Tom Hanks has written a letter to the New Yorker setting the record straight about the electric cars he has owned over the years. The actor was replying to a piece by Peter J. Boyer in which it was claimed (or assumed) that Hanks had at one time owned the ill-fated all-electric EV1 from General Motors. This was something we also thought was true — but according to Hanks, he never actually owned one. From his letter:

“By the time I began shopping for an all-electric car, in 2003, the EV1 had already been yanked from showrooms as if the car had never existed. Instead, I found what was purported to be the very last electric car available for sale in the state of California—a Toyota EV. It had four doors, a rear hatch, room for my family, including a dog in the back, power windows, A/C, a great sound system, and the fastest, most effective windshield defroster known to mankind. When the car companies collectively, and, to some, diabolically, decided to take these cars back, the electric vehicles disappeared. But not mine. I have the pink slip. I own that car, and it is still driven every day, albeit by one of my crack staff of employees. My electric car recently crossed fifty thousand miles on the odometer with its original battery but without so much as a splash of gasoline.”

Said Treehugger in response to Hank’s letter: “If the RAV4 EV is driven by one of his employees, what does Mr. Hanks drive now?”

Savvy Ecorazzi readers will know that Tom Hanks today drives an all-electric Scion XB conversion that he picked up in 2007 from AC Propulsion.

You can read Hank’s full letter to the New Yorker here.

When people think of the word “hybrid”, for most, the Toyota Prius is the first image that pops into their heads. No other eco car has become more a symbol of the modern day green movement — and Hollywood has been a large part of that success. As discussed previously, Toyota made a very wise move by approaching celebrities and getting them into the vehicle before others. Now, with the 2010 next-generation version of the car, they’re hoping for a repeat blockbuster. All they need are some high-profile actors and actresses behind the wheel.

So while the Academy Awards may not be all flashy green this year, Toyota is hoping that eco-concious celebs will hit the red carpet — and introduce the world — to its new incarnation of the iconic hybrid. It’s teamed up with Econation — a company that provides green alternatives to taxis, limos and buses — to chauffeur folks to the red carpet this Sunday. A press release yesterday hinted that such names as Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio, Rosario Dawson, and Adrien Grenier may be participants.

We’ve no doubt that DiCaprio will choose some form of green transportation. He’s probably the most consistent in going this route for awards shows and other events. For the Golden Globes, he arrived in a black Prius; likewise, at the opening of a new Armani store in NYC this week, he took a hybrid limousine.

Of course, the Prius won’t be the only option available for green Hollywood. Luxury car-maker Audi is loaning some of its new diesel-powered Q7 TDIs to select nominees as well.

All will be revealed on Oscar night — so stay tuned to the Razz as we keep an eye on arrivals this Sunday!

Back in February of ‘07, Tom Hanks was the first customer to walk away with a newly converted gas-to-electric car from AC Propulsion. The comapany took a standard Scion XB vehicle, tore out its combustion guts, and replaced them with a lithium-ion Ebox system. Said Hank at the time, “There are three electric cars sitting on the moon, and now another one in my garage. The eBox makes even more sense in Los Angeles than in the Taurus-Littrow Valley of the moon. I can drive all weekend, hauling dogs and helping my friends move, and the only reason I’ll need to stop at a gas station is for beef jerky and lottery tickets.”

If Tom Hanks wins the lottery, shoot me.

But seriously, the actor has a massive love of electric transportation. Back in the day, he was one of the first celebrities driving around in GM’s ill-fated EV1. ( You can check out a clip of him exalting the virtues of this electric car on Letterman here.)

Current TV recently caught up with the folks at AC Propulsion and Hanks generously joined in on the fun to continue throwing praise on his Ebox. Unfortunately, not much has changed with the price of this conversion since almost two years ago: $55,000. That’s not even including the car you’ll want to drag in for the heart transplant. Services like this one are still very much in the realm of fantasy upgrades.

Last night in San Francisco, an A-list crowd gathered to honor the late actor and help bring in the green during an annual benefit for Newman’s charity camp, The Painted Turtle, for children with life-threatening illnesses.

Over 2,500 people showed up, including Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks, Jack Nicholson, Danny Glover, Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Billy Crystal, Sean Penn, Casey Affleck, Joaquin Phoenix, Bruce Willis, Danny DeVito, Bonnie Raitt and Rita Wilson.

In a pre-recorded message just prior to his death on September 26th, Newman talked to the crowd about his camps. “What I was trying to do was acknowledge luck,” Newman said in the clip, which was narrated by Jack Nicholson. “If you acknowledge it, you have to do something about it—something for the less fortunate.”

via USAToday

Lennox will be hosting the launch of The Amnesty Arts Fund tonight at the Twentieth Century Theatre in London. The campaign brings together people who believe passionately in freedom of expression and projects, which have the potential to reach new audiences and inspire creative activism around the world. Take a look at the video below to hear Annie discuss in more detail:

Where do some other favorite Ecorazzi regulars sit on the list? Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger comes in at 33, Tom Hanks at 34, and Bono at 36. Stephen Colbert (45), John Stewart (44) and Oprah Winfrey (43) are all neck ‘n neck. Surprisingly, George Clooney dropped from 27 to 55 this year!

The V.F. 100 appears in the October issue of Vanity Fair, on newsstands in New York and Los Angeles on September 3 and nationally on September 9.

THE VANITY FAIR 100:
2007 ranking in parentheses

1. Vladimir Putin, Russian Prime Minister (new entry)
2. Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. (1)
3. Sergey Brin (3), Larry Page (3), and Eric Schmidt (new entry), Google
4. Steve Jobs, Apple, Disney, and Pixar (2)
5. Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway (5)
6. Jeff Bezos, Amazon (23)
7. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai (new entry)
8. Roman Abramovich, Millhouse Capital (30)
9. Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt, actors, activists (new entry)
10. Al Gore, eco-warrior (19)
11. Bill Clinton, Clinton Foundation (6)
12. Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York, Bloomberg L.P. (9)
13. Bernard Arnault, LVMH (8)
14. Steven Spielberg, DreamWorks SKG (7)
15. Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren (13)
16. Steve Ballmer, Microsoft (returning)
17. François-Henri Pinault, PPR (new entry)
18. Barry Diller & Diane von Furstenberg (15), IAC; Diane von Furstenberg (15)
19. H. Lee Scott, Wal-Mart (12)
20. Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs (new entry)
21. Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase (new entry)
22. David Geffen, DreamWorks SKG (16)
23. George Lucas, Lucasfilm (40)
24. Jerry Bruckheimer, Jerry Bruckheimer Films (26)
25. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook (new entry)
26. Ronald Perelman, MacAndrews & Forbes (31)
27. Jeff Bewkes, Time Warner (22)
28. John Lasseter (66), Andrew Stanton (new entry), and Brad Bird (new entry), Pixar, Disney
29. Herb Allen, Allen & Co. (21)
30. Miuccia Prada, Prada S.p.A. (44)
31. Damien Hirst, conceptual artist (new entry)
32. Sumner Redstone, Viacom, CBS (70)
33. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California (50)
34. Tom Hanks, actor, director, producer (32)
35. Robert Iger, Disney (36)
36. Bono, singer, humanitarian (28)
37. Larry Ellison, Oracle (20)
38. Larry Gagosian, Gagosian Gallery (84)
39. Howard Stringer, Sony (17)
40. Peter Chernin, News Corp. (24)
41. Philippe Dauman, Viacom (68)
42. Vivi Nevo, NV Investments (59)
43. Oprah Winfrey, Harpo Productions (14)
44. Jon Stewart, The Daily Show (89)
45. Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report (87)
46. Carlos Slim Helú, Teléfonos de México, América Móvil (11)
47. Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel (52)
48. Giorgio Armani, Armani Group (37)
49. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Kingdom Holding Company (new entry)
50. Mike Nichols & Diane Sawyer, director; ABC News anchor (42)
51. Jacob Rothschild, financier (33)
52. Mickey Drexler, J. Crew (55)
53. Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks Animation (38)
54. Leslie Moonves, CBS (25)
55. George Clooney, actor, producer, director, activist (27)
56. Jay-Z, hip-hop (47)
57. Oscar & Annette de la Renta, Oscar de la Renta (53)
58. Judd Apatow, producer, director, actor, writer (new entry)
59. Robert De Niro, Tribeca Enetrprises, Tribeca Productions (34)
60. Bill Keller, The New York Times (new entry)
61. Mick Jagger, the Rolling Stones (60)
62. Bruce Wasserstein, Lazard; Wasserstein & Co. (43)
63. Ted Forstmann, IMG Worldwide (new entry)
64. Anna Wintour, Vogue (new entry)
65. Brian Roberts, Comcast (57)
66. Brian Grazer & Ron Howard, Imagine Entertainment (65)
67. Mukesh & Anil Ambani, Reliance Industries, Reliance ADA Group (new entry)
68. Jeff Zucker, NBC Universal (returning)
69. Jeff Skoll, Participant Media (61)
70. Jonathan Ive, Apple (83)
71. William McDonough, William McDonough & Partners (new entry)
72. Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard (new entry)
73. Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo (new entry)
74. Matt Drudge, the Drudge Report (new entry)
75. Donatella Versace, Gianni Versace S.p.A. (77)
76. Diego Della Valle, Tod’s (63)
77. Henry Kravis, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (51)
78. Marc Jacobs, Marc Jacobs, Marc by Marc Jacobs, LVMH (returning)
79. Jean Pigozzi, investor, art collector (86)
80. Paul Allen, Vulcan Inc. (71)
81. Charlie Rose, Charlie Rose (80)
82. Frank Rich, The New York Times, HBO (82)
83. John Galliano, Christian Dior, Galliano (new entry)
84. Jann Wenner, Wenner Media (74)
85. Joel & Ethan Coen, movies (new entry)
86. John Malone, Liberty Media (69)
87. Harvey & Bob Weinstein, the Weinstein Company (41)
88. Michael Moritz, Sequoia Capital (56)
89. Steven Rattner, Quadrangle Group (97)
90. Arianna Huffington, the Huffington Post (98)
91. John Paulson, Paulson & Co. (new entry)
92. Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures (62)
93. Jerry Weintraub, Jerry Weintraub Productions (76)
94. Tobias Meyer, Sotheby’s (new entry)
95. Tom Brokaw, NBC News (returning)
96. Doug Morris, Universal Music Group (99)
97. Jimmy Buffett, Margaritaville (96)
98. Jeffrey Sachs, the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Millennium Promise (new entry)
99. Steven Cohen, S.A.C. Capital Advisors (45)
100. Walter Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal (new entry)

Source: Vanity Fair

His latest campaign is a charity auction for the Freeplay Foundation benefiting rural poor areas of Africa. Hanks has personally autographed the wind-up and solar-powered radios, and is auctioning them up on eBay. The winning bidders will also receive a personal letter and signed picture from the actor. All of the auction proceeds will go towards Freeplay’s work in Africa. Here’s a bit about the radio:

The Lifeline is a self-powered radio designed specifically for children living on their own, distance education or other humanitarian projects. Robustly constructed to operate in the harshest of conditions and climates, the Lifeline radio is rugged, colourful, easy to use and carry, receives excellent AM/FM/SW and plays for many hours non-stop on wind-up energy or solar power. It is available to aid and donor agencies for bona fide humanitarian initiatives.

Click here to visit the auction and get your bid in! Lowest bid looks to be about $600 at the moment. The fun will end February 1st. Check out Tom’s video below:

Check out the rockin’ video below from Sprig.com!

As Oprahpalooza kicked off in Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire over the weekend, it is clear that when it comes to celebrity endorsements, Obama is the man. A flood of support continues to pour in from a range of celebrities including George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Stephen Colbert, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and oh, Dreamworks (because that is what you get with the three most powerful men in Hollywood – Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen).

Other candidates have their ringers as well. Senator Hillary Clinton has recent endorsements and support from Barbara Streisand, Donald Trump, Martha Stewart and Tom Hanks. And of course, her husband former President Clinton. I mean who doesn’t want to see Bill back in the White House, especially with all of his recent socially global and climate driven initiatives. Regardless, the campaign is truly heating up and while at the end of the day it is about electing a leader based on the issues and leadership capabilities, there is no denying the magic of the “O” factor and Obama earns big strategic points on that one!

Check out the latest celebrity endorsements on The Huffington Post Fundrace 2008.