Maker Faire Press Releases
FOR RELEASE:

For more information contact:
James Philippi, 832-407-2939,

Texas's First Public Conversion of a Plug-In Hybrid: Austin

October 20-21, 2007

Sept 26, 2007: The California Cars Initiative will sponsor a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) "Conversion Demonstration" in Austin, TX on October 20-21 at the first Maker Faire to be held outside of California. PHEV conversions to Toyota Prius hybrids add an additional battery pack that can be plugged in at night so that the electric energy is used to displace gasoline to get over 100 miles per gallon of gasoline plus about $.02/mile of electricity. This conversion will provide this performance for the first 20 miles of daily driving. (Others, using more costly batteries can provide up to 50 miles a day of PHEV driving.) After the energy in the second pack is depleted, the converted vehicle seamlessly operates as a standard hybrid vehicle. Batteries for this conversion are being supplied by CleanPower Battery Technologies, Inc.

California Cars Initiative is a nonprofit group of entrepreneurs, engineers, environmentalists, drivers and consumers promoting plug-in hybrid cars through advocacy and demonstration projects. CalCars sponsors the EAA-PHEV project that has designed this conversion. The project is "Open-Source"-style, meaning that the developers offer their plans and information free, with no private intellectual property ownership.

The Maker Faire

Here's how Make and Craft magazines, its organizers, describes it: "Maker Faire: two-day, family-friendly event that celebrates arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset. It's for creative, resourceful folks who like to tinker and love to make things. We call them Makers."

When: October 20-21, 2007

Were: Travis County Expo Center, 7311 Decker Lane, Austin, Texas

Hours: Saturday 10am-6pm and Sunday 10am-5pm

Tickets: Adult -- $25/Day or $50/Weekend Pass
Student -- $15/Day or $30/Weekend Pass
Youth ages -- 4-12 $10/Day or $20/Weekend Pass
Children 3 and under are free
Save $5/ticket by buying tickets in advance online at makerfaire.com.

The Car and Darren Overby, Owner

We'll be starting with a stock 2005 Prius and adding lead-acid batteries, our latest versions of the control electronics, cooling and charging systems. Car owner Darren Overby will be part of the conversion team. Darren, who operates an International Hostel in San Francisco, says "I see our environment as a global issue and I am continually encouraged to hear from my international guests about their countries' proactive environmental policies. I believe electric vehicles represent a way to provide carbon neutral transportation and I would like to see the United States take the forefront in implementing this technology. I see plug-ins as the only technology that is both sustainable and scalable to meet the clean transportation need of the entire world."

The Project Manager, Jim Philippi

CalCars volunteer Jim Philippi from Houston has spent the last two years working on PHEV conversions using various battery chemistries. His car was converted in April 2007 at the previous Maker Faire. Now he has created Hybrid Plugs, a new company to offer parts, kits and PHEV conversion services in Houston. He says, "I've always been interested in energy efficiency and green technology. I've driven a PHEV in Houston for about five months and I've gotten up to 160 m.p.g., for a trip from downtown to home. I buy wind power from my local utility and I recharge my car every night for about $.60. That gets me about twelve miles of electric range each day. I'm not doing the Maker Faire or starting this company to get rich. My goal is to put as many PHEV on the road as quickly as possible. I gave nothing up and I commute to work without polluting my neighborhood or downtown Houston. Driving a PHEV just makes sense!"

Documentation on the EAA-PHEV open source project can be found at priusplus.com.

Contact: James Philippi

832-407-2939