Mobility Future LLC is a California-based consulting company focused on vehicle electrification, lithium-ion batteries, and startups in cleantech and alternative energy. Since the firm’s launch in May 2008, we have completed several multi-month projects for clients with large-format lithium-ion batteries, in venture capital, and leading the proposal team for a firm responding to federal (stimulus and other) solicitations.
Dr. Erik Toomre, the firm’s Founder and President, was at Tesla Motors for almost 2.5 years where he, among other roles, served successively as Program Manager for the Motor and Energy Storage System battery teams. He also performed all the regulatory work on Tesla’s 1000-pound lithium-ion battery including obtaining authorizations from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation and government authorities in Thailand and the U.K. He also led the team that started Tesla’s motor factory in Taiwan.
Erik has led Operations and Manufacturing for several venture-backed high-tech startups. His degrees are from Stanford University (Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering, M.S. in Manufacturing Systems Engineering) and M.I.T. (B.S. in Mechanical Engineering).
Erik has been a strong advocate of postal vehicle electrification. One result of his efforts has been the introduction of the American Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Act, or "e-Drive" as H.R. 4399 by Congressman Jose E. Serrano (D-NY) and five other co-sponsors on Dec. 16, 2009. This is a serious bill for electric drive vehicles and Vehicle-to-Grid to be run by the Dept. of Energy that uses the postal delivery fleet as a test bed. It proposes to buy 20,000 vehicles and 24,000 charging stations over two phases. Phase 1 is highly competitive for electric vehicles, PHEV's, and electric and PHEV powertrains for conversions. The best performing solution(s) are rewarded with a large Phase 2 contract. There are other components in Phase 1 for utilities, ISO's, charging station providers, battery re-purposing and recycling, lots of evaluation, education, etc. This program creates substantial demand that will sustain American jobs resulting from the $2.4B ARRA battery and EV stimulus solicitations issued by DOE in 2009.