TOM GAGE

CEO, AC Propulsion Inc.

Chosen because: Gage, 61, was a consultant in California in the mid-1990s, helping car companies deal with the state's zero emissions mandate, when he met Alan Cocconi, the founder of AC Propulsion. Its earliest electric drivetrain, powered by a lead-acid battery, drove a converted Honda Civic 180,000 miles before it was retired. Gage says the technology grabbed him, and he joined the company. AC Propulsion's tzero electric drivetrain, launched in 1997, offers high performance and no emissions. It is also the only electric drivetrain that can both draw power from and give power back to the electric grid, says Gage. The tzero now propels 600 Mini E small cars as well as a fleet of 1,000 small vans in Taiwan. Gage figures AC Propulsion's vehicle-to-grid technology will be big in the future. A small fleet in Delaware is testing it now.

Quote: "If electric vehicles are 10 percent of the market, that's a big enough segment."