Home › Contributors › Max Baumhefner
Max Baumhefner, Sustainable Energy Fellow, San Francisco
I am an attorney, outdoor enthusiast, and a bread baker. My focus is the juncture of the electricity and transportation sectors. I work on policies designed to integrate electric vehicles into the grid and maximize their environmental benefits. I'm an environmentalist because my parents taught me to be responsible and clean up after myself, and I always do what my parents tell me.
Recent Posts
Posted March 12, 2013 by Max Baumhefner in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming, The Media and the Environment
- Tags:
- electric, electriccars, ev, gas, gasprices, hybrid, oil, plug-in, plug-in vehicles, transportation
A Wall Street Journal Op-Ed by Bjorn Lomborg, “Green Cars Have a Dirty Little Secret,” argues that even though driving on electricity emits half as much pollution as driving on gasoline, it never makes up for the additional energy it...continued→
Posted March 5, 2013 by Max Baumhefner in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- cars, electric, EV, gas, gasprices, hybrid, oil, oildependence, plug-in, transportation
By Felix Kramer* and Max Baumhefner When it comes to consumer products, environmentalists generally don’t encourage people to buy new and buy now. But that’s what we're about to do because electric cars are significantly cleaner than gasoline vehicles, and...continued→
Posted February 16, 2013 by Max Baumhefner in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming, U.S. Law and Policy
- Tags:
- cars, electriccars, electricvehicles, ev, gasprices, hybrid, oil, oildependence, plug-in
Over the past few days, a debate has unfolded between the start-up electric vehicle company, Telsa, and the New York Times on the subject of a test drive that ended with the car running out of juice. Telsa has released...continued→
Posted February 5, 2013 by Max Baumhefner in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming, U.S. Law and Policy
- Tags:
- electriccars, evs, gas, gasprices, oil, oildependence, plug-in, pluginhybrid
Governor Jerry Brown today released a “Zero Emission Vehicle Action Plan,” representing the nation’s most comprehensive effort by a state to accelerate the deployment of plug-in electric vehicles. Along with his announcement came the news that UPS took delivery of 100...continued→
Posted January 31, 2013 by Max Baumhefner in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming, U.S. Law and Policy
- Tags:
- electriccars, electricvehicles, EVs, finance, gas, gasprices, hybrid, hybrids, loans, plug-in
If you buy a car that costs over a $1,000 less a year to fuel than most other vehicles, shouldn’t you get better financing terms for potentially having more money to put toward paying off that vehicle? Unfortunately, only one...continued→
Posted December 18, 2012 by Max Baumhefner in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming, U.S. Law and Policy
- Tags:
- electriccars, electricity, EVs, gas, gasprices, hybrids, oil, oildependence, plug-ins
If California is to reduce its pollution to a level climate science makes clear is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of global warming, it must address the transportation sector, which accounts for 40 percent of the state’s emissions. In...continued→
Posted November 29, 2012 by Max Baumhefner in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- cleancars, electriccars, energy, EVs, gasprices, hybrids, plug-in vehicles, renewableenergy
Everyone knows that gasoline is made from oil, and how much a gallon of the stuff costs at the pump, but most people would be hard pressed to accurately explain what a kilowatt-hour is, let alone what one costs, or...continued→
Posted November 21, 2012 by Max Baumhefner in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- electriccars,, electricity, EV,, fueleconomy, gas,, gasprices,, oil,, oildependence,, plug-in vehicles, plug-inhybrid
Recently, there has been a lot of talk about increased domestic oil production and American energy independence. The two are not the same. Drilling in the U.S. will not insulate Americans from the long-term upward trend the global price of...continued→
Posted October 31, 2012 by Max Baumhefner in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- cars, cleancars, electric, electriccars, gas, gasprices, hybrid, plugin, pluginhybrid
Automakers operate on a different calendar, in which the 2012 model year recently came to a close. As my colleague, Luke Tonachel, explains, this was the year of the green car, with record new fleet fuel efficiency, a 55 percent...continued→
Posted October 10, 2012 by Max Baumhefner in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- cleancars, electriccars, electricvehicles, ev, evs, hybrid, oil, oildependence, plugin, pluginhybrid
Gas prices in California are finally starting to drop after a series of record highs, following a fire at a Chevron refinery and a power outage at an Exxon Mobil facility, hurting Californians at the pump, and leading to calls...continued→
Posted September 23, 2012 by Max Baumhefner in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming, U.S. Law and Policy
- Tags:
- cars, electric, electriccars, ev, gas, gasprices, plugin, pluginhybrid
New research conducted by UC Berkeley economists and the California Electric Transportation Coalition shows that fueling California’s cars and trucks with electricity instead of oil would help grow the state’s economy, creating tens of thousands of new jobs. Simply put,...continued→
Posted June 13, 2012 by Max Baumhefner in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- electriccars, electricvehicles, EV, gas, gasprices, hybrid, hybrids, oil, oildependence
When you buy a car, you make a long-term commitment to purchasing the fuel required to make it go. Which would you rather choose: electricity, a reliably cheap, domestic fuel that gets cleaner every year you own the car, or...continued→
Posted May 9, 2012 by Max Baumhefner in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- electricvehicles, EVs, gasprices, hybrid, plugin, pluginhybrid
Today, the biggest electric utility in California, the largest car market in the country, took an important step to give drivers access to a cleaner fuel that’s roughly the equivalent of buck-a-gallon gasoline. Pacific Gas & Electric (“PG&E”) has submitted...continued→
Posted May 5, 2012 by Max Baumhefner in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming, U.S. Law and Policy
- Tags:
- electriccars, electricvehicles, gas, gasprices, hybrid, oildependence, plug-in
Imagine driving on a cleaner, domestic, oil-free fuel, at a cost that’s roughly equivalent to dollar-a-gallon gasoline. That, in essence, is the reason why thousands will gather this week at the Los Angeles Convention Center for the International Electric Vehicle...continued→
Posted February 9, 2012 by Max Baumhefner in Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming, The Media and the Environment, U.S. Law and Policy
- Tags:
- 60mpg, cars, electric, electriccars, electricvehicles, go60, hybrid, pluginhybrid
Congressman Issa recently called a hearing to accuse the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) of a cover up related to its now closed investigation into the post-crash fire risk posed by the Chevy Volt’s lithium-ion batteries. Issa’s theatrics only...continued→