Killed the Electric Car?" by Sony Pictures Classics, in the Sundance Channel Series, "Big Ideas for a Small Planet," and in several books dealing with alternative fuel transportation.

Interview Date: July 1, 2008

Bill Moore is the publisher of EVWorld.com.  EV World commenced publication officially on January 1, 1998. Their objective -- then as now -- is to provide a human face to the topic of sustainable transportation with a focus on the people and policy, as well as technology.

The site has continued to steadily grow in readership over the years with little promotion, other than word-of-mouth. They currently entertain more than 10,000 visitors daily from around the world who download from more than 30,000 pages of information every day. [As of Jan 1, 2007]

EV World relies largely on the voluntary efforts of a small cadre of dedicated electric vehicle (EV) enthusiasts and professionals who contribute material, information and moral support to the publication.

Interview Date: June 30, 2008

Ehab Youssef is a man on a mission.  After an "unfortunate experience" with a well-known EV company, Youssef set out to bring his own EVs to the market.  Green Vehicles sells several NEVs as well as the TRIAC -- a full speed, two passenger, three wheeled vehicle -- one of the first of its kind to hit the US roads.

Interview Date: June 27, 2008

Darrell Dickey regularly commutes to work 24 miles, one way, by bike. But when it's too cold or wet for the bike, or when he and his family travel long distances from their home in Davis, California, he drives a battery-powered electric vehicle that he charges with photovoltaic (PV) panels mounted on his garage roof.

Darrell is the owner of the site EVNut.com.

Interview Date: June 18, 2008

Poulsen Hybrid® Power Assist System creates a PHEV by retro-fitting electric motors, DC motor controllers, a battwry pack and an on-board charger to a conventional new or used automobile.

The development is based on the observation that only 10-15 horsepower is required to propel a compact or mid-size automobile along a level road at a steady 60-70 mph. leading to the conclusion that this relatively small amount of electric power would be able to cope with 70-85% of normal driving, only aided by the combustion engine during start up and when extra energy is required for acceleration and hill climbing.

Interview Date: June 16, 2008

Malcolm Bricklin born March 9, 1939 (1939-03-09) (age 69) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an automotive entrepreneur. He is best known for his self-named automobile company, and for being one of the few Americans who has successfully imported foreign cars with Subaru, Fiat and Yugo.

Beginning in 2002, Bricklin began his search for a manufacturing partner that could help him create another value brand in the US. He flirted briefly with the idea of going back to what was once Yugoslavia (now Serbia), but the factories were in disrepair and he didn't feel he could create a quality vehicle there. Bricklin embarked on a three-year journey around the world to find a manufacturing partner. He looked in the UK, India, Russia and finally decided to work on importing cars manufactured by China-based Chery instead. The Chery-built vehicles were scheduled to be sold in the United States in 2008 by Visionary Vehicles LLC but by Fall 2006 it became clear to Bricklin that the Chery was not yet capable of producing the standard of vehicles that Bricklin had planned. The partners were also at odds about the importance of including hybrid vehicles in their planned line. In November 2006, Bricklin announced the end of his venture with Chery, but he continued to pursue his interest in China as a manufacturing source.

Interview Date: June 13, 2008

As Chief Executive Officer, Ian is responsible for leading ZENN Motor Company and inspiring the ongoing development of its vision, mission, goals and the corresponding strategies. In his role as CEO Ian also is the key spokesperson for ZMC.

Ian began his career as a photographer.  Mentored by Ansel Adams, he quickly became one of Canada’s leading corporate photographers.  In 1995, he co-founded digIT Interactive, Canada’s first full-service internet marketing company.  After selling digIT Interactive early in 2000, Ian sought a more “world-changing” endeavor and in 2001 founded Feel Good Cars, Inc. (now ZENN Motor Company).

Interview Date: June 2, 2008

Mr. Kuntz has served as President and CEO of Intrieve, Incorporated – a top 10 technology provider to the banking vertical. He transitioned the company from a not-for-profit co-op to a for-profit, privately-held concern, increasing the value of the original shareholders’ investment 24 times through the sale of the company in April 2005. He has also served as the Executive Committee Chair of MobileVoiceControl, Inc. – a technology provider of high-end speech recognition functionality for smartphone devices that sold in December 2006. Mr. Kuntz also currently serves as President and Treasurer of Advanced Mechanical Products, Inc.

Interview Date: May 30, 2008