AltCar Expo offers alt cars that can actually be driven ... by you

We've been hearing about them for months: The all-electric Nissan Leaf, the extended-range electric Chevrolet Volt, the Mercedes-Benz B-class F-cell. During this weekend's AltCar Expo at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 20 alternative-propulsion vehicles won't just be on display. They can actually be driven. By you. Click anywhere on the above image for more information on the cars available for ride and drives.

"Interest in alternative technologies is intense and has remained intense despite the fluctuating prices of gasoline," said Christine Dzilvelis, producer and co-founder of AltCar Expo, now in its fifth year. "There's just this momentum with this technology that's pushing forward, even more so because of the economy."

The free two-day event is scheduled to kick off Friday with a speech from Terry Tamminen, former secretary of the California EPA. Peter Ward from the California Energy Commission is to follow, with a moderated panel reviewing advanced automotive technologies -- from electrics and hybrids to fuel cells, natural gas, propane and biofuels. The day is to conclude with a session on EV infrastructure.

Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board, is scheduled to give the keynote speech that opens Saturday's program. Los Angeles Times business columnist David Lazarus is to give a talk about public transportation, followed by a panel on consumers' real-world experiences driving hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicles. The day is to end with a technical review and debate about the latest automotive technologies. Moderated by state Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), the panel is to include representatives from General Motors, Honda, Nissan and Automotive X-Prize winner AC Propulsion.

Scheduled exhibitors include major auto manufacturers, such as General Motors, Honda and Toyota, as well as start-ups such as AC Propulsion, which will show off its X-Prize-winning e-Tracer, and Brammo, the Oregon-based manufacturer of electric motorcycles. Also planned are free bicycle checkups and booths from government agencies, solar and wind companies, electric-car and natural-gas-conversion firms and others.

 -- Susan Carpenter

Composite image photos courtesy of the respective auto manufacturers

Comments

[CW]

Yea, lets encourage e85. Lets encourage a fuel that takes food from people mouths, is raising the costs of foods due to less arable land being used for corn, and let for SURE promote a fuel addative that costs more to manufacture than it sells for!!! Thats a great freakin idea!

Now that my rant is over, i am all for electric, as long as everyone realizes that you are just pushing the pollution somewhere else. Until we open up more Nuke plants you are just polluting someone elses hometown with your electric cars. As long as you accept that, im good.

You folks do realize that we can cover the state of texas wall to wall with wind and solar and produce less than 10% or our electirc needs, right? We need nuke plants.

As for someones comment on CNG, yup. Great idea. Really. We have more reserves of CNG than any other country, can produce it en mass, and burns cleaner than gas or diesel.

They should have diesel, though i dont recall seeing it here. New tech allows diesel to burn very clean with the addative injection systems.

And hydrogen. Great idea, but we need to get the infrastructure going. As long as its stuck in SoCal, its going nowhere.

And BTW, i would LOVE a Tesla :) sub 3 sec 0-60? oh yea. I just have a 20 mile one way commute here in Reno and would love to drive that up and down the mountain every day :) the barrier of course being that 100grand deal.

[Big Jim Slade]

I see Pasadena is now using e-Minis to give out parking tickets by the bushel. Apparently Pasadena average two parking tickets per resident a year.

Wonderful use of technology. Just wonderful.

[susan carpenter]

In the U.S., most of the hydrogen stations are in Southern California right now. Hawaii recently partnered with General Motors to build a hydrogen infrastructure in Honolulu. Here are links to the stories I've written about hydrogen:
Hydrogen in So Cal:
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/25/home/la-hm-hydrogen-20100625
Hydrogen in Hawaii:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/09/hydrogen-fuel-cell-hawaii-gas.html

[xicanoboy1331]

Where are all the hydrogen stations for refueling?

[EscapefromLA]

correct. Tesla received a lot of TARP money from the auto company bailouts. $350 MILLION! so they can make 1000 of their $100,000 electric cars that wont even make it to Vegas, let alone has a trunk the size of a shopping bag. theyre little toys for people with plenty of disposable income and its ridiculous that the taxpayers footed the bill to keep them afloat.

This state should be investing in CNG and E85 fueled vehicles! people, this is fuel that comes from the UNITED STATES! and pollutes WAAY less than standard gasoline powered vehicles! hybrid vehicles are only a temporary band-aid relief to the foreign oil dependency problem!

[Yuk3]

You know what's the sad thing?

Companies like Tesla and Fisker aren't attending. They received financial aid from the government for their projects and I can't help but think that the tax payers contributed part of those aid.

Or Tesla/Fisker think they are way too 'classy' for this event.