Revenge of the Electric Car » Who Killed the Electric Car http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com The Film : The Blogs : The Revolution Fri, 30 Jul 2010 04:02:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Filming Tesla (2 of 2) http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/#comments Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:28:34 +0000 Jessie Deeter http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=1149 Our co-producer continues her account of shooting behind the scenes at Tesla. As we captured key meetings with department heads,  Elon stressed his commitment to ramping Tesla up - and the fact that his role was hands-on. He reminded person after person that no problem or detail was too small. The buck stopped with Elon. [caption id="attachment_1096" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Elon Musk (left) inspects a Roadster"]Elon Musk inspects a Roadster's PEU (Power Electronics Unit).[/caption] We pulled a marathon day, and our cameraman, Adam, worked valiantly to keep up.  Filming meetings is actually difficult to do well. You need to know the subject, know the players, and then make split-second decisions as to how to follow the action. Along the way, we captured a couple of job interviews and captured Elon's policy of interviewing most employees in person. One of our interviews was a young engineer. When asked about the recent layoffs he said "You have to cut your burn rate. It's just the way business works — for start-ups especially." A couple of Tuesdays later, I took a cameraman back to witness an "all hands meeting" at Tesla's Menlo Park office. Again, the back warehouse was full with cars about to be delivered. This time, we saw cars approaching VIN number 100.  Elon voiced his displeasure with an internal issue that had been passed on to the press by an employee.   Then a slide show came on, and we got a sneak peak at a photo of 'Model S'. OMG.  I don't usually think of sedans as sexy, but this car is gorgeous.  If and when this happens, Tesla will have trouble keeping them in stock at any price point.  My family of five might just have to be first in line.]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/feed/ 2 Filming Tesla (1 of 2) http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:20:16 +0000 Jessie Deeter http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=1087 Warehouse full of Tesla Roadsters.[/caption] Let me just give it away now….the first day we filmed this fall at Tesla, we got to see not one, not two, not three, but, and I counted—over 40 production Roadsters in the Menlo Park buildings. There is something about the sight of more than four million dollars of incredibly sleek, fast (they do look fast - even standing still) car flesh under one roof that really makes you tingle. It was tangible proof that the cars were.....well, that the cars were, and that the production line was moving. It's also when and where our Director, Chris, finally got to meet his car, a real beauty. See Chris's Blog Post about his Tesla delivery. Once again, it’s an exciting time to be following the electric car world. We’ve been following the Tesla story since they were in "stealth" mode, in the spring of 2006. Most of you have seen those few precious seconds of Tesla footage in "Who Killed the Electric Car ?"  What most of you couldn't guess is that when JB Straubel backed the car out of an enclosed trailer below the windmills of Altamont Pass for our film shoot, there was a gaping hole where the front grill should have been. When asked, JB replied that some details, like the entire grill, were not yet finalized. Hmmmm. A quick trip down to Home Depot for some landscaping mesh plus some metal binder clips from Office Depot gave us all we needed [the film crew mind you, not Tesla engineers] to fabricate a grill worthy of a film appearance.  Elapsed time: 35 minutes. JB was impressed! We even let him 'keep' our design. That was our first brush with Tesla. Then, the company was pure California start-up - occupying a no-frills warehouse space in a little lane in the heart of Silicon Valley.  We found a bunch of geeks, EV nerds and entrepreneurs who were thrilled to be able to actually get jobs working on a technology that they thought might help change the world—and what a sexy technology!  The car we filmed that day was just a rough version of the highly refined luxury mobile offered today, but still it was the quickest 0-60 that I’d ever done. Two years later, we took our crew back to Tesla to film the arrival of production car #1, Elon's personal hot car. The mood in the air was pure victory, even though the car was well over a year coming than originally forecast.  Journalists jockeyed for the pole position to capture Elon's triumphant peel out of the driveway in his new baby. The crowd was on fire. Six months later the world had changed. The financial market had tanked, taking Tesla's cash source with it. And the online rumor mill had changed its tune from "Gee, isn’t this an amazing technology that we wish we could all own?!" To, "Gee, how much longer do you think this company can last with dwindling cash reserves, missed delivery targets," and a new blogger chorus:  "Tesla sucks for making a cool car that none of us can afford to own." With storm clouds brewing, our "Revenge" team was lucky enough to be granted access to Tesla's San Carlos shop to check in with Elon, and see how his first weeks as CEO were shaping up. While I can't tell you everything we filmed, or Elon would have to kill me. What I can tell you is that we were able to witness some serious team building and whip cracking ...which we'll share with you soon!]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/feed/ 0 Voltageville, USA http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/#comments Thu, 27 Nov 2008 06:55:01 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=941 News 10 reports on the electric cars of Vacaville, CA.  In 2003 Vacaville, also known as Voltageville, was miles ahead of other cities with over 100 electric cars on the road in both GM EV1s and Toyota RAV4-EVs.  The California Air Resources Board's 1990 Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate would have required 10% of all vehicles sold in California to be zero emissions.  But the CARB ZEV mandate was rescinded in 2003 due to pressure from the automakers.  It resulted in the confiscation of the majority of EVs which had only been available under lease. In the News 10 segment Ed Huestis, Vacaville's Transportation Manager, comments:  "Once you've driven an electric vehicle, you never want to go back to gasoline...you just don't."  Former GM EV1 owner Jerry Hobrecht and Toyota RAV4-EV owner Darell Dickey are also interviewed expressing their immense enthusiasm for electric drive. Now, every major automaker is scrambling to produce an electric vehicle.  Watch the News 10 report after the jump to learn why "No city is more ready for the return of the electric car than Vacaville, CA."

Also read:  Welcome to Voltageville &   Vacaville: America's EV Hometown

[Source:  News 10]]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/feed/ 2 Chris Paine on the Ron Reagan Show http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/#comments Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:50:47 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=707 Air America's "The Ron Reagan Show" aired an episode on November 24th, 2008 about what to do about "The Big Three" automakers.  Chris Paine joined Ron live with his views on the bailout for "The Big Three", along with thoughts on future innovations in the industry. You can listen to the entire half hour show below.  Chris's interview begins at minute 10.  Be sure to listen to Ron's idea for a great EV commercial at minute 25 ...

[Source:  The Ron Reagan Show (2008.11.24)]

]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/feed/ 1 CNN namechecks ‘Revenge of the Electric Car’ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:35:20 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=746

]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/feed/ 0 Bring Back the EV1 Press Conference http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com The Film : The Blogs : The Revolution Fri, 30 Jul 2010 04:02:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Revenge of the Electric Car » Who Killed the Electric Car http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com The Film : The Blogs : The Revolution Fri, 30 Jul 2010 04:02:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Filming Tesla (2 of 2) http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/#comments Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:28:34 +0000 Jessie Deeter http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=1149 Our co-producer continues her account of shooting behind the scenes at Tesla. As we captured key meetings with department heads,  Elon stressed his commitment to ramping Tesla up - and the fact that his role was hands-on. He reminded person after person that no problem or detail was too small. The buck stopped with Elon. [caption id="attachment_1096" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Elon Musk (left) inspects a Roadster"]Elon Musk inspects a Roadster's PEU (Power Electronics Unit).[/caption] We pulled a marathon day, and our cameraman, Adam, worked valiantly to keep up.  Filming meetings is actually difficult to do well. You need to know the subject, know the players, and then make split-second decisions as to how to follow the action. Along the way, we captured a couple of job interviews and captured Elon's policy of interviewing most employees in person. One of our interviews was a young engineer. When asked about the recent layoffs he said "You have to cut your burn rate. It's just the way business works — for start-ups especially." A couple of Tuesdays later, I took a cameraman back to witness an "all hands meeting" at Tesla's Menlo Park office. Again, the back warehouse was full with cars about to be delivered. This time, we saw cars approaching VIN number 100.  Elon voiced his displeasure with an internal issue that had been passed on to the press by an employee.   Then a slide show came on, and we got a sneak peak at a photo of 'Model S'. OMG.  I don't usually think of sedans as sexy, but this car is gorgeous.  If and when this happens, Tesla will have trouble keeping them in stock at any price point.  My family of five might just have to be first in line.]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/feed/ 2 Filming Tesla (1 of 2) http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:20:16 +0000 Jessie Deeter http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=1087 Warehouse full of Tesla Roadsters.[/caption] Let me just give it away now….the first day we filmed this fall at Tesla, we got to see not one, not two, not three, but, and I counted—over 40 production Roadsters in the Menlo Park buildings. There is something about the sight of more than four million dollars of incredibly sleek, fast (they do look fast - even standing still) car flesh under one roof that really makes you tingle. It was tangible proof that the cars were.....well, that the cars were, and that the production line was moving. It's also when and where our Director, Chris, finally got to meet his car, a real beauty. See Chris's Blog Post about his Tesla delivery. Once again, it’s an exciting time to be following the electric car world. We’ve been following the Tesla story since they were in "stealth" mode, in the spring of 2006. Most of you have seen those few precious seconds of Tesla footage in "Who Killed the Electric Car ?"  What most of you couldn't guess is that when JB Straubel backed the car out of an enclosed trailer below the windmills of Altamont Pass for our film shoot, there was a gaping hole where the front grill should have been. When asked, JB replied that some details, like the entire grill, were not yet finalized. Hmmmm. A quick trip down to Home Depot for some landscaping mesh plus some metal binder clips from Office Depot gave us all we needed [the film crew mind you, not Tesla engineers] to fabricate a grill worthy of a film appearance.  Elapsed time: 35 minutes. JB was impressed! We even let him 'keep' our design. That was our first brush with Tesla. Then, the company was pure California start-up - occupying a no-frills warehouse space in a little lane in the heart of Silicon Valley.  We found a bunch of geeks, EV nerds and entrepreneurs who were thrilled to be able to actually get jobs working on a technology that they thought might help change the world—and what a sexy technology!  The car we filmed that day was just a rough version of the highly refined luxury mobile offered today, but still it was the quickest 0-60 that I’d ever done. Two years later, we took our crew back to Tesla to film the arrival of production car #1, Elon's personal hot car. The mood in the air was pure victory, even though the car was well over a year coming than originally forecast.  Journalists jockeyed for the pole position to capture Elon's triumphant peel out of the driveway in his new baby. The crowd was on fire. Six months later the world had changed. The financial market had tanked, taking Tesla's cash source with it. And the online rumor mill had changed its tune from "Gee, isn’t this an amazing technology that we wish we could all own?!" To, "Gee, how much longer do you think this company can last with dwindling cash reserves, missed delivery targets," and a new blogger chorus:  "Tesla sucks for making a cool car that none of us can afford to own." With storm clouds brewing, our "Revenge" team was lucky enough to be granted access to Tesla's San Carlos shop to check in with Elon, and see how his first weeks as CEO were shaping up. While I can't tell you everything we filmed, or Elon would have to kill me. What I can tell you is that we were able to witness some serious team building and whip cracking ...which we'll share with you soon!]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/feed/ 0 Voltageville, USA http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/#comments Thu, 27 Nov 2008 06:55:01 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=941 News 10 reports on the electric cars of Vacaville, CA.  In 2003 Vacaville, also known as Voltageville, was miles ahead of other cities with over 100 electric cars on the road in both GM EV1s and Toyota RAV4-EVs.  The California Air Resources Board's 1990 Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate would have required 10% of all vehicles sold in California to be zero emissions.  But the CARB ZEV mandate was rescinded in 2003 due to pressure from the automakers.  It resulted in the confiscation of the majority of EVs which had only been available under lease. In the News 10 segment Ed Huestis, Vacaville's Transportation Manager, comments:  "Once you've driven an electric vehicle, you never want to go back to gasoline...you just don't."  Former GM EV1 owner Jerry Hobrecht and Toyota RAV4-EV owner Darell Dickey are also interviewed expressing their immense enthusiasm for electric drive. Now, every major automaker is scrambling to produce an electric vehicle.  Watch the News 10 report after the jump to learn why "No city is more ready for the return of the electric car than Vacaville, CA."

Also read:  Welcome to Voltageville &   Vacaville: America's EV Hometown

[Source:  News 10]]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/feed/ 2 Chris Paine on the Ron Reagan Show http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/#comments Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:50:47 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=707 Air America's "The Ron Reagan Show" aired an episode on November 24th, 2008 about what to do about "The Big Three" automakers.  Chris Paine joined Ron live with his views on the bailout for "The Big Three", along with thoughts on future innovations in the industry. You can listen to the entire half hour show below.  Chris's interview begins at minute 10.  Be sure to listen to Ron's idea for a great EV commercial at minute 25 ...

[Source:  The Ron Reagan Show (2008.11.24)]

]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/feed/ 1 CNN namechecks ‘Revenge of the Electric Car’ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:35:20 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=746

]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/feed/ 0 Bring Back the EV1 Press Conference http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/#comments Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:28:34 +0000 Jessie Deeter http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=1149 Our co-producer continues her account of shooting behind the scenes at Tesla. As we captured key meetings with department heads,  Elon stressed his commitment to ramping Tesla up - and the fact that his role was hands-on. He reminded person after person that no problem or detail was too small. The buck stopped with Elon. [caption id="attachment_1096" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Elon Musk (left) inspects a Roadster"]Elon Musk inspects a Roadster's PEU (Power Electronics Unit).[/caption] We pulled a marathon day, and our cameraman, Adam, worked valiantly to keep up.  Filming meetings is actually difficult to do well. You need to know the subject, know the players, and then make split-second decisions as to how to follow the action. Along the way, we captured a couple of job interviews and captured Elon's policy of interviewing most employees in person. One of our interviews was a young engineer. When asked about the recent layoffs he said "You have to cut your burn rate. It's just the way business works — for start-ups especially." A couple of Tuesdays later, I took a cameraman back to witness an "all hands meeting" at Tesla's Menlo Park office. Again, the back warehouse was full with cars about to be delivered. This time, we saw cars approaching VIN number 100.  Elon voiced his displeasure with an internal issue that had been passed on to the press by an employee.   Then a slide show came on, and we got a sneak peak at a photo of 'Model S'. OMG.  I don't usually think of sedans as sexy, but this car is gorgeous.  If and when this happens, Tesla will have trouble keeping them in stock at any price point.  My family of five might just have to be first in line.]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/feed/ 2 Revenge of the Electric Car » Who Killed the Electric Car http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com The Film : The Blogs : The Revolution Fri, 30 Jul 2010 04:02:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Filming Tesla (2 of 2) http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/#comments Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:28:34 +0000 Jessie Deeter http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=1149 Our co-producer continues her account of shooting behind the scenes at Tesla. As we captured key meetings with department heads,  Elon stressed his commitment to ramping Tesla up - and the fact that his role was hands-on. He reminded person after person that no problem or detail was too small. The buck stopped with Elon. [caption id="attachment_1096" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Elon Musk (left) inspects a Roadster"]Elon Musk inspects a Roadster's PEU (Power Electronics Unit).[/caption] We pulled a marathon day, and our cameraman, Adam, worked valiantly to keep up.  Filming meetings is actually difficult to do well. You need to know the subject, know the players, and then make split-second decisions as to how to follow the action. Along the way, we captured a couple of job interviews and captured Elon's policy of interviewing most employees in person. One of our interviews was a young engineer. When asked about the recent layoffs he said "You have to cut your burn rate. It's just the way business works — for start-ups especially." A couple of Tuesdays later, I took a cameraman back to witness an "all hands meeting" at Tesla's Menlo Park office. Again, the back warehouse was full with cars about to be delivered. This time, we saw cars approaching VIN number 100.  Elon voiced his displeasure with an internal issue that had been passed on to the press by an employee.   Then a slide show came on, and we got a sneak peak at a photo of 'Model S'. OMG.  I don't usually think of sedans as sexy, but this car is gorgeous.  If and when this happens, Tesla will have trouble keeping them in stock at any price point.  My family of five might just have to be first in line.]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/feed/ 2 Filming Tesla (1 of 2) http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:20:16 +0000 Jessie Deeter http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=1087 Warehouse full of Tesla Roadsters.[/caption] Let me just give it away now….the first day we filmed this fall at Tesla, we got to see not one, not two, not three, but, and I counted—over 40 production Roadsters in the Menlo Park buildings. There is something about the sight of more than four million dollars of incredibly sleek, fast (they do look fast - even standing still) car flesh under one roof that really makes you tingle. It was tangible proof that the cars were.....well, that the cars were, and that the production line was moving. It's also when and where our Director, Chris, finally got to meet his car, a real beauty. See Chris's Blog Post about his Tesla delivery. Once again, it’s an exciting time to be following the electric car world. We’ve been following the Tesla story since they were in "stealth" mode, in the spring of 2006. Most of you have seen those few precious seconds of Tesla footage in "Who Killed the Electric Car ?"  What most of you couldn't guess is that when JB Straubel backed the car out of an enclosed trailer below the windmills of Altamont Pass for our film shoot, there was a gaping hole where the front grill should have been. When asked, JB replied that some details, like the entire grill, were not yet finalized. Hmmmm. A quick trip down to Home Depot for some landscaping mesh plus some metal binder clips from Office Depot gave us all we needed [the film crew mind you, not Tesla engineers] to fabricate a grill worthy of a film appearance.  Elapsed time: 35 minutes. JB was impressed! We even let him 'keep' our design. That was our first brush with Tesla. Then, the company was pure California start-up - occupying a no-frills warehouse space in a little lane in the heart of Silicon Valley.  We found a bunch of geeks, EV nerds and entrepreneurs who were thrilled to be able to actually get jobs working on a technology that they thought might help change the world—and what a sexy technology!  The car we filmed that day was just a rough version of the highly refined luxury mobile offered today, but still it was the quickest 0-60 that I’d ever done. Two years later, we took our crew back to Tesla to film the arrival of production car #1, Elon's personal hot car. The mood in the air was pure victory, even though the car was well over a year coming than originally forecast.  Journalists jockeyed for the pole position to capture Elon's triumphant peel out of the driveway in his new baby. The crowd was on fire. Six months later the world had changed. The financial market had tanked, taking Tesla's cash source with it. And the online rumor mill had changed its tune from "Gee, isn’t this an amazing technology that we wish we could all own?!" To, "Gee, how much longer do you think this company can last with dwindling cash reserves, missed delivery targets," and a new blogger chorus:  "Tesla sucks for making a cool car that none of us can afford to own." With storm clouds brewing, our "Revenge" team was lucky enough to be granted access to Tesla's San Carlos shop to check in with Elon, and see how his first weeks as CEO were shaping up. While I can't tell you everything we filmed, or Elon would have to kill me. What I can tell you is that we were able to witness some serious team building and whip cracking ...which we'll share with you soon!]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/feed/ 0 Voltageville, USA http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/#comments Thu, 27 Nov 2008 06:55:01 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=941 News 10 reports on the electric cars of Vacaville, CA.  In 2003 Vacaville, also known as Voltageville, was miles ahead of other cities with over 100 electric cars on the road in both GM EV1s and Toyota RAV4-EVs.  The California Air Resources Board's 1990 Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate would have required 10% of all vehicles sold in California to be zero emissions.  But the CARB ZEV mandate was rescinded in 2003 due to pressure from the automakers.  It resulted in the confiscation of the majority of EVs which had only been available under lease. In the News 10 segment Ed Huestis, Vacaville's Transportation Manager, comments:  "Once you've driven an electric vehicle, you never want to go back to gasoline...you just don't."  Former GM EV1 owner Jerry Hobrecht and Toyota RAV4-EV owner Darell Dickey are also interviewed expressing their immense enthusiasm for electric drive. Now, every major automaker is scrambling to produce an electric vehicle.  Watch the News 10 report after the jump to learn why "No city is more ready for the return of the electric car than Vacaville, CA."

Also read:  Welcome to Voltageville &   Vacaville: America's EV Hometown

[Source:  News 10]]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/feed/ 2 Chris Paine on the Ron Reagan Show http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/#comments Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:50:47 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=707 Air America's "The Ron Reagan Show" aired an episode on November 24th, 2008 about what to do about "The Big Three" automakers.  Chris Paine joined Ron live with his views on the bailout for "The Big Three", along with thoughts on future innovations in the industry. You can listen to the entire half hour show below.  Chris's interview begins at minute 10.  Be sure to listen to Ron's idea for a great EV commercial at minute 25 ...

[Source:  The Ron Reagan Show (2008.11.24)]

]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/feed/ 1 CNN namechecks ‘Revenge of the Electric Car’ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:35:20 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=746

]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/feed/ 0 Bring Back the EV1 Press Conference http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:20:16 +0000 Jessie Deeter http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=1087 Warehouse full of Tesla Roadsters.[/caption] Let me just give it away now….the first day we filmed this fall at Tesla, we got to see not one, not two, not three, but, and I counted—over 40 production Roadsters in the Menlo Park buildings. There is something about the sight of more than four million dollars of incredibly sleek, fast (they do look fast - even standing still) car flesh under one roof that really makes you tingle. It was tangible proof that the cars were.....well, that the cars were, and that the production line was moving. It's also when and where our Director, Chris, finally got to meet his car, a real beauty. See Chris's Blog Post about his Tesla delivery. Once again, it’s an exciting time to be following the electric car world. We’ve been following the Tesla story since they were in "stealth" mode, in the spring of 2006. Most of you have seen those few precious seconds of Tesla footage in "Who Killed the Electric Car ?"  What most of you couldn't guess is that when JB Straubel backed the car out of an enclosed trailer below the windmills of Altamont Pass for our film shoot, there was a gaping hole where the front grill should have been. When asked, JB replied that some details, like the entire grill, were not yet finalized. Hmmmm. A quick trip down to Home Depot for some landscaping mesh plus some metal binder clips from Office Depot gave us all we needed [the film crew mind you, not Tesla engineers] to fabricate a grill worthy of a film appearance.  Elapsed time: 35 minutes. JB was impressed! We even let him 'keep' our design. That was our first brush with Tesla. Then, the company was pure California start-up - occupying a no-frills warehouse space in a little lane in the heart of Silicon Valley.  We found a bunch of geeks, EV nerds and entrepreneurs who were thrilled to be able to actually get jobs working on a technology that they thought might help change the world—and what a sexy technology!  The car we filmed that day was just a rough version of the highly refined luxury mobile offered today, but still it was the quickest 0-60 that I’d ever done. Two years later, we took our crew back to Tesla to film the arrival of production car #1, Elon's personal hot car. The mood in the air was pure victory, even though the car was well over a year coming than originally forecast.  Journalists jockeyed for the pole position to capture Elon's triumphant peel out of the driveway in his new baby. The crowd was on fire. Six months later the world had changed. The financial market had tanked, taking Tesla's cash source with it. And the online rumor mill had changed its tune from "Gee, isn’t this an amazing technology that we wish we could all own?!" To, "Gee, how much longer do you think this company can last with dwindling cash reserves, missed delivery targets," and a new blogger chorus:  "Tesla sucks for making a cool car that none of us can afford to own." With storm clouds brewing, our "Revenge" team was lucky enough to be granted access to Tesla's San Carlos shop to check in with Elon, and see how his first weeks as CEO were shaping up. While I can't tell you everything we filmed, or Elon would have to kill me. What I can tell you is that we were able to witness some serious team building and whip cracking ...which we'll share with you soon!]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/feed/ 0 Revenge of the Electric Car » Who Killed the Electric Car http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com The Film : The Blogs : The Revolution Fri, 30 Jul 2010 04:02:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Filming Tesla (2 of 2) http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/#comments Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:28:34 +0000 Jessie Deeter http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=1149 Our co-producer continues her account of shooting behind the scenes at Tesla. As we captured key meetings with department heads,  Elon stressed his commitment to ramping Tesla up - and the fact that his role was hands-on. He reminded person after person that no problem or detail was too small. The buck stopped with Elon. [caption id="attachment_1096" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Elon Musk (left) inspects a Roadster"]Elon Musk inspects a Roadster's PEU (Power Electronics Unit).[/caption] We pulled a marathon day, and our cameraman, Adam, worked valiantly to keep up.  Filming meetings is actually difficult to do well. You need to know the subject, know the players, and then make split-second decisions as to how to follow the action. Along the way, we captured a couple of job interviews and captured Elon's policy of interviewing most employees in person. One of our interviews was a young engineer. When asked about the recent layoffs he said "You have to cut your burn rate. It's just the way business works — for start-ups especially." A couple of Tuesdays later, I took a cameraman back to witness an "all hands meeting" at Tesla's Menlo Park office. Again, the back warehouse was full with cars about to be delivered. This time, we saw cars approaching VIN number 100.  Elon voiced his displeasure with an internal issue that had been passed on to the press by an employee.   Then a slide show came on, and we got a sneak peak at a photo of 'Model S'. OMG.  I don't usually think of sedans as sexy, but this car is gorgeous.  If and when this happens, Tesla will have trouble keeping them in stock at any price point.  My family of five might just have to be first in line.]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/feed/ 2 Filming Tesla (1 of 2) http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:20:16 +0000 Jessie Deeter http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=1087 Warehouse full of Tesla Roadsters.[/caption] Let me just give it away now….the first day we filmed this fall at Tesla, we got to see not one, not two, not three, but, and I counted—over 40 production Roadsters in the Menlo Park buildings. There is something about the sight of more than four million dollars of incredibly sleek, fast (they do look fast - even standing still) car flesh under one roof that really makes you tingle. It was tangible proof that the cars were.....well, that the cars were, and that the production line was moving. It's also when and where our Director, Chris, finally got to meet his car, a real beauty. See Chris's Blog Post about his Tesla delivery. Once again, it’s an exciting time to be following the electric car world. We’ve been following the Tesla story since they were in "stealth" mode, in the spring of 2006. Most of you have seen those few precious seconds of Tesla footage in "Who Killed the Electric Car ?"  What most of you couldn't guess is that when JB Straubel backed the car out of an enclosed trailer below the windmills of Altamont Pass for our film shoot, there was a gaping hole where the front grill should have been. When asked, JB replied that some details, like the entire grill, were not yet finalized. Hmmmm. A quick trip down to Home Depot for some landscaping mesh plus some metal binder clips from Office Depot gave us all we needed [the film crew mind you, not Tesla engineers] to fabricate a grill worthy of a film appearance.  Elapsed time: 35 minutes. JB was impressed! We even let him 'keep' our design. That was our first brush with Tesla. Then, the company was pure California start-up - occupying a no-frills warehouse space in a little lane in the heart of Silicon Valley.  We found a bunch of geeks, EV nerds and entrepreneurs who were thrilled to be able to actually get jobs working on a technology that they thought might help change the world—and what a sexy technology!  The car we filmed that day was just a rough version of the highly refined luxury mobile offered today, but still it was the quickest 0-60 that I’d ever done. Two years later, we took our crew back to Tesla to film the arrival of production car #1, Elon's personal hot car. The mood in the air was pure victory, even though the car was well over a year coming than originally forecast.  Journalists jockeyed for the pole position to capture Elon's triumphant peel out of the driveway in his new baby. The crowd was on fire. Six months later the world had changed. The financial market had tanked, taking Tesla's cash source with it. And the online rumor mill had changed its tune from "Gee, isn’t this an amazing technology that we wish we could all own?!" To, "Gee, how much longer do you think this company can last with dwindling cash reserves, missed delivery targets," and a new blogger chorus:  "Tesla sucks for making a cool car that none of us can afford to own." With storm clouds brewing, our "Revenge" team was lucky enough to be granted access to Tesla's San Carlos shop to check in with Elon, and see how his first weeks as CEO were shaping up. While I can't tell you everything we filmed, or Elon would have to kill me. What I can tell you is that we were able to witness some serious team building and whip cracking ...which we'll share with you soon!]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/feed/ 0 Voltageville, USA http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/#comments Thu, 27 Nov 2008 06:55:01 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=941 News 10 reports on the electric cars of Vacaville, CA.  In 2003 Vacaville, also known as Voltageville, was miles ahead of other cities with over 100 electric cars on the road in both GM EV1s and Toyota RAV4-EVs.  The California Air Resources Board's 1990 Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate would have required 10% of all vehicles sold in California to be zero emissions.  But the CARB ZEV mandate was rescinded in 2003 due to pressure from the automakers.  It resulted in the confiscation of the majority of EVs which had only been available under lease. In the News 10 segment Ed Huestis, Vacaville's Transportation Manager, comments:  "Once you've driven an electric vehicle, you never want to go back to gasoline...you just don't."  Former GM EV1 owner Jerry Hobrecht and Toyota RAV4-EV owner Darell Dickey are also interviewed expressing their immense enthusiasm for electric drive. Now, every major automaker is scrambling to produce an electric vehicle.  Watch the News 10 report after the jump to learn why "No city is more ready for the return of the electric car than Vacaville, CA."

Also read:  Welcome to Voltageville &   Vacaville: America's EV Hometown

[Source:  News 10]]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/feed/ 2 Chris Paine on the Ron Reagan Show http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/#comments Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:50:47 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=707 Air America's "The Ron Reagan Show" aired an episode on November 24th, 2008 about what to do about "The Big Three" automakers.  Chris Paine joined Ron live with his views on the bailout for "The Big Three", along with thoughts on future innovations in the industry. You can listen to the entire half hour show below.  Chris's interview begins at minute 10.  Be sure to listen to Ron's idea for a great EV commercial at minute 25 ...

[Source:  The Ron Reagan Show (2008.11.24)]

]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/feed/ 1 CNN namechecks ‘Revenge of the Electric Car’ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:35:20 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=746

]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/feed/ 0 Bring Back the EV1 Press Conference http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/#comments Thu, 27 Nov 2008 06:55:01 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=941 News 10 reports on the electric cars of Vacaville, CA.  In 2003 Vacaville, also known as Voltageville, was miles ahead of other cities with over 100 electric cars on the road in both GM EV1s and Toyota RAV4-EVs.  The California Air Resources Board's 1990 Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate would have required 10% of all vehicles sold in California to be zero emissions.  But the CARB ZEV mandate was rescinded in 2003 due to pressure from the automakers.  It resulted in the confiscation of the majority of EVs which had only been available under lease. In the News 10 segment Ed Huestis, Vacaville's Transportation Manager, comments:  "Once you've driven an electric vehicle, you never want to go back to gasoline...you just don't."  Former GM EV1 owner Jerry Hobrecht and Toyota RAV4-EV owner Darell Dickey are also interviewed expressing their immense enthusiasm for electric drive. Now, every major automaker is scrambling to produce an electric vehicle.  Watch the News 10 report after the jump to learn why "No city is more ready for the return of the electric car than Vacaville, CA."

Also read:  Welcome to Voltageville &   Vacaville: America's EV Hometown

[Source:  News 10]]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/feed/ 2 Revenge of the Electric Car » Who Killed the Electric Car http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com The Film : The Blogs : The Revolution Fri, 30 Jul 2010 04:02:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Filming Tesla (2 of 2) http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/#comments Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:28:34 +0000 Jessie Deeter http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=1149 Our co-producer continues her account of shooting behind the scenes at Tesla. As we captured key meetings with department heads,  Elon stressed his commitment to ramping Tesla up - and the fact that his role was hands-on. He reminded person after person that no problem or detail was too small. The buck stopped with Elon. [caption id="attachment_1096" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Elon Musk (left) inspects a Roadster"]Elon Musk inspects a Roadster's PEU (Power Electronics Unit).[/caption] We pulled a marathon day, and our cameraman, Adam, worked valiantly to keep up.  Filming meetings is actually difficult to do well. You need to know the subject, know the players, and then make split-second decisions as to how to follow the action. Along the way, we captured a couple of job interviews and captured Elon's policy of interviewing most employees in person. One of our interviews was a young engineer. When asked about the recent layoffs he said "You have to cut your burn rate. It's just the way business works — for start-ups especially." A couple of Tuesdays later, I took a cameraman back to witness an "all hands meeting" at Tesla's Menlo Park office. Again, the back warehouse was full with cars about to be delivered. This time, we saw cars approaching VIN number 100.  Elon voiced his displeasure with an internal issue that had been passed on to the press by an employee.   Then a slide show came on, and we got a sneak peak at a photo of 'Model S'. OMG.  I don't usually think of sedans as sexy, but this car is gorgeous.  If and when this happens, Tesla will have trouble keeping them in stock at any price point.  My family of five might just have to be first in line.]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/feed/ 2 Filming Tesla (1 of 2) http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:20:16 +0000 Jessie Deeter http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=1087 Warehouse full of Tesla Roadsters.[/caption] Let me just give it away now….the first day we filmed this fall at Tesla, we got to see not one, not two, not three, but, and I counted—over 40 production Roadsters in the Menlo Park buildings. There is something about the sight of more than four million dollars of incredibly sleek, fast (they do look fast - even standing still) car flesh under one roof that really makes you tingle. It was tangible proof that the cars were.....well, that the cars were, and that the production line was moving. It's also when and where our Director, Chris, finally got to meet his car, a real beauty. See Chris's Blog Post about his Tesla delivery. Once again, it’s an exciting time to be following the electric car world. We’ve been following the Tesla story since they were in "stealth" mode, in the spring of 2006. Most of you have seen those few precious seconds of Tesla footage in "Who Killed the Electric Car ?"  What most of you couldn't guess is that when JB Straubel backed the car out of an enclosed trailer below the windmills of Altamont Pass for our film shoot, there was a gaping hole where the front grill should have been. When asked, JB replied that some details, like the entire grill, were not yet finalized. Hmmmm. A quick trip down to Home Depot for some landscaping mesh plus some metal binder clips from Office Depot gave us all we needed [the film crew mind you, not Tesla engineers] to fabricate a grill worthy of a film appearance.  Elapsed time: 35 minutes. JB was impressed! We even let him 'keep' our design. That was our first brush with Tesla. Then, the company was pure California start-up - occupying a no-frills warehouse space in a little lane in the heart of Silicon Valley.  We found a bunch of geeks, EV nerds and entrepreneurs who were thrilled to be able to actually get jobs working on a technology that they thought might help change the world—and what a sexy technology!  The car we filmed that day was just a rough version of the highly refined luxury mobile offered today, but still it was the quickest 0-60 that I’d ever done. Two years later, we took our crew back to Tesla to film the arrival of production car #1, Elon's personal hot car. The mood in the air was pure victory, even though the car was well over a year coming than originally forecast.  Journalists jockeyed for the pole position to capture Elon's triumphant peel out of the driveway in his new baby. The crowd was on fire. Six months later the world had changed. The financial market had tanked, taking Tesla's cash source with it. And the online rumor mill had changed its tune from "Gee, isn’t this an amazing technology that we wish we could all own?!" To, "Gee, how much longer do you think this company can last with dwindling cash reserves, missed delivery targets," and a new blogger chorus:  "Tesla sucks for making a cool car that none of us can afford to own." With storm clouds brewing, our "Revenge" team was lucky enough to be granted access to Tesla's San Carlos shop to check in with Elon, and see how his first weeks as CEO were shaping up. While I can't tell you everything we filmed, or Elon would have to kill me. What I can tell you is that we were able to witness some serious team building and whip cracking ...which we'll share with you soon!]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/feed/ 0 Voltageville, USA http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/#comments Thu, 27 Nov 2008 06:55:01 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=941 News 10 reports on the electric cars of Vacaville, CA.  In 2003 Vacaville, also known as Voltageville, was miles ahead of other cities with over 100 electric cars on the road in both GM EV1s and Toyota RAV4-EVs.  The California Air Resources Board's 1990 Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate would have required 10% of all vehicles sold in California to be zero emissions.  But the CARB ZEV mandate was rescinded in 2003 due to pressure from the automakers.  It resulted in the confiscation of the majority of EVs which had only been available under lease. In the News 10 segment Ed Huestis, Vacaville's Transportation Manager, comments:  "Once you've driven an electric vehicle, you never want to go back to gasoline...you just don't."  Former GM EV1 owner Jerry Hobrecht and Toyota RAV4-EV owner Darell Dickey are also interviewed expressing their immense enthusiasm for electric drive. Now, every major automaker is scrambling to produce an electric vehicle.  Watch the News 10 report after the jump to learn why "No city is more ready for the return of the electric car than Vacaville, CA."

Also read:  Welcome to Voltageville &   Vacaville: America's EV Hometown

[Source:  News 10]]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/feed/ 2 Chris Paine on the Ron Reagan Show http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/#comments Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:50:47 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=707 Air America's "The Ron Reagan Show" aired an episode on November 24th, 2008 about what to do about "The Big Three" automakers.  Chris Paine joined Ron live with his views on the bailout for "The Big Three", along with thoughts on future innovations in the industry. You can listen to the entire half hour show below.  Chris's interview begins at minute 10.  Be sure to listen to Ron's idea for a great EV commercial at minute 25 ...

[Source:  The Ron Reagan Show (2008.11.24)]

]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/feed/ 1 CNN namechecks ‘Revenge of the Electric Car’ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:35:20 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=746

]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/feed/ 0 Bring Back the EV1 Press Conference http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/#comments Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:50:47 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=707 Air America's "The Ron Reagan Show" aired an episode on November 24th, 2008 about what to do about "The Big Three" automakers.  Chris Paine joined Ron live with his views on the bailout for "The Big Three", along with thoughts on future innovations in the industry. You can listen to the entire half hour show below.  Chris's interview begins at minute 10.  Be sure to listen to Ron's idea for a great EV commercial at minute 25 ...

[Source:  The Ron Reagan Show (2008.11.24)]

]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/feed/ 1 Revenge of the Electric Car » Who Killed the Electric Car http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com The Film : The Blogs : The Revolution Fri, 30 Jul 2010 04:02:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Filming Tesla (2 of 2) http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/#comments Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:28:34 +0000 Jessie Deeter http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=1149 Our co-producer continues her account of shooting behind the scenes at Tesla. As we captured key meetings with department heads,  Elon stressed his commitment to ramping Tesla up - and the fact that his role was hands-on. He reminded person after person that no problem or detail was too small. The buck stopped with Elon. [caption id="attachment_1096" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Elon Musk (left) inspects a Roadster"]Elon Musk inspects a Roadster's PEU (Power Electronics Unit).[/caption] We pulled a marathon day, and our cameraman, Adam, worked valiantly to keep up.  Filming meetings is actually difficult to do well. You need to know the subject, know the players, and then make split-second decisions as to how to follow the action. Along the way, we captured a couple of job interviews and captured Elon's policy of interviewing most employees in person. One of our interviews was a young engineer. When asked about the recent layoffs he said "You have to cut your burn rate. It's just the way business works — for start-ups especially." A couple of Tuesdays later, I took a cameraman back to witness an "all hands meeting" at Tesla's Menlo Park office. Again, the back warehouse was full with cars about to be delivered. This time, we saw cars approaching VIN number 100.  Elon voiced his displeasure with an internal issue that had been passed on to the press by an employee.   Then a slide show came on, and we got a sneak peak at a photo of 'Model S'. OMG.  I don't usually think of sedans as sexy, but this car is gorgeous.  If and when this happens, Tesla will have trouble keeping them in stock at any price point.  My family of five might just have to be first in line.]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/feed/ 2 Filming Tesla (1 of 2) http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:20:16 +0000 Jessie Deeter http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=1087 Warehouse full of Tesla Roadsters.[/caption] Let me just give it away now….the first day we filmed this fall at Tesla, we got to see not one, not two, not three, but, and I counted—over 40 production Roadsters in the Menlo Park buildings. There is something about the sight of more than four million dollars of incredibly sleek, fast (they do look fast - even standing still) car flesh under one roof that really makes you tingle. It was tangible proof that the cars were.....well, that the cars were, and that the production line was moving. It's also when and where our Director, Chris, finally got to meet his car, a real beauty. See Chris's Blog Post about his Tesla delivery. Once again, it’s an exciting time to be following the electric car world. We’ve been following the Tesla story since they were in "stealth" mode, in the spring of 2006. Most of you have seen those few precious seconds of Tesla footage in "Who Killed the Electric Car ?"  What most of you couldn't guess is that when JB Straubel backed the car out of an enclosed trailer below the windmills of Altamont Pass for our film shoot, there was a gaping hole where the front grill should have been. When asked, JB replied that some details, like the entire grill, were not yet finalized. Hmmmm. A quick trip down to Home Depot for some landscaping mesh plus some metal binder clips from Office Depot gave us all we needed [the film crew mind you, not Tesla engineers] to fabricate a grill worthy of a film appearance.  Elapsed time: 35 minutes. JB was impressed! We even let him 'keep' our design. That was our first brush with Tesla. Then, the company was pure California start-up - occupying a no-frills warehouse space in a little lane in the heart of Silicon Valley.  We found a bunch of geeks, EV nerds and entrepreneurs who were thrilled to be able to actually get jobs working on a technology that they thought might help change the world—and what a sexy technology!  The car we filmed that day was just a rough version of the highly refined luxury mobile offered today, but still it was the quickest 0-60 that I’d ever done. Two years later, we took our crew back to Tesla to film the arrival of production car #1, Elon's personal hot car. The mood in the air was pure victory, even though the car was well over a year coming than originally forecast.  Journalists jockeyed for the pole position to capture Elon's triumphant peel out of the driveway in his new baby. The crowd was on fire. Six months later the world had changed. The financial market had tanked, taking Tesla's cash source with it. And the online rumor mill had changed its tune from "Gee, isn’t this an amazing technology that we wish we could all own?!" To, "Gee, how much longer do you think this company can last with dwindling cash reserves, missed delivery targets," and a new blogger chorus:  "Tesla sucks for making a cool car that none of us can afford to own." With storm clouds brewing, our "Revenge" team was lucky enough to be granted access to Tesla's San Carlos shop to check in with Elon, and see how his first weeks as CEO were shaping up. While I can't tell you everything we filmed, or Elon would have to kill me. What I can tell you is that we were able to witness some serious team building and whip cracking ...which we'll share with you soon!]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/feed/ 0 Voltageville, USA http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/#comments Thu, 27 Nov 2008 06:55:01 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=941 News 10 reports on the electric cars of Vacaville, CA.  In 2003 Vacaville, also known as Voltageville, was miles ahead of other cities with over 100 electric cars on the road in both GM EV1s and Toyota RAV4-EVs.  The California Air Resources Board's 1990 Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate would have required 10% of all vehicles sold in California to be zero emissions.  But the CARB ZEV mandate was rescinded in 2003 due to pressure from the automakers.  It resulted in the confiscation of the majority of EVs which had only been available under lease. In the News 10 segment Ed Huestis, Vacaville's Transportation Manager, comments:  "Once you've driven an electric vehicle, you never want to go back to gasoline...you just don't."  Former GM EV1 owner Jerry Hobrecht and Toyota RAV4-EV owner Darell Dickey are also interviewed expressing their immense enthusiasm for electric drive. Now, every major automaker is scrambling to produce an electric vehicle.  Watch the News 10 report after the jump to learn why "No city is more ready for the return of the electric car than Vacaville, CA."

Also read:  Welcome to Voltageville &   Vacaville: America's EV Hometown

[Source:  News 10]]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/feed/ 2 Chris Paine on the Ron Reagan Show http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/#comments Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:50:47 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=707 Air America's "The Ron Reagan Show" aired an episode on November 24th, 2008 about what to do about "The Big Three" automakers.  Chris Paine joined Ron live with his views on the bailout for "The Big Three", along with thoughts on future innovations in the industry. You can listen to the entire half hour show below.  Chris's interview begins at minute 10.  Be sure to listen to Ron's idea for a great EV commercial at minute 25 ...

[Source:  The Ron Reagan Show (2008.11.24)]

]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/feed/ 1 CNN namechecks ‘Revenge of the Electric Car’ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:35:20 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=746

]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/feed/ 0 Bring Back the EV1 Press Conference http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:35:20 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=746

]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/feed/ 0 Revenge of the Electric Car » Who Killed the Electric Car http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com The Film : The Blogs : The Revolution Fri, 30 Jul 2010 04:02:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Filming Tesla (2 of 2) http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/#comments Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:28:34 +0000 Jessie Deeter http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=1149 Our co-producer continues her account of shooting behind the scenes at Tesla. As we captured key meetings with department heads,  Elon stressed his commitment to ramping Tesla up - and the fact that his role was hands-on. He reminded person after person that no problem or detail was too small. The buck stopped with Elon. [caption id="attachment_1096" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Elon Musk (left) inspects a Roadster"]Elon Musk inspects a Roadster's PEU (Power Electronics Unit).[/caption] We pulled a marathon day, and our cameraman, Adam, worked valiantly to keep up.  Filming meetings is actually difficult to do well. You need to know the subject, know the players, and then make split-second decisions as to how to follow the action. Along the way, we captured a couple of job interviews and captured Elon's policy of interviewing most employees in person. One of our interviews was a young engineer. When asked about the recent layoffs he said "You have to cut your burn rate. It's just the way business works — for start-ups especially." A couple of Tuesdays later, I took a cameraman back to witness an "all hands meeting" at Tesla's Menlo Park office. Again, the back warehouse was full with cars about to be delivered. This time, we saw cars approaching VIN number 100.  Elon voiced his displeasure with an internal issue that had been passed on to the press by an employee.   Then a slide show came on, and we got a sneak peak at a photo of 'Model S'. OMG.  I don't usually think of sedans as sexy, but this car is gorgeous.  If and when this happens, Tesla will have trouble keeping them in stock at any price point.  My family of five might just have to be first in line.]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-2/feed/ 2 Filming Tesla (1 of 2) http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:20:16 +0000 Jessie Deeter http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=1087 Warehouse full of Tesla Roadsters.[/caption] Let me just give it away now….the first day we filmed this fall at Tesla, we got to see not one, not two, not three, but, and I counted—over 40 production Roadsters in the Menlo Park buildings. There is something about the sight of more than four million dollars of incredibly sleek, fast (they do look fast - even standing still) car flesh under one roof that really makes you tingle. It was tangible proof that the cars were.....well, that the cars were, and that the production line was moving. It's also when and where our Director, Chris, finally got to meet his car, a real beauty. See Chris's Blog Post about his Tesla delivery. Once again, it’s an exciting time to be following the electric car world. We’ve been following the Tesla story since they were in "stealth" mode, in the spring of 2006. Most of you have seen those few precious seconds of Tesla footage in "Who Killed the Electric Car ?"  What most of you couldn't guess is that when JB Straubel backed the car out of an enclosed trailer below the windmills of Altamont Pass for our film shoot, there was a gaping hole where the front grill should have been. When asked, JB replied that some details, like the entire grill, were not yet finalized. Hmmmm. A quick trip down to Home Depot for some landscaping mesh plus some metal binder clips from Office Depot gave us all we needed [the film crew mind you, not Tesla engineers] to fabricate a grill worthy of a film appearance.  Elapsed time: 35 minutes. JB was impressed! We even let him 'keep' our design. That was our first brush with Tesla. Then, the company was pure California start-up - occupying a no-frills warehouse space in a little lane in the heart of Silicon Valley.  We found a bunch of geeks, EV nerds and entrepreneurs who were thrilled to be able to actually get jobs working on a technology that they thought might help change the world—and what a sexy technology!  The car we filmed that day was just a rough version of the highly refined luxury mobile offered today, but still it was the quickest 0-60 that I’d ever done. Two years later, we took our crew back to Tesla to film the arrival of production car #1, Elon's personal hot car. The mood in the air was pure victory, even though the car was well over a year coming than originally forecast.  Journalists jockeyed for the pole position to capture Elon's triumphant peel out of the driveway in his new baby. The crowd was on fire. Six months later the world had changed. The financial market had tanked, taking Tesla's cash source with it. And the online rumor mill had changed its tune from "Gee, isn’t this an amazing technology that we wish we could all own?!" To, "Gee, how much longer do you think this company can last with dwindling cash reserves, missed delivery targets," and a new blogger chorus:  "Tesla sucks for making a cool car that none of us can afford to own." With storm clouds brewing, our "Revenge" team was lucky enough to be granted access to Tesla's San Carlos shop to check in with Elon, and see how his first weeks as CEO were shaping up. While I can't tell you everything we filmed, or Elon would have to kill me. What I can tell you is that we were able to witness some serious team building and whip cracking ...which we'll share with you soon!]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/filming-tesla-1/feed/ 0 Voltageville, USA http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/#comments Thu, 27 Nov 2008 06:55:01 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=941 News 10 reports on the electric cars of Vacaville, CA.  In 2003 Vacaville, also known as Voltageville, was miles ahead of other cities with over 100 electric cars on the road in both GM EV1s and Toyota RAV4-EVs.  The California Air Resources Board's 1990 Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate would have required 10% of all vehicles sold in California to be zero emissions.  But the CARB ZEV mandate was rescinded in 2003 due to pressure from the automakers.  It resulted in the confiscation of the majority of EVs which had only been available under lease. In the News 10 segment Ed Huestis, Vacaville's Transportation Manager, comments:  "Once you've driven an electric vehicle, you never want to go back to gasoline...you just don't."  Former GM EV1 owner Jerry Hobrecht and Toyota RAV4-EV owner Darell Dickey are also interviewed expressing their immense enthusiasm for electric drive. Now, every major automaker is scrambling to produce an electric vehicle.  Watch the News 10 report after the jump to learn why "No city is more ready for the return of the electric car than Vacaville, CA."

Also read:  Welcome to Voltageville &   Vacaville: America's EV Hometown

[Source:  News 10]]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/voltageville-usa/feed/ 2 Chris Paine on the Ron Reagan Show http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/#comments Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:50:47 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=707 Air America's "The Ron Reagan Show" aired an episode on November 24th, 2008 about what to do about "The Big Three" automakers.  Chris Paine joined Ron live with his views on the bailout for "The Big Three", along with thoughts on future innovations in the industry. You can listen to the entire half hour show below.  Chris's interview begins at minute 10.  Be sure to listen to Ron's idea for a great EV commercial at minute 25 ...

[Source:  The Ron Reagan Show (2008.11.24)]

]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/chris-paine-on-the-ron-reagan-show/feed/ 1 CNN namechecks ‘Revenge of the Electric Car’ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:35:20 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=746

]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/cnn-namechecks-revenge-of-the-electric-car/feed/ 0 Bring Back the EV1 Press Conference http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/bring-back-the-ev1-press-conference/ http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/bring-back-the-ev1-press-conference/#comments Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:53:11 +0000 Stefano Paris http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/?p=510

Friday November 14th, 2008 - GM Training Center - Burbank, CA The Honorable Nate Holden, former California State Senator and L.A. City Council Member, held a press conference demanding General Motors apologize to the American people for destroying the automaker's EV1 plug-in electric vehicle.  Mr. Holden demanded the EV1's immediate re-introduction before, or in exchange for, any Government bailout of GM. “General Motors compounded their financial woes by destroying the EV1 and continued to work with the oil companies to gouge the public. It's a dishonest act on the part of General Motors.” said Holden. [caption id="attachment_521" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Former EV1 driver Chris Reeves's 1997 GM Chevy S10 EV."]Former EV1 driver Chris Reeve's 1997 GM Chevy S10 EV.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_520" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Former EV1 driver Doug Korthof's 2002 Toyota RAV4-EV."]Former EV1 driver Doug Korthof's 2002 Toyota RAV4-EV.[/caption] This press conference was held at the very same GM facility where the EV1 Vigil took place during February and March 2005. Loyal GM EV1 customers tried valiantly to save 78 remaining EV1s from being crushed. Activists kept a 24/7 watch over the vehicles and offered to buy the EV1s from GM for their residual value. Alexandra Paul and Colette Divine were arrested while peacefully protesting and making a stand against an EV1 filled GM transport semi attempting to exit the facility.   Chris Paine's film "Who Killed the Electric Car ?" documented the EV1 Vigil. Former EV1 drivers Doug Korthof and Chris Reeves attended and spoke at Holden's press conference, having each arrived in their respective plug-in EVs (2002 Toyota RAV4-EV and 1997 GM Chevy S10 EV). Alex Datig (Business & Public Affairs Consultant, HighRoad Consulting Group LLC) let us know that Mr. Holden had a fruitful day getting the EV1 word out.  After the press conference at the GM Training Center Mr Holden went to City Hall to conduct more interviews and to speak to elected officials. He sent the story to KFWB News 980 and to President-elect Barack Obama.  Mr Holden had the following words for the loyal supporters of the EV1 : "I want to thank the EV1 family for their support and encouragement for me to continue the fight to hold General Motors and other auto manufacturers' feet to the fire. As you know, today I strongly urge Congress to withhold any bailout funds from the auto industry, unless and until the industry agrees to mass-produce fuel efficiency automobiles; electric cars. Congress should not, under any circumstances, release the bailout money to automobile manufacturers without making these demands. Without these demands, the automobile manufacturers will just continue with "business as usual," manufacturing gas-guzzlers, which would increase our dependency on the middle-east oil producing countries. This dependency must end now! We are the advocates of the electric car family and must continue our fight to save the electric car. We must not allow Congress to backslide, or "bait and switch." At the very least, members of the electric car family demand that the conditions that were incorporated in the funding legislation of the $25 Billion loan package of September 2008 be adhered to. I respectfully urge each member of the electric car family to contact Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of the United States Senate, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each of your local members of Congress, to let them know that any deviation on their part from the conditions of the loan approved in September will not be tolerated. Lets keep the pressure on!" Nate Holden California State Senate, ret. Los Angeles City Council, ret. Hon. Nate Holden's next press conference on the EV1 will be held on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 10:00 AM at the LA Auto Show (LA Convention Center - Pavilion adjacent to West Entrance). [Click here to see more coverage from the Bring Back the GM EV1 Press Conference.]]]> http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/bring-back-the-ev1-press-conference/feed/ 11