Our founder, Gadget, known from his season on Discovery Channel's show Big, began Left Coast Electric because of a passion for a cleaner, more self-reliant world.  The idea for Left Coast Electric came when Gadget converted a BMW Motorcycle (seen on Discovery Channel's BIG, on the "Mega-Motorcycle" episode) to pure electric.  Currently, he is in the middle of converting for television a 1972 Triumph Spitfire (soon to be featured on the green-series Gadget's World), and is also working on converting a 1962 Sunbeam Alpine.   The health, environmental, and economic benefits of converting prompted us to convert LCE's one-ton Ford Crew-Cab Diesel to pure electric as well!

We now have gone conversion-crazy and have a lithium-polymer powered Chopper on the drawing board.  A solar-powered car-charge port is also in the works, to truly create the possibility of "zero emissions" driving for our personal and business lives.   Additionally, we are working on manufacturing methods to transfer waste products (under environmentally responsible conditions) into local and renewable-source, clean burning fuel.  How green can we get?

The possibility of mass-marketed pure electric vehicles is viable. We have battery technology now that will give an electric vehicle a useable range of about 100 miles. By 2007, we should have batteries that will double that range!  Do you need more than that for your commute?  With the addition of about 400 square feet of solar panels to the house or garage one could drive with out the need for any fossil fuels!  But even using the existing electric infrastucture for charging electric cars creates a huge benefit. Because electric cars are so efficient in their use of power, combined with the relative efficiency of large power plants, an EV can go more than twice as far on the "same amount of fuel". When we start adding renewables to the mix it gets even better. And it is a lot easier to manage one smoke stack than one million aging cars.

Did you know that it takes about 12 KWH of electicity just to refine a gallon of gas? An electric car can go farther on the 12 KWH of electricity than the same car on a gallon of gas. Where is the sense in that?

We need to realize now, in the bigger picture, we as a world are all interconnected. What we do now matters for the future of the planet and all her inhabitants.  What kind of legacy are we leaving? If each of us did one small thing, like converting one of our average two household cars to pure electric, powered by a solar panels (or wind) and batteries, to use on trips to the grocery store or local shopping on the weekends - how much could we change the environment?  How much cleaner could we make the air?  How much less oil would we need?  How much quieter would the streets be?  How much more self-sufficient could we be as a country, and less dependent on oil from other countries?  How much money would you save?

The conversion technologies are here already, and getting better every day.  We are not trying to say that an electric car is pefect for everyone, but for over 80% of people it is something completely viable!
We here at Left Coast Electric are passionate about changing the world.  We are working together to make this idea work, because, the other alternatives simply don't. Alternative energy acceptance is beginning to change at a rapid pace due to outrageous oil prices, but Gadget's been working on alternative energy projects for over 15 years.

In the early 1990's, back when electric vehicles were becoming viable, and way back before hybrids became popular, the City of Santa Monica was being pro-active in its quest to be Green.  Though there were only two electric cars in the city at the time, the city planners were anticipating the boom of electric cars.  They hired Gadget to build the World's Largest solar-powered electric car charging station.  It was one of the first of its kind.

There were seven parking bays with solar panels mounted above each parking space. The excess power was transferred back to Santa Monica City Hall to offset power usage. It was so innovative that Gadget had to call the electric car owners to find out what kind of plug they used to charge their cars. It was before the days of inductive paddle chargers or Avcon ports with isolation transformers. The charging station is currently disassembled and in storage. The station's former location is now an extension the freeway on ramp.

(As an encouraging note: Santa Monica is one of the greenest City Halls around - they now have a city fleet of Toyota Electric SUVs that can travel a range of over 125 miles per recharge.