What an interesting day at the Clean Vehicles Now conference.

I am not a car guy at all (I just like the visceral feel of driving them, which is probably why I enjoy motorcycles).  And I probably would not have gone at all if Tracy Carroll, founder of FlexCar, had not suggested meeting there.  As this was my first meeting with him, so who was I to turn down the suggestion just because I thought cars wouldn’t be interesting.  We had a great meeting and hope to write more specifically about what he is doing.  I know I will be writing about some ideas that our conversation sparked.

Back to Clean Vehicles Now.  Aside from not particularly being a car guy, I also wasn’t confident that I would find much opportunity for smaller scale entrepreneurship.   Boy was I surprised.  There were certainly the large players (Honda and GM) there talking about their strategies for clean vehicles. 

There were also “earlier stage” companies there.  One that I considered extremely interesting, Vectrix, has actually been around for 11 years.  They have a very interesting timeline of their development on their website.  I found them interesting because I have often thought that an electric motorcycle would be the way to get around town.  And the first booth I saw at the conference was Vetrix’s Maxi-Scooter.

And it was the first vehicle I test drove.  A blast. 

I also met a number of other companies that were supporting the modern clean vehicle movement.  I am excited to talk with these entrepreneurs over the next few weeks and report back.

I used the phrase modern clean vehicle movement because, as the picture below reminded attendees 

electric cars (and using biodiesel to power engines) are not 21st century inventions.

The entrepreneur in me was happy because I came away with an idea for a business – the GreenStation.  And as I found out from Tracy Carroll, I was not the first to think of the idea.  I will research the existing model and let you know what I find.

Some of the other posts ideas that I plan to write on include

• The role of government – there are over 7 million E85 cars out there running primarily on gas, in large part because there is no infrastructure to support E85 refueling.
• Creating a zero carbon society while improving lifestyle and productivity – this was a quote from one of the presenters.  Basically, the question that it raises for me is what does improving lifestyle mean?
• Customer expectations of products – how do you know when a silent motor is running?  At least they don’t have starter motors for me to burn out as I keep turning the key over.
• Removing the concerns over adopting new technologies.  A new battery will cost me $3000?  Yikes! 
• Marketing by being true to your ethos.
• And strangely enough — what does it mean to be an entrepreneur?

These and other ideas are also listed under Future Topics.  If you have thoughts on clean vehicles and fuels and the business opportunities or road blocks please shoot me an email at Michael (at) turninggreengold (dot) com.