HERMANCE, TOYOTA'S HYBRID GUY, DEAD IN PLANE CRASH

He died like he lived, at the cutting edge of transportation:

Plane crash kills "Mr Hybrid", pioneering US car engineer
November 27, 2006 (AFP via Yahoo News)
- An engineer who played a leading role in introducing hybrid technologies to the US auto market was killed in a plane crash at the weekend...

- David Hermance, 59, died when the single-seat experimental plane he was piloting crashed into the ocean off San Pedro in southern California on Saturday after performing several loops and spins...
- [T]he married father-of-two was an executive engineer for advanced technology vehicles at Toyota's technical center in the Los Angeles area.
- He had a major role in introducing America to such cars as the Prius, which runs on a combination of gasoline and batteries...
- "He was the American father of the Prius," [ a colleague said]...
- American environmental groups also paid tribute to Hermance, who they said helped translate the complex language of hybrid engineering technology into something that regulators and legislators could understand...

- "...Mr. Hybrid, the American face of the hybrid," [another said]...
- Hermance was an experienced pilot who loved his plane, classified as an experimental craft, either assembled by amateurs or from a kit. An investigation into the crash is underway.

I never read an authoritative story about hybrid technology that didn't quote him.