From the article, “Kicking Gas” by Jake Weyer, Southwest Journal, Minneapolis, MN, July 12th, 2010
Shayna Berkowitz - Photo by Robb Long
Kingfield company is the first in the state and among a handful nationwide focused on plug-in conversions for hybrid cars.
About five years ago, Shayna Berkowitz made a commitment to never again buy a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine.
The staunch environmentalist, political activist and cancer survivor was tired of contributing to what she called the “crisis of oil consumption.” She was tired of adding carcinogens to the air, tired of using a mode of transportation she thought was outdated.
“I felt like we were living in a time where we needed to make changes and changes needed to happen,” she said. “And we had the technology, we had the knowledge and it was either going to be biking, walking and mass transit or something else.”
That’s when Berkowitz, who lives in the Bancroft neighborhood, started looking locally for someone to convert her old Toyota RAV4 to 100-percent electric power, but her search only turned up hobbyists. So she partnered with Eureka Recycling’s Alex Danovitch, whom she knew from a compost project, to launch a new company.
“We came together and decided to take a look at how we could fill that need, meet that need, because if I was looking for that then we were sure that other people wanted that, too,” Berkowitz said. “People were ready for change. So that’s how we founded ReGo Electric Conversions.”
After two years of research and development, ReGo is planning an official launch Aug. 19 in a section of the Mulroy’s Body Shop building at 3920 Nicollet Ave. S. An open house is scheduled for July 12. Though the company – staffed with 11 eco-passionate local employees ranging from electricians, engineers and auto mechanics to hobbyists – has performed complete electric conversions, its focus is converting hybrid vehicles to plug-in hybrids.
