As a college dropout from the University of Southern California, 19-year-old Urtzal’s passion for cars, engineering, and the environment could not be contained. Moving into her parent’s garage, she gathered a team of twenty like-minded female environmentalists, engineers, and designers. They spent weeks analyzing the new prospect of electricity in cars as an alternate energy source to hydrogen and ethanol. Electric cars were a risky idea, given how unexplored the idea was at the time. The team asked themselves: why not? Why not explore electric cars as a potential way to revolutionize cars? United by the common dream of a clean, electric future, the team adopted the name Neolectra Incorporated – a name embodying their modern approach to transportation.
In late 2006, the company had finished their first clay prototype, finishing the engineering prototype just before the year ended. The strenuous design process for the first drivable vehicle nearly plunged the new company into bankruptcy. Thankfully, a 2007 funding round proved to be vital for the group as they gained generous funding from a venture capitalist company, giving them the financial and mental boost that they needed. Continuous modeling and testing yielded their first drivable sedan had been completed – the 2008 Neolectra Fulgora.
