Barefoot Founder's blog

Hear It FROM the Grapevine

Debby Zygielbaum, from Robert Sinskey, did a great job at explaining just why Barefoot's new Model One prototype "Betty" is a good, green, vineyard manager's best friend where she blogs about the new Barefoot Betty and Ely's stellar job on the design of the our new protype.
Thank you Debby! (More to follow on our Wednesday night launch party in Napa)

Jamie Hyneman's "brain child"

Jamie's "Baby" the video on the Barefoot ATV for the Science Channel episode on EVs is now linked on their website check it out here and there's a link on the Mythbusters home page too, also there's some great discussions going on on the mythbuster fan site about the ATV, which is great!

The initial proof of concept Barefoot ATV, the Model One built on a Polaris Sportsman(r) chassis went head to head with a Polaris Sportsman 800. The video is short and it edits down the time trials. On the day of filming BOTH Adam and Jamie rode BOTH vehicles in the time trials. In BOTH cases, Jamie and Adam's time on the Model One was faster in the crazy twisty turny course that was set up, and no advantages were given to the Model One, none at all.

The premise for those of you new to Barefoot is that we're building a comparable electric ATV to a heavy duty gas powered ATV, all in the name of bringing the newest and far better technology to the market. Please feel free to pose questions and discuss the product, we're happy to oblige.

--Melissa Brandao

Farm of the Future

This year I have been fortunate to spend a lot of time with farmers, viticulturalists, ranchers and dairymen here in California. What is being practiced and discussed out in the fields today, is nothing short of revolutionary agriculture: bio-dynamics, sustainable farming, resistance to genetic engineered foods, soil conservation, free range meats, closed loop systems, energy production and eco-friendly transportation. It is a synthesis of ideas and trends that has caught my attention, and it seems to be heading for a convergence of sorts--this new way of thinking about a centuries old profession l describe as the "Farm of the Future."

The concept of the "Farm of the Future" is that we are seeing a "shift of power" back to small functional farms. Responsible farming with an eye on sustainability, reducing Ag's contribution to global warming, local power generation (solar and methane), production in bio-fuels IN BALANCE with conservation and protection of lands and most importantly providing healthy food and clean energy. This is a dramatic shift away from the conventional farming practices of agriculture as  a mono-culture--which are actually less than 100 years old."Factory farming is a marriage of the industrial revolution and warfare technology", according to a group of farmers near Athens, Ohio in their video farming for the future. Even more critical to note, is that this factory farming has proven to be unsustainable. The overuse of land, pesticides, corn-based foods and diet-based illnesses (like diabetes) cannot continue if we as a nation are going to survive and thrive.

Our non-rural populations are totally dependent on resources that they cannot generate themselves. While we tend on our lawns and diet on processed foods and imported fruits, small  local farms can shift towards closed loop "eco-systems" and which can be self-sustaining as well provide food, clean water, and fuel to more and more of those that cannot provide for themselves. When we have a choice between industrial farming and local farming suppliers--make it local!

Farms are also a "green field" for new technology due to the fact that much of our early legacy technology was designed for urban consumers thus improved communication, power generation and vehicle technologies could potentially offer more uptake in the less saturated rural regions.

I am optimistic about the farm of the future, but I am also committed to it too--our nation's health and our familes' future on this planet depend on it.

--Melissa Brandao

[Full disclosure: I AM biased, farming is in my blood--my mother grew up on a farm in Southwestern Ohio and I lived with my husband and kids in Lancaster, Ohio on a 100 acre farm, which we managed along with the numerous horses, goats, chickens, ducks, cats, you name it.]

World Ag Expo, Model One shows up

The World Ag Expo in Tulare, California is known as the biggest Farm Show in the US. This is the second year I've attended. This year we brought along the Model One to show off to Matt Finley of Under My Helmet. Thanks for the great write up Matt!! Robert Jordan of Buckland Vineyard Management was there at the show with me and in the photo shown here.

It was as big as I remembered from last year. What I didn't remember was the scores and scores of service vehicles that were engaged in shuffling people from one side of the event to the other. There were dozens of UTVs (aka side by sides), golf carts, and tractors pulling wagon loads of people. It seemed to me in some times that there were more people riding on carts than walking. Saddest part of all is that all of these service vehicles were all gas-powered. All of us pedestrians had to deal with the noise and the pollution from these little four stroke engines. Based on data provided by the EPA, these little vehicles can put off anything from 10 to 34 times more than a car in pollutants. That made the idea of walking around and behind them seem almost wrong. Later in the afternoon, we got smart and snuck in with the Model One and did a little of our own riding. It was incredible how many people came up to us to ask if it was electric. I wasn't sure how they knew but their level of interest and enthusiasm was a great litmus test for what opportunities lie ahead for Barefoot's product, not just at the farm show where we will definitely be displaying our products next year but a long term relationship with California ag.

--Melissa Brandao

Significant growth for Electric ATVs, etc.

Russ Hollman in his QuadExperts.com blog has discovered a gold mine! And he mentioned Barefoot as part of the blog thank you Russ you're a hero!

While we at Barefoot talk about the growth potential in this market as often and as vigorously as we can, it is something altogether different when a third party comes out with the same clear message, and it couldn't be clearer than the research conducted by the International Market Solutions, "2008 Market Study of the Small, Task-Oriented Vehicle Market" .

Strong gains are expected in major non-fleet golf car markets (aka ATVs, service vehicles, etc) with significant growth over the next five years....

Stephen Metzger, IMS Managing Director and principal author of the study, states, "We have seen continued market strength in the utility and privately-owned markets during the 2000-2006 trend period, as well as in 2007."

The small, task-oriented vehicle industry marked several milestones in the past two years that will help drive expansion in the next five years. These include:

• Key new product entries and innovative technologies that boost performance and comfort, including the first adaptation of AC electric power to a major golf car-type vehicle manufacturer's product line;
• Continued evidence of the globalization of the small vehicle industry, particularly in the sourcing of parts and accessories;
• A major concentration of sales efforts and capacity expansion in off-road vehicles;
• A tightening of used vehicle supplies, pointing to increases in the privately-owned (personal use) market.

For those that doubted...alternative fueled off-road vehicles are coming and in a big way, we're going to have a market party--you're all invited!

--Melissa Brandao

Lakeport with the Mythbusters

I am so impressed that the AutoBlog Green picked up the Lake County Record Bee (has been archived so they can charge you) story on the recent Mythbuster visit---though one slight correction--Kari as seen in this photo, wasn't there that day--only Jamie and Adam. LOL! Thanks for connecting the dots.

On December 19th we were at the Lakeport Speedway with our Model One electric ATV and a Polaris 800 doing a few side by side comparisons between electric and gas vehicles for a Mythbuster's episode to be aired sometime the early part of next year. While there were "discoveries" made, suffice it to say that we were happy with the results. For those of you that didn't know, our proof of concept model used a Polaris 800 chassis. That same product category we hope to build our production models coming out next year. Polaris is in no way associated with our efforts at Barefoot we just felt that their Sportsman 800 could us a great baseline for a powerful and rugged vehicle, and indirectly Barefoot was able to give them some good TV time. Being on set was fun but it was a long cold rainy day--I have only more admiration for how Jamie and Adam and t heir production team make it look on TV! Blair Aiken the Lakeport track manager set up a fantastic indoor track to race these vehicles, along with his tremendous effort to find a fill-in Polaris 800 when the local source backed out. We also had stellar  last minute tech support on our Model One from Brian Hall at Thunderstruck Motors, here in Santa Rosa.

Don't worry these guys didn't ride without helmets--these were all downtime shots.

Why Sonoma?

I read recently that it's Alice Water's year. Indeed the idea of "eating local" that she institutionalized through Chez Panisse has certainly come into it's own and nowhere is it more embraced, more relevant than Sonoma County, CA In fact I would take it one step further and say, living local is the mantra in Sonoma. This isn't a blog-ode to Sonoma...well maybe it is..and don't mind me if I do indulge a little in why Barefoot Motors originating in Sonoma County makes perfect sense.

Sonoma County was recognized by the EPA in 2007 as the "greenest county in the country" for mobilizing all of its cities in a plan to reduce emissions by 20-30% in just a few years. Thank you Ann Hancock and the Climate Protection Campaign.

We are some of the highest solar power per capita in the US.

Sonoma has been a hot bed for alternative transportation since Jim McGreen founded ZAP (zero air pollution) so many years ago and the legacy of his innovation remains strongly supported in the minds of local residents.

Sonoma is home to some 1900 wineries with organic growing throughout the state at about 30% that's strong statement for sustainable business.

Paul Dolan, Mike Benziger, and Jim Fetzer (okay so, Jim's in Lake County now) are local and international leaders in winemaking through bio-dynamics a closed loop process.

Bob Cannard, the "father of the organic farm" and local farmer's markets (along with supplier to Chez Panisse) lives in Sonoma County.

Michael Pollan when he needed to find mushrooms and wild hogs for the Omnivore's Dilemma visited Sonoma.

We eat local because if you want it you can find it--poultry, milk, eggs, melon, corn, tomatoes, strawberries, apples and of course...wine is made right here in Sonoma.

Finally and most important Sonoma is an ideal test bed for building the right "green" vehicle for the right application. As Lex McCorvey said it in this morning's North Bay Business Journal, "We're very intrigued with what [Barefoot Motors has]. If they can work with farmers to work out the bugs, they'll have a success."

the importance of performance in green vehicles

Martin Eberhard, co-founder of Tesla raised eyebrows recently when he boldly stated in an interview with the Wall Street Journal (and I am abbreviating here), "...the way all other people started electric car companies, got in the business, was wrong. They wanted to make a car that would save the world...so they wind up with a car that's a piece of crap. No one wants to buy it." (Eberhard, 2007) But Mr. Eberhard is absolutely right. And of course, Mr. Eberhard was not aware of barefoot motors existence yet.

Point is, what is the point of creating something new and cutting edge if you don't make it well built and extremely competitive with products that are already available today?  barefoot is not selling sacrifice, no good consumer products company would survive if it did--be it Patagonia or Polaris.

  Needless to say, I was pretty happy to hear Michael Lock's reaction to the Model One when he took it for a test drive this week. Michael is CEO of Ducati North America as well as being one of barefoot's advisors. He also happens to be hands down the best rider we have had on the Model One to date.

After his ride he pointed out how much better it handled than he had expected. He described it's agility and improved weight distribution because of its packaging. He echoed sentiments of some earlier beta testers which also spoke of its great balance. 

barefoot motors in the business of rugged work-horse vehicles. Rugged doesn't mean Destructo but it also doesn't mean lack of efficacy either.  Simply put, Model One sets out to be vehicle that can match comparable market specifications with an eye on performance, and of course, be green. That is what we  obsess about, that is what our future riders should expect, and that includes you too Neal Dikeman!

Best, Melissa Brandao

fuel vs. batteries, a micro view

Wow! I'm seeing the Model One all over the web these days. The outpouring of atta boy's for Jamie's involvement and even the dour workds from the skeptics are great feedback and welcome. Neither Max nor I shy away from any open discourse and healthy debate, it's a critical part of the barefoot culture.

In the world of Electric Vehicles the debate always does go back to whether or not using a battery is any better or worse for the environment than gas, doesn't it? Acutally, I'm a big proponent of any alternative fuels. Sebastopol is a hub of veggie oil cars and bio-diesel. Max can attest, bio-D is a particular favorite of mine especially algae or jatropha-based bio-diesel. My friend Steve Stout is off in Africa solving some of those future fuel challenges as I write.

I'm not a scientist but in laymen's terms having been through the exercise of why electric here at barefoot these are SOME of the reasons why we took this path.

1. zero emissions generated at the vehicle - there's no residual emissions from a battery pack that wafts up into the ozone (or you) every time you ride a battery-base vehicle. The gas-powered engines--internal combustion--is simply not a very efficient use of fuel and for that reason it comes out the tailpipe. Zero emissions vehicle you can ride indoors, outdoors and  into big caves if you like.

2. Big Utilities pollute instead of you - the argument that more power from coal burning plants will be needed if we add electric vehicles to the grid stands as valid, but I have seen first hand that utility companies are taking steps to increase their clean energy portfolios even while they support plug hybrid initiatives.  John Addison does a great synopsis of our future of Big Oil vs. Big Utilities in his CleanTech blog.

3. Energize locally– my favorite argument for battery tech for sure—on farms in California, particularly here in the wine country there’s plenty of solar panels cropping up to pull power out of solar energy. Albert Straus as you can see on our website has a methane digester (methane from his cows’ manure) to generate and store almost all his own power and that is literally a few clicks from 100 percent. Maybe wind, or geo-thermal is the local harvest on potato farms in Idaho. Farms of the future will not need outside power, they will generate their own—our Model One fits there, merely taping into localized energy.

4. batteries are renewable energy - that is, they can be used as storage time and time again. The batteries that barefoot is working with are Lithium Ion technology. (like Tesla) They are able to be cycled (charged and dischared) up to 2000 times—we’ll confirm this. The longer they cycle the longer they are used and so we are indeed stretching the renewability factor to the end of life. Even end of life of a battery is a process that barefoot is working through.

5. Despite the nay-saying consumers to batteries in vehicles. We are already committed users of batteries in our daily lives. Gas is used in our cars, motorcycles, lawn mowers, weed wackers, ATVs (not for long, eh), etc. But how many little batteries do you use in everything else? Cell phones, ipods, radios, remote control cars, flashlights, laptops, etc. They are our power backup systems as well as a household staple and I don't know a soul that doesn't have a few stashed away just in case. I am less inclined to store some gas in my garage.

That’s not an exhaustive list just some food for thought. Certainly, now, like never before there is a path for why battery-based vehicles are a smart way to go.

Best, Melissa Brandao

barefoot at CCTO, Monday Oct 29th

We were finalists in the California Clean Tech Open this summer. The final awards ceremony was Monday night. Unfortunately we did not win the CCTO transportation award (sniff) but the process really helped refine and clarify our business plan, pitch and nearly everything else that a start up needs to address when going into a business from sustainability lessons to how to talk to a VC.  It was like boot camp for startups.
The final event was great. There were some stellar startups along and great sponsors. This is still a young industry and most of these people are pioneers that will undoubtedly be future big winners of the energy business. A special thanks to Marc Gottschalk and Rex Northen, Tim Cox and Adrienne Parker who were so supportive as we grew our business smarts this summer.

This was also the first event we have showcased the Model One. We look pretty good considering most of us are suffering head colds or other ailments. Jamie as always caused quite a stir--it's hard to see the wall of people waiting to talk to him behind us. It was good to have Michael Woods and Michael Schlicht at the event along with us. (on far right and right of picture)

One small bit of  barefoot "dirt"--barefoot is not just a magnet for technology but also left-handed people whose names start with "M"

Best, Melissa Brandao