What a difference a few months makes.

In the case of Robert Garzee, it meant the end of a Union Bank lawsuit and the start of a banking relationship with Wells Fargo Bank. And that made a difference between going under altogether and finding a new home where he can continue to champion the development of green vehicles and alternative fuels.

Garzee’s mission through his company, Synergy EV Inc., and the consortium called the Electronic Transportation Development Center has been aimed at making San Jose, California, a leader in advanced transportation technology.

He’s far from the only one in Northern California, or around the country, looking to build cleaner cars. General Motors is rolling out its Chevrolet Volt electric car this year. And Silicon Valley is home to Tesla, which started selling electric cars in 2008.

Garzee in November found a home for Synergy and the ETDC at the Fast Lane to Cleantech Center, an 11,000-square-foot green-vehicle technology incubator at Club Auto Sport. The 120,000-square-foot facility was built as a specialty car condominium and event facility.

It is a welcome conclusion to his troubles from a month ago.

Union Bank N.A. in October filed suit against Garzee, just months after denying renewal of his 10-year-old, $75,000 business line of credit, and demanded repayment of more than $73,000. Garzee offered up $183,000 in electric vehicles as collateral and asked to continue the relationship, but Union Bank declined and Garzee’s company nearly went under.

But his plight caught the attention of Wells Fargo Bank, which has an environmental-finance program, based in Palo Alto, California, in place and has already provided more than $500 million in credit commitments to green businesses and more than $50 million in financing for environmental community development.

Garzee was able to work out a payment plan with Union Bank, and three weeks ago became a customer at Wells Fargo.

“The transportation center is a big deal, and it was an important time for us. We really needed to move forward,” Garzee said. “Wells liked not only what we were doing, but the companies that are involved in the center as well.”

Synergy will present a green-vehicle showcase at Club Auto on January 25, raising funds for both the ETDC and the nonprofit Breathe California.

Garzee and Jim Robbins, founder of the Environmental Business Cluster, are working on $4 million in grants to the California Energy Commission that would fund a variety of initiatives, including the development of electric-powered school buses and refuse trucks that would be built in San Jose and a solar refueling station. Synergy EV would receive about $400,000 over 18 months in administration fees if the grants are approved by the state, and the vehicles would be built by companies at the ETDC.

Even as the headquarters of the 36-member ETDC develops roots at Club Auto Sport, the city of San Jose is working on its plan to develop a new CleanTech Center. Economic development manager Nanci Klein said the city has a $4 million grant application pending with the federal Economic Development Administration and is working on partnering with Silicon Valley companies to get the center up and running; one partnership opportunity would be selling the naming rights to the facility, she said.

Klein said Synergy’s and the ETDC’s presence at the Club Auto Sport incubator makes a lot of sense, but she’s looking at it as “temporary ramping-up space” until the city is able to open the planned facility.

Garzee said it’s important the city moves as quickly as possible to establish a position of leadership in alternative fuels and vehicles.

“Many other little cities are picking up companies that do alternative fuels and vehicles. If we were not to be aggressive right now, many opportunities will go other places,” he said. “The immediate solution is to bring companies in and help them succeed by having the right ambience and facility with the support to go out there and make it happen now.”