Len Fein, Business Operations Manager for ClipperCreek, Inc., is responsible for product marketing, client development, and field technical support for Listed / SAE J1772-compliant EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) within the Southwestern U.S., encompassing CA, NV, NM, AZ, UT, and Hawaii. Possessing extensive product knowledge and marketing experience gained through Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) and Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) platforms, Len previously served in Engineer and Management roles over a 20-year career with Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc (TMS/USA). His key areas of contribution spanned Quality Assurance, Technical Training, North American Production support, Regulatory Affairs, and Alternative Fuel Vehicle & charging infrastructure development.
Having authored several well-received articles for popular high-performance automotive magazines as a freelance writer prior to joining TMS/USA in 1983, his OEM corporate achievements began with writing comprehensive diagnostic & repair training courses for Toyota’s Automatic Temperature Control Heating & A/C systems, and Electronically Modulated Suspension Systems. .
In subsequently serving as Sr. Drivetrain Product Engineer, Len worked directly with Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC/Japan) engineers in optimizing design, efficiency, and durability of electronically-controlled automatic Transaxles, RWD transmissions and lock-up torque converters subsequently adopted on all Toyota Passenger, truck, SUV and Lexus division models. .
He also provided dedicated on-site Quality Assurance support during the late 80’s and early 90’s start-up production era phases for Toyota's North American plants in Georgetown, KY (Camry), Fremont CA (Corolla & compact Truck models) and Canada (Corolla), facilitating numerous manufacturing, assembly, and paint process refinements during the critical “Pilot”, initial launch, and production “ramp-up” phases. He provided key Customer view-point perspectives and input leading to these plant facilities sequentially winning prestigious “Bronze”, “Silver”, and “Gold” level production quality awards from J.D Power & Associates, and having their products realize strong popularity in the U.S. marketplace. .
Len then managed Toyota's Technical Field Support Dept., where he created and established & implemented the U.S. Auto Industry’s first nation-wide "Technical Support Dealer" (TSD) network. These specially-selected dealers actively monitored and provided timely feedback directly to Toyota & Lexus Design Engineers and Production Plants on a real-time basis, thus ensuring cohesive full-circle communication and continuous manufacturing quality process improvements on a zero-time lost basis. During this assignment, he additionally developed a simplified & field expedient method for TMS QA engineers to identify, evaluate, and determine root-causes of road surface generated Noise, Vibration, and Harshness (NVH), that was then adopted throughout all Toyota production plants in North American & Japan. .
While next heading TMS/USA's Powertrain Quality Assurance Dept. covering Toyota & Lexus engine & Drivetrain systems, Len began Graduate Business School and then transitioned from TMS’s Technical Services to the Corporate Planning Division, where he methodically studied & contributed to evolving enhancements in vehicle safety restraint systems, crashworthiness testing, new generation lighting systems, tightening engine emissions systems, and then-emerging Alternative Fuel Vehicle technologies. .
He was then recruited by Toyota’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Group and played key roles in the marketing & consumer studies for Toyota’s 1st generation RAV4 EV & 2nd generation Prius HEV, then shifted his efforts to specification tuning & refinement, prototype & pilot testing, new model launch support, initial production quality evaluation, and longer-term customer acceptance monitoring of these models which have now evolved into extremely well accepted models that will soon be launched with the new industry-std. “J1772” Plug-in architecture. .
After developing & implementing TMS/USA interface support programs for Toyota's Japan-built “TAL” (Toyota Auto Loom) “Small Paddle Inductive” (SPI) inductive EV charging stations for the 2000-'03 Model RAV4 EVs, and then coordinating & establishing Toyota’s ongoing & environmentally-conscious recycling process planning for “EOL” (End of Life) of Toyota’s Ni-MH batteries, Len retired from TMS/USA in 2003 when he immediately thereafter was asked to assume the role of dedicated “EV Consultant” to TMS/USA. He then established Advanced Technology Vehicle Logistic Services (ATVLS, Inc), in 2004 and further served Toyota on a full-time basis until 2006, when he recognized the opportunity for broader scope challenges within the rapidly evolving “Plug-in” Electric Vehicle & EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) market. .
Len earned a Bachelors degree in Engineering Technology from Cal State University Long Beach, and his MBA from USC. He is a former U.S Army Green Beret, SAE Member, licensed fixed-wing GA pilot, On & Off-road motorcyclist, active member of the U.S Army Special Forces Association, owner of a mint condition 2002 Toyota RAV4 EV, and is presently writing a book on the full-circle story of the RAV4 EV. .
He also serves on the Engineering Advisory Board & President’s Scholar's Program at CSULB, and resides in Rancho Palos Verdes with his wife Nancy, who is presently VP of Toyota’s Supply Chain Operation. .
