The Green Frog from Silicon Valley

Wind powers Electric Odyssey at Shiloh II plant

The best way to charge an electric vehicle is to use renewable energy to emit no pollution. That is what two e-globetrotters did today with their Citroen C-Zero near San Francisco, at the 150MW Shiloh II wind plant operated by EnXco. When Xavier Degon and Antonin Guy took the road back in February from Strasbourg, France they wanted to bring awareness on electric mobility as a viable daily mode of transportation.

Not everybody can connect today to clean energy, even less take a year off to tour around the world. Nine companies including EDF, the parent company of EnXco, are sponsoring the project called Electric Odyssey. But the two adventurers argue that "If we can do a world tour in a standard electric car, you can use it for your daily rides!”. For Xavier and Antonin, it has been an interesting journey across the US in the last month. They will head to Japan next week and be back to France in September after driving through 17 countries, just in time for the 2012 Paris Motor Show.

Top 5 green cars in 2012

When I looked at green cars in 2008, there were fewer choices than today. Executives in Silicon Valley could pre-order a Tesla Roadster, which revived the hopes of electric vehicles after the Detroit automakers tried to kill the first generation of "EV" in the US. Folks in the MidWest could feel good about driving with cars running partially on ethanol made out of corn in Iowa. Like many in the Bay Area I settled with a hybrid, the Toyota Prius that has become one of the most popular vehicles as gas prices soared.

The landscape is different in 2012 with new plug-in models. Earlier this week I talked with Ray Lane, the Executive Chairman of HP and Investment Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. He has been driving a luxury plug-in (picture right) for 6 months, and I asked him if it was a different driving experience. "It is! I love it... Especially for a luxury vehicle that behaves like a BMW but is an EV."

The Fisker Karma is one of the many new models in production in 2012. The Green Frog reviewed the best green cars of 2012. Here is the top-5 list...

From driving Daimler's innovation to Tesla's new sedan: do you know Jerome Guillen?

Jerome Guillen comes and greets me in Mountain View's Tesla headquarter. He is the Director of the Model S Program. We first met at Green:Net where Jerome talked on a panel about electrical vehicles and innovation, along with a Coda representative competing to release the first all-electric sedan on the market. He won the stage although Coda scheduled the release of its sedan ahead of Tesla in late 2011.

Mr. Guillen combines a French diplomatic charm and a German industrial rigor, in addition to a deep knowledge of the US market. Class. All that the Model S wants to be after the controversial success of the Roadster. While Tesla prepares to make the first Model S customers deliveries mid next year, the company purchased the last parts to sell the last units of its high-end model.

With 2,500 units the Roadster is comparable to a Mercedes SLS sports car. With 20,000 units a year, Model S is more in line with a mainstream car like an Audi A8. Tesla cannot afford to miss the transition to higher volume manufacturing. Facing new competition (Coda, Fisker, etc.) in a market that it pioneered, Tesla's leadership recruited last year new management stars -- including Jerome Guillen -- from established automakers to drive critical parts of the company.