RICHARD STEINBERG

Manager of electric vehicle operations and strategy, BMW of North America

Chosen because: Steinberg, 49, is overseeing BMW's electric vehicle programs in the United States. BMW ran a trial with the Mini E electric car. A second trial, with the BMW ActiveE electric car based on the 1 series, starts later this year. BMW will roll out its first production electric cars -- the i3 city car and the i8 sports car -- in 2013.

Quote: "I think with time, when people live with the car on a day-to-day basis and they realize 'I'm not visiting the gas station more than three times a year,' they're going to decide: 'Why did I invest in that gasoline engine when I'm not really going to use it?'"