A local radio station, Pasadena’s NPR affiliate KPPC, did a live remote from the Expo, on which a few of my friends in this space were interviewed, taking calls from folks all over Southern California. Here was one that I found most interesting:

Caller: I notice that there are a dozen-or-so alternative fuels. Isn’t it unrealistic to replace one fuel type with dozens? Won’t there eventually be a winner?

Answer Summary: I hope not. We need to have all these – and more – represented in the mix.

No offense, but this is totally misguided. The caller obviously has thought this through far better than the panelist, the latter suggesting that our civilization develop a dozen different sets of infrastructure for fueling our automobiles – something which clearly won’t happen — now, or ever.

As the only winners in the status quo, I’m sure the oil companies love this response. I can hear them saying, “Sure, you alt-fuel guys, build a mechanism for delivering hydrogen around our 3.5 million square mile landmass in the continental U.S. That should only take 30 years or so – that is, from the time the public coffers are again ripe with cash. And at the same time, build a parallel system for natural gas, fast-charging electric vehicles, and a few others. Sounds perfectly feasible to us!  Drop us a note in a few decades and let us know how it’s coming along.”

Building the EV charging infrastructure will take an uncommon – perhaps even unprecedented — level of cooperation between public and private enterprises and institutions. Meaning? This will be difficult. Want to make it impossible? Easy. Just stimulate competition between dozens of different technologies.

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I may have mentioned that I moderated a panel discussion at the AltCarExpo this fall. Rick was assigned a different panel — and he certainly has the “creds”: 87% of the fleet he controls is alternative fueled. He was recommended to me as something of a legend among city planners and managers; I’m certainly looking forward to the interview.

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How utterly nauseating.  As Paul Scott (VP at Plug-In America) said in response to a question I asked him during the panel discussion I moderated at the AltCarExpo a few weeks ago, “Prepare yourself for a steady onslaught of lies from the nuclear and fossil fuel people.  If you thought it was bad in the 1990s with the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, you ain’t seen nothing compared to what they’re about to throw against EVs and renewable energy in the next couple of years.”

Of course, this is an excellent example.  “Needs government funding?”  You bet your sweet $%^ is does.  Help will come only from people who have been paid off handsomely; the idea certainly will receive identically zero support from a fair-minded and informed citizenry.

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As one might have expected, the content was mostly technical: Exactly what are the challenges that the utilities face in preparing for the coming ubiquity of electric transportation, and how are they going their work? What does the advent of V2G (vehicle to grid) mean in terms of both the quality and quantity of power available on the grid at any point in time? What type of planning needs to occur such that charging stations provide adequate opportunity to ensure that motorists feel confident that they won’t run out of charge in their day-to-day driving?

I knew in advance that Tom Gage would be impossible to stump with questions like these (not that I was trying), insofar as he’s one of the best-informed people on the planet in this regard. But I was blown away with the expanse of technical knowledge that Enid and Paul had brought to the table as well.

I made sure we addressed the political issues too, and I’m happy to say that no one pulled any punches. Apparently, the oil companies are not going to take this without a fight. “You’re about to see a campaign of lies like you’ve never witnessed before,” Paul Scott intoned solemnly. “In the last wave of hearings that could have threatened their monopolies, they hired hundreds of people to show support for their positioned who had never even heard of the issue the day before and didn’t know the first thing about it. They have absolutely no concept of fair play – and that was just a warm-up for what is about to come.”

I closed by thanking the panel — and the audience in particular, with my reference to Henry Kissinger that readers may have seen in other posts. “Henry Kissinger said recently,” I reminded the group, “that if it weren’t for the intensity of the opposition to the war in Vietnam of the common American, we’d still be there. That’s an utterly amazing thing to admit, isn’t it? It shows me several things, but the most obvious is the raw power of people like you, who take their time to come together and stand up for something you believe in. I thank for you that. And I ask you to give yourselves a hand.”

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I’ve met one of my panelists, AC Propulsion CEO Tom Gage, several times. A man for whom I have the utmost respect, Tom describes himself as a “car-nut since childhood.” He took AC Propulsion’s helm from founder Alan Cocconi (designer of General Motors EV-1 — star of “Who Killed the Electric Car“) and leads a team of people here in a California and in Shangai in building the world’s most advanced drivetrains for electric vehicles, including BMW’s Mini-E. “It just rubs me the wrong way to start up a gas engine,” Gage says. I know the feeling.

I’ve also established friendships with panelists Paul Scott from Plug-In America and Enid Joffe of the Clean Fuel Connection – both magnificent people with huge stores of knowledge to share. Again, I hope anyone in the area will drop by.

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This is a truly special event for several reasons, one of which is obvious: The world is running at top speed in the direction of alternative-fuelled transportation. The buzz in the electric vehicle world is so loud and so constant that it’s almost deafening. The migration to clean transportation is the most important trend in the international business world right now, and this is an opportunity to learn more, and to jump in with both feet.

The other is the uniqueness of Santa Monica itself – one of the most progressive municipalities on earth in terms of environmental responsibility. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet the city’s fleet superintendent Rick Sikes, whose passion for sustainability has driven him to create a vehicle array that is 87% alternatively fuelled.

It’s hard to find words to express how impressed I am with the dedication of Christine Dzilvelis and her incredible staff who have worked tirelessly to put this all together.

I hope that readers within a reasonable distance will attend. My group — the ELECTRIC VEHICLE INFRASTRUCTURE PANEL convenes at 3:30 Friday; please come and throw softballs at me — just kidding — feel free to pepper me with tough questions.

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