R.E.preneur

Design an Eco-village with the C.L.E.A.R. Village Foundation

I just applied to be one of 100 co-designers of a comprehensive plan for an eco-village that can be replicated around the world.  When I was done, I could only think of the Staples commercials... That was easy.

Changing the world really can be this easy.  Just keep taking that first step, you'll take more difficult steps later, but you have to take those first, incremental steps before you can create legitimate change in your community. 

So what is the C.L.E.A.R. Foundation? 

C.L.E.A.R. Village Foundation's five-year collaborative design project is working to construct a real-life C.L.E.A.R. Village. By bringing together leading figures from a variety of disciplines, powerful and complete solutions can be developed. The village will offer excellence in social, environmental and economic sustainability to both residents and guests. The village will let businesses test innovative solutions and technologies in a real world situation, showcasing their most innovative work on a world stage.

The world needs people who are ready to design a replicable, scalable eco-village.  Will you answer the call? Go ahead, take the first step.

Treasure Island, San Francisco

25 Things About This R.E.preneur

A few weeks back I gave into the recent fad of completing facebook's "25 Things About You" challenge.

It came out pretty well, so I thought it relevant to repost here, and since its the most up-to-date I'm also using it for my about me... just to be repetitive.  Enjoy.

1. Quick bio: 20-something member of the Cleantech Revolution, devoted husband, forgiven disciple, new resident of the OC. 

2. After graduating, and getting married, I joined a solar power project development start-up called Axio Power in San Juan Capistrano, CA. Everyday we work to accelerate the adoption of utility-scale solar power. 

3. Life Verse: James 1: 2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be complete and mature, not lacking anything." I look forward to the day when I am complete and mature. 

4. I blog about: One young entrepreneur's adventures in renewable energy, green building, and electric vehicles at www.repreneur.typepad.com (you guys already knew this one)

5. I micro-blog on twitter about the same topics and some God stuff: @kdcherrick. I've only been on twitter for six weeks, but I'm hooked, its awesome. 

6. I (try to) workout three days a week at CrossFit South County, a gym that challenges you in all ten areas of physical fitness, using accountability and community to push you further than you thought you could ever go. 

7. I yearn deep inside to buy an all-electric vehicle, despite the fact that I don't have a garage to plug it into and I know that keeping my 06 Civic for 10 more years would be a far better financial decision. 

8. I've lived in every continental time zone: WA>TX>CT>FL>WA>AZ>CA. 

9. I'm the luckiest man on the face of the planet because my wife said: Yes!. She's a beautiful, intelligent, passionate, wonderful-cooking woman who loves Jesus. What more could I ask for? 

10. I'm an iPhone-a-holic, but feel that using it makes me less of a work-a-holic. 

11. On and off for the last three years, I experience sleepless nights 1-2x a week as my brain goes into super-process mode and connects the dots of all my information inputs. Out comes big ideas, new passions, and more things to keep me busy. Must fight the snowball effect, can't slow down time. 

12. My brother is my biggest inspiration. Remember, "Through Thick & Thin"? He handles both like a freaking pro and never stops questioning the status quo. Plus he was the first real example of Christ to me. 

13. I take quick photos of fun experiences with my iPhone, which I can quickly upload to twitter or facebook. Now when can I buy a digital SLR like my Nikon D40 that does the same because I love taking serious pictures. But I hate searching for the freaking cord, to upload to my computer, then upload to the web. Nikon...Canon...whoever does it first gets my money. 

14. Monday nights I play basketball in the Refinery at Saddleback. Tuesday nights I'm with my wife at our newlyweds bible study. Wed-Fri nights I chill with my lady and catch up on tv shows online. I start the weekend off with a Saturday morning workout. I volunteer as a camera operator at the Sunday 6:30pm Fuse service @ Saddleback, then I go to the 8:30pm Fuse service with the wifey. Sunday night, I'm usually restless thinking about the next week. Repeat. 

15. I can tell the Lord is moving in my heart lately. When I ask people "how's it going?" I usually end the conversation in prayer with them. That's a new development for me, but it feels like a big blessing from Him that I can be there for those people. 

16. I'm a Cleantech dork. I can spend hours reading about the intricacies of a specific cleantech technology, legislation, start-up, blog post, etc. 

17. I also yearn to someday buy a green home, or condo, or pre-fab. Its part of my need to be an early adopter, to move the needle, to make a statement with my pocketbook, to do what's right before others realize its what's smart. 

18. Also largely thanks to my brother, I've become a bit of a personal finance nut. Though I certainly don't have perfect finances, and I love eating out, I know I'm on the right path. With patience, I'll achieve long-term goals. 

19. By completing the McGuire Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Arizona, I genuinely believe that I got the best bang for my buck that one can get from an undergraduate education. Great people, great start-ups, great mentors, beautiful weather, and I just happened to meet my wife along the way. What a deal! 

20. I believe creativity is a muscle that comes on in waves. When it comes, USE IT! Otherwise, you waste precious opportunities and may not be able to act on future ideas as well. 

21. With the Lord's protection over my sister-in-law, I'll be an uncle for the first time sometime in mid-August. My wife and I aren't planning to have kids for about ten years, so I'm pretty excited for this. 

22. Goals: Pilot's license, buy a small plane, own a auto-racing team, drive a race car, give away $1M in my lifetime, be inspirational, evangelize the cleantech and electric vehicle revolutions. 

23. I love soft t-shirts with unique designs. Sad when the community-managed eco-clothing start-up Nvohk folded in December due to the down economy. 

24. I plan on dabbling in politics at some point. Mostly, due to its ability to drive change. I haven't decided yet what this means. It could be as simple as advising local, state, or federal politicians on my areas of expertise. It could mean running for a position. Give it a decade. 

25. I love my wife's: Mole (pronounced Moleh), stuffed bell peppers, chili, carne asada, salsa, and sweet personality

Slideshares: Big Bet On PV & Easing The Transition Into LEED 2009

Wanted to share two quick slideshows.

First up, my former colleague at the McGuire Entrepreneurship Program, Patricia Ewanski has prepared a great slideshow entitled, "Easing The Transition Into LEED 2009".

If you are working on or considering a green building project, Patricia would be a great asset to your project.  

Next up, Jigar Shah, the founder of SunEdison who has left the company to pursue what I'm sure is a very exciting consulting practice has put together a very informative slideshow entitled, "Big Bet on Solar Power".  Enjoy.

Big Bet on Solar Power

View more presentations from Indiantiger. (tags: solar energy)

How I use Twitter as an R.E.preneur

About 6 weeks ago I jumped into twitter.  Not so everyone would know the intimate details of my day, more as an experiment in business and networking.  I’ve been pleasantly surprised with its effectiveness and how viral it can be. 

  I use it primarily to follow the movers and shakers of industries I’m passionate about, find interesting stories posted in the twittersphere as opposed to finding them myself, as well as to spread the word about what I’m researching, writing, and doing in business.  

It has also been fun as I reach out and start conversations with interesting people such as the former CMO of Tesla Motors and the head engineer of the Chevy Volt program. 

  For entrepreneurs, this can be like a 140 character elevator pitch, get their attention with an interesting tweet and you could have a new partner or investor. 

  Obviously, social media overload happens which is why I have sought out tools such as Ping.fm to connect FB, twitter, and my blog on Typepad.  This way I can pick and choose what networks to disseminate information to. 

  Using # to track topics and add tweets to a wider conversation, you can quickly delve into the nitty-gritty of how your industry is changing each day, and how you can spread the word about your big ideas. 

  You can follow me here on twitter: @kdcherrick.  See you in the twittersphere.

My Predictions for a Tesla Killer: SSC Ultimate Aero EV

I love Tesla.  I think they are the most exciting cars on the road today.  Plus the company culture and team members really impress me too.  I want a Tesla. 
 
But, Tesla will have its place in the market.  It will replace your standard Porsche 911, BMW M6, and Mercedes CLK coupes.  Its an awesome car, but its not a Supercar. 

Supercars are a highly rare and elusive breed.  Often, a single supercar model may only produce 350-400 units in its entire lifetime.  There just aren't enough deca-millionaires and billionaires willing to pay $300k+ for a car that can never reach full potential on the streets of LA. 

Still, these muscle-packed, head-snapping vehicles that consume gasoline like a sumo wrestler consumes calories have captured the attention of men around the world for decades.

But, its not very green.  Its certainly not cleantech. 

Until now.  Meet the Shelby Super Cars (SSC) Ultimate Aero EV. 

 

The press release is chock full of announcements that are game-changing to the electric vehicle industry.

These type of claims make R.E.preneur skeptical, because many companies make "press releases with impressive claims". 

SSC claims these stats in the press release:

• 0-60 mph: 2.5 seconds
• Range: 150-200 miles
• Power: 1000 hp
• Torque: 800 lb-ft
• Top Speed: 208 mph
• On Board Charging System: 10-minute full battery recharge
• A scalable EV drivetrain that can be put in cars, trucks, and semi-trucks.

So here's why I think that our healthy skepticism will be defeated by the team at SSC.

SSC has already built serious StreetCred (for those of you over 50, that's credibility in the market) by building the world's Fastest Production Car, the Ultimate Aero.  That car is DOT-compliant and Guinness Book of World Records certified.  Jay Leno, who has driven more supercars than you've dreamed of driving, drove the Ultimate Aero non-EV for his website Jay's Garage, and he loved it.  Check out the video below.

Plus, SSC is not claiming to build an EV supercar with technology they hope to build within 18 months.  The SSC Ultimate Aero EV goes into production in the second quarter of 2009, that's three months from now!

And I'll make a prediction.  Shortly after production of the Ultimate Aero EV begins and the concept is proven, SSC will announce a four-door high performance EV from their SSC Green division as well.  It helps them scale by selling more cars at a lower price to a larger market. 

With further execution of scalability, they will begin signing supply contracts with major auto and truck manufacturers to put their EV drivetrain in a host other cars much the way Tesla has done with Daimler's Smart EV. 

Its going to be a very exciting 18 months in the world of electric vehicles. Plug-in and push start, because the masses will be shocked by how quickly the electric vehicle revolution happens. 

As a young R.E.preneur, focused on building company's that can create great value through scalability, I like to set big goals of things I would do/get/give if I ever achieve great success. 

Meet my newest goal:

Its going to be a very exciting 18 months in the world of electric vehicles. Plug-in and push start, because the masses will be shocked by how quickly the electric vehicle revolution happens.

Transparent Solar Windows? Don't Hold Your Breath

Being in the solar industry, I'm always interested in new players who enter the market with new and innovative products.  So my ears perked up when I read a press release last fall about a new company bringing a transparent solar window to the US market. 

With much fanfare, Rainbow Solar Inc. announced on December 10th:

Rainbow Solar Inc. (RSi) announces the world's first, transparent, photovoltaic-glass window which generates 80 to 250 watts of electricity.

This is the next-generation of BIPV (building integrated photovoltaic), an enclosed super-tempered glass window system, with a patent pending, fully integrated, multi-tier PV and heat insulation technology. Up to 9' x 9' size with comprehensive options to meet design, weather, climate, and building code requirements.

 

So when I saw that the company would be exhibiting at the Go Green Expo in LA this weekend, I made sure to stop by to learn more. 

 

I was actually excited about the possibilies of windows with photovoltaic capabilities and I hope that Building Integrated PV technology makes its way into the mainstream.  Unfortunately, I was not impressed with RSi Solar.  

 

As I approached the booth, one of their associates named Alicia had just finished speaking with another expo attendee.  So I introduced myself and stated that I was eager to learn more about the product. 

 

Unfortunately, Alicia made it clear from the start that she knew very little about the product, as she was only hired to help out with the expo on a temporary basis.  Alright, I can accept that, an upstart company needs help spreading the word and brings in an industry outsider for the weekend. 

 

After failing to answer some basic questions about the tech, she introduced me to another gentleman who apparently works for the company.  He stated that the product is currently manufactured "outside the US".  With much skepticism, I interpreted this to mean somewhere in southeast Asia, but I couldn't fathom why this type of information would be unavailable. 

 

Next, he showed me a window/panel that consisted of two sheets of glass with pv material in between and electrical cords coming out the back.  He stated that this PV module has characteristics that give it a "broad-shouldered production profile".  By that he meant that the panel captures more light in the early morning and late afternoon than most panels because it can capture non-direct light well. 

 

Because I am familiar with the general production shapes of most PV materials, and to my understanding this was a characteristic of the newer thin film materials such as CdTe and CIGS, I asked him what the PV material in the panel we were looking at was made of.  He confirmed my suspicion, mono-crystalline silicon, aka 1st generation standard PV material, not very high tech. 

 

So I asked him,

 

Q:  "I know that this production characteristic is true of thin films, so what makes this silicon product perform that way?"

 

A: It is because this panel features RSi's "Enhancement technology".

 

Q:  "Okay, what does that mean". 

 

... Silence...

 

A: "it just means its an enhanced version of a normal solar panel, I don't really know the details of the technology."

 

Q: "So what is the current production capacity of this crystalline panel?"

 

A: "The panel is currently in production and 2009 manufacturing capacity is 20 MW."

 

Q: "So do you have 20 MW installed or is that by the end of the year."

 

A: "We expect to take delivery of manufacturing equipment towards the end of the year". 

 

With one final question, I pointed to the panel in the back that was supposed to be RSi's transparent solar window, and I asked, "What is the PV material in that panel" Because I could see that it was clearly not crystalline silicon and was somewhat transparent.

 

Answer, "I don't know, only my boss knows what that is". 

 

"The boss" was standing next to that panel speaking with other attendees, and I could have waited to speak with him, but at this point I had lost all hope that this was a viable, real company that would be making a tangible splash in the industry.

 

Now, I completely understand companies being in stealth mode, not talking much about their new product.  But if that is what you are doing, why do you make a big press release and exhibit at a show that isn't even solar focused.  They were the only solar technology company there, the rest were all installers. 

 

If RSi's target market is builders, they could easily penetrate that market without the need to exhibit at a show. 

 

Another point of skepticism: the idea behind photovoltaic materials is that they should catch as much of the light as possible, otherwise they are being inefficient and the cost will rise.  So why would anyone want a solar panel that was made to be transparent, letting beams of light pass through the panel without being converted to electricity which determines the payback period of the panel.  I just don't buy that the added functionality of being a window makes this worth it.

 

My guess is that they have an inefficient, expensive solar technology.  Knowing that they could not compete with the cost leaders in rooftop and utility-scale solar, RSi chose to sell into the BIPV market where they could mask some of their added cost by the fact that the material is also a building material. 

 

It takes serious capital to purchase and install manufacturing equipment.  I will be surprised and proven wrong if these guys ever hit 100 MW of installed capacity of BIPV making "transparent solar windows". 

 

I wish them the best of luck though.  And if I made a list of how to improve RSi's business, I would start with educating my employees about the product.

Go Green Expo - LA... hope its bigger next year.

Well, I'm back from the Go Green Expo in LA. 

It was much smaller than I expected.  Maybe this is because I was comparing it to Solar Power 2008, which is a massive expo with exhibitors from around the world who invest lots of money to have a large booth at the show.

Still though, I had the impression that nearly every consumer niche was already being inundated with green-tilted products.  For a city as large and eco-conscious as LA, I would have thought there would be hords of businesses eager to booth at this show. 

But the smaller nature made it much easier to talk with exhibitors and other attendees in a short 3 hour trip. 

As I pulled into the parking lot, I was driving behind an all-electric Toyota RAV4 EV.  I thought to myself, "there can't be more than 100 of those cars in all of southern California, that must be someone really interesting!"  Sure enough as I got out of my car, I saw Ed Begley Jr. strolling towards the convention center.  I said hello and we commiserated about how frustrating it is that we can't still buy a car like that today. 

Ed was there to give the day's keynote address.  I stopped by later to listen in.  He gave a pretty straight-forward Rah-Rah speech about why the growth of the industry is needed to overhaul America into a great country again. Sometimes, for people who are still on the fence, this is just what they need to hear.  For me, it was a bit repetitive, but I'm already on the train so it wasn't really for me anyways.

I was able to meet up briefly with a man named Joe Sarmiento.  Joe reached out through LinkedIn to see who else was going to the show.  I saw his post and we were able to connect and discuss a host of interesting topics like the switch to a green economy and work force as well as Joe's own experience helping drive business to the multiple start-up companies that he has worked for.  As Joe looks to make his next big career jump, I have no doubt that a unique, driven organization in the sector will bring him on to help grow their business.  Best of luck to you Joe!

I spoke with a lot of great companies, a few of which I plan on profiling here on the blog in future posts.  I also spoke with some companies that I think are a total joke.  I don't want to reign on anyone's parade, but you either know what you are talking about, and have a viable and commercial product, or you don't.  And a few didn't.

More to come (soon hopefully).

R.E.preneur at the Go Green Expo in LA

I'll be traveling up to the Go Green Expo at the LA Convention Center tomorrow afternoon.  My goal is to speak with/interview some leading EV and solar start-ups.  I'm working on lining up some interviews now.

Since moving to the SoCal area in July of last year I have been surprised by how many cleantech start-ups are based in the Southland.  I had previously thought most of the cleantech companies were in the Bay area, Colorado, or scattered elsewhere across the country.  But from what I can tell, the EV industry especially, has a good base of promising start-ups in the area.

Target companies to talk to:

RSi Solar: They made an interesting announcement a few weeks ago about"the world's first transparent, photovoltaic glass window" they are bringing to market. Pre-commercial solar companies deserve a lot of skepticism, I'm interested to see if these guys know what they are talking about.  Regardless, the green building materials market is exploding and won't stop any time soon. 

Jungle Motors: These guys are offering a 100+ mpg Plug-In Hybrid EV product installed by Jungle on your 2004-2009 Toyota Prius for just $6500! Maybe I'm out of the loop, but last I checked these systems usually cost $10K-15K.  I'm interested in how this affects warranties and maintenance, what battery technology they utilize and how quickly I can get my hands on a '04-05 Prius and get a kit.  At $2/gallon gas and 18k miles/year driving, the payback period on that system is less than 10 years.  At $4/gal its less than 5 years!

Plug-In America: Always great to catch up with these guys and find out how we all can do more to help accelerate the adoption of PHEV/EVs in America!

Green Planet Building: I am fascinated by the intelligence and growth opportunity of the green building industry.  Green Planet Building is a construction company focused on Green Build projects in CA.  I'm excited to hear about what they are working on and where they see the future of green buildings in SoCal and beyond. 

GreenPods: Green, Beautiful Modular homes!

If you'll be at the expo, or you are interested to learn more about one of the companies at the expo, send me an email to meet up or ask questions.

Where Will We Get All The Electricity?

Following up on my post “Why the Downturn in the Economy Will NOT Kill Cars 2.0”, I received some questions that I think echo the public’s concerns about how we would deal with a majority of cars being powered by electricity. 

Mainly, “Where will we get all that electricity?”

Many people think of nuclear power as a necessary evil, but those of us in the “all renewables” camp believe the costs of nuclear are too high.  In the past, the sticking points were fuel mining and transportation, the massive amounts of water consumed, as well as the long-term environmental effects from this non-carbon fuel source.  But just this week, a report from Climate Progress on the costs of nuclear was published.  EcoGeek summarized some informative facts from the report,

 "According to a new report from the generally pro-nuclear organization, Climate Progress, nuclear power is just about the most expensive carbon-free option on the table today... The result is that prices for nuclear power have increased, currently at around 30 cents per kWh.  Or, roughly three times the cost of today's average utilities, ten times the cost of reducing power through efficiency and double the cost of solar thermal."

In a similar vein, prolific cleantech venture capitalist Alan Salzman of VantagePoint Venture Partners, told us why “We won’t get fooled by cheap oil again”.  He came out against nuclear and off-shore drilling in a big way:

Some may point to midway alternatives like offshore drilling and nuclear power.  I believe they are no alternative at all.  Nuclear power brings massive capital costs into the billions of dollars, takes a decade or more to go on line and brings along significant safety and storage issues.  Offshore drilling on the Continental Shelf is also a 10-year project with little reward. By the time that oil makes it to the pump and is consumed for a price equivalent to what the United States paid for oil during the past 24 months, we could build and install enough renewable energy capabilities to provide free, clean energy forever.  And all of it would be based here in the United States and provide jobs for millions of Americans in the process. 

With more than $1B still to deploy into cleantech start-ups, Mr. Salzman is likely to find more than a few great companies who have been charging hard in the cleantech rush and found themselves with a head start and empty pockets.  This week we saw the solar shake-out begin its snowball effect with Evergreen Solar, Optisolar, and SunEdison all announcing layoffs and plant closures. 

The year has just begun and we are already seeing the supply glut in solar cut into manufacturer’s margins.  If module prices do drop a full 30-40% by the end of the year, you can stop asking where we will get all the power.  You’ll be able to point to multiple projects signed for multi-hundreds of megawatts using proven, scalable photovoltaic technology.  2009 will also see massive solar thermal projects come on-line, allowing utilities serve the early evening peak power demands. 

Many of us already work in cleantech and can see the writing on the wall that renewables will soon be eating up the vast majority of all new energy demand.  The question is not if, it is “how fast”. 

Why The Downturn In The Economy Will NOT Kill Cars 2.0

If you haven't noticed lately, the blogs have all been clamoring with pessimistic talk about how scared they all are that the slide into recession will kill promising green transportation concepts. 

While this was a legitimate fear a decade ago (thanks C.A.R.B.) when oil was still $10-30 a barrel, the aberration of volatility that was 2008 has shaken the core of the auto industry. 

As the Big 3 fly into D.C. on their G5 and leave with their pockets full they know they must throw a hail-mary pass by going back to their days in the Ivy league MBA classrooms and whip up a promising new business plan for Cars 2.0. 

Detroit has resisted true innovation for... at least 50 years.  The fallout from this is unemployment in the metro area hovering just over 10%.

Thomas Friedman couldn't have said it better when he noted that if the Big 3 fail, the government auto bailout will be viewed as a massive government handout to the typewriter industry at the dawn of the computer. 

Whether the Big 3 succeed or fail, they will kill themselves trying (hopefully figuratively) and they will be well capitalized by the American taxpayer. 

The Detroit corner offices have taken notice of the throngs of start-up auto manufacturers with promising pre-production vehicles that are radically differentiated from the heap of turd, inefficient, stylistically-bland products that the Trifecta has been stamping out for the past two decades.

Project Better Place, Aptera, Tesla, Fisker, Th!nk (someone please give them some money), Smart, Mini E.  Each and every one of these companies has more swagger and a more promising business plan than any of the Detroit Trio. 

GM is the trio's lead singer with the 2010 Chevy Volt, a Plug-in Hybrid with a 40 mile EV range.  But if they don’t successfully mass market it and roll the technology out across all of their affiliates by 2015, they are up a creek without a paddle. 

Unfortunately, they've already blown through $1B+ wasting time on hydrogen fuel cells, a technology so completely over-hyped that we all smelled a rat.  Which is the same reason that corn-based ethanol will fall by the way side in 2009.

Ford has previously been leading with hybrids, but the brand is too closely tied to 15-mpg SUVs and trucks that made great sense when Bush was handing out $50,000 tax write-offs to small business owners to buy them.  Even with the return of $2 gallons of gas, the public perceives driving an urban assault vehicle as wasteful and moronic, not to mention removed from reality. 

The hope for Ford is that, although they are bleeding red ink just like the rest, their CEO had the presence of mind to pad the bank account upon his arrival by mortgaging the majority of their manufacturing facilities.  That bought him 18 months, still not much of a runway.

Chrysler is a distant third with out of touch brands like Dodge and Jeep.  The type of innovation it will take to save this company, without more federal handouts, has not been seen since the creation of the internal combustion engine. 

If the suspender-wearing management at Cerberus had two wits about them they would buy Project Better Place.  Seriously, they should buy PBP.  But they won't, because they can't wrap their head around the subscription service business model for personal transportation. 

I Hope Obama has the guts to rip the massive subsidies out of the corn ethanol farmers hands and then give it right back to them by placing an equally massive investment in green infrastructure.  But he must pick technologies that aren’t filled with fatal flaws, which was Bush’s giant green mistake.  Here’s my list in order of best bang for your buck: energy efficiency, solar, batteries, wind, smart grids, ocean, geothermal, and transmission period.  Make your voice heard Secretary Chu, and make your pocketbook green.

Electricity is the only answer to foreign oil independence.  The only rocket-science is in better batteries, which aren’t even a necessity for the industry to thrive, just an added bonus.  We can already see the light at the end of this tunnel.

When the capital markets return, 2009 will be the year that the massive cleantech investment sector shifts wildly to Cars 2.0 start-ups, each with a different way to change the world all over again.  The technology will leap frog with surprising speed.  Have you seen the crazy ideas the guys at EEStor are cooking up?  No one saw that coming, time will tell if it’s real. 

With 2010 already being evangelized as the year of the commercialized Plug-In Hybrid, 2009 will see green feeding the green beast, which equals a whole lot of green.  If you aren’t already dipping your toes in the automotive revolution, hop on board because this train is leaving the station. 

Need some inspiration?  Go watch the stirring documentary, “Who Killed The Electric Vehicle”.  It worked for me.

Tis the season for New Year’s resolutions; mine is to start/help a non-profit tasked with evangelizing the electric vehicle to the uneducated mass market.  Thesis statement: Check.  What's yours?  With any luck, we’ll be seeing green in no time at all.