Santa Monica Alt Fuel Car Expo

I drove up to Santa Monica with the girly yesterday for the Alt Car Expo and had a great time walking around the exhibit. This was certainly a lot better than the San Diego one I volunteered for at Balboa Park (thankfully... a 2 hour drive to see 8 cars would not have made me happy). It was also pretty sweet sitting in traffic on a Saturday afternoon for absolutely no reason.

BTW: If you're thinking about hosting an alt fuel event in the San Diego area, I would love to help out and always have great ideas! About everything! Constantly!

_____________________________________


If these things came to the US with the 1.3L turbo that I drove, I would be on the list for sure. I think you can buy them gray market but I'm not totally sold on the idea of a car with no product support and no mechanics willing to touch it. This thing feels surprisingly roomy inside; I fit without a problem and had room to spare. The "trunk" wasn't even that bad. I wouldn't help anyone move in it but you could take a week-long trip no prob. Maybe. At the very least, it was comfortable and quick too!

That's me driving in case you were wondering if I had put on a bunch of weight and changed my hair color. The answer is no.
_____________________________________


Here is the Mercedes Benz F-Cell prototype. It's a prototype because the car actually exists (the platform that is... it's an A-type, sold in Europe) but the hydrogen fuel cell drivetrain is not commercially available. I like the looks of these quite a bit. Unfortunately I was not able to get behind the wheel of this one.
_____________________________________


This was a private vehicle that some guy converted to biodiesel. It was a very well done and had really neat custom badging on the back ("veg powered" on the left and "biodiesel" on the left). It also had an alien badge back there which, combined with the owner's overly serene attitude, made me wonder if he was from Mars... or Venice Beach.
_____________________________________




This big-pimpin' Benzo was an attention-getter for the Earth Friendly Moving company. I met the owner, Spencer Brown, who explained how they take opaque plastic from recyclers and turn it into these tough, plastic containers which they then rent out and deliver to people who are moving (like, from home to home or biz to biz). You pay a low rate, they drop a bunch off, you use them and then they pick them up! No need to drive around looking for boxes or deal with cardboard that falls apart! Spencer was a great guy to talk to so big plug for him:

http://www.earthfriendlymoving.com/

Cool ride too... built by Pimp My Ride, it broke a biodiesel speed record!
_____________________________________






I loved this car... an all-electric converted Porsche 911. It looked like it had some odd 959 kit on it but all the work was very well done. It was great to see such an iconic car with a plug coming out of it!
_____________________________________


I wish I had gathered a little more information on this one but it is an all-electric drag race car. More info (and better pictures) here.
_____________________________________


Same deal here.. not a lot of information to give you. I believe it is an all-electric chopper. It had a lot of presence in person though it does seem awkward in the picture.
_____________________________________






Tesla roadster competition I would assume... very neat looking car in person. Lighting was terrible in this airplane hanger so it does look a little awkward as well. Car has attitude in person, for sure. Interior is just awesome in person; Recaro seats, DVD player, the whole nine. 250 mile range with the battery upgrade, top speed over 100, 0-60 in 7 seconds. More info here
_____________________________________


The star of Who Killed the Electric Car in the, uh, flesh.
_____________________________________


I liked the looks of this little guy... insect-looking, 3-wheel, one-person EV.
_____________________________________






An electric-converted Scion xB (that's its powertrain in the foreground), a Zenn EV commercially available electric vehicle, and a Xebra 3-wheel EV you can buy and register as a motorcycle. These are all totally available to buy and use right now. Good stuff!
_____________________________________

That about does it for my coverage... I will remain forever impressed by the power of human ingenuity and, likely, forever disappointed by the motivation behind the vast majority of its products. This was definitely the minority. Keep fighting the good fight out there! More commentary to come...

BTW: It was great to see you Bridget! Good luck with everything at Fearless Records.