USA: Electric car system maker gives Markell a lift

Developers of an “extreme” hybrid electric car system took Gov. Jack Markell for a spin around Dover today, part of a cross-country tour aimed at winning Washington-based AFS Trinity a place at the heart of an electric car revolution.

Company Chairman Edward W. Furia — who once led the Environmental Protection Agency region that includes Delaware — said that plug-in hybrid electric cars with AFS technologies will perform better, consume fewer batteries, use less gasoline and have a lower lifetime operating cost.

The company’s two prototype cars – which together cost $8 million to build – tap a bank of “super capacitor” electric storage devices when drivers need quick power surges, easing strain on conventional batteries that are more suited to steady, moderate energy demand.

“The problem with the batteries that they intend to use in electric vehicles is that they like to be sipped; they don’t like to be gulped,” Furia said.

Tests have shown that the resulting lighter demands on regular hybrid batteries could extend their useful life six-fold, Furia said, by reducing excessive heating caused by quick, large power pulls.

Markell described the ride today as “very smooth. A very nice ride.” He said there were no immediate prospects for a state venture involving AFS, but added that companies are looking at Delaware for its skilled and ready workforce, good location and varied transportation network, among other reasons.

Although AFS has been touting its approach on cross-country visits since April 2008, Delaware became a stop earlier this year when Fisker Automotive announced plans for a startup electric car plant at the shuttered General Motors Boxwood Road plant. A separate company, Autoport, is converting conventional cars to electric cars near the Port of Wilmington.

“What’s happening is, people are becoming aware of our leadership as a result of Fisker, as a result of Autoport, as a result of some of the other initiatives around energy efficiency,” Markell said. “So we’re on people’s radar screens.”

Typical drivers will get about 150 miles per gallon in AFS-based cars, which now have a 40-mile electric range that company officials described as suited to typical daily travel demands.

“We have been asked point-blank by people in the state: Would we be interested in licensing our technology to Fisker?” Furia said. “Absolutely.”

“We’re shopping for a place where we could build,” Furia said. “This isn’t the only state.”

AFS is also seeking interest among other carmakers, Furia said.

Fisker officials could not be reached for comment this afternoon.

A plug-in hybrid with the AFS design would cost about $8,700 more than a Saturn Vue hybrid, Furia said, but would perform better and cost less after taking gasoline and battery replacement costs into account. Weekly costs for fuel and electricity in the prototype would be only a third to one-quarter of that for regular cars.

The company’s design allows operation in electric only, gas only or combined modes, with the gas-electric combination allowing a zippy 0-60 mph acceleration in 6.9 seconds.

AFS has trolled without success for larger-scale Department of Energy investment or conventional car-maker adoption of its system. Big automaker representatives, he said, have declined even invitations for a test drive.

“I don’t think there’s a conspiracy. I think they just want to do it themselves,” Furia said. “They believe they can get around our patents and our technology. So far, nobody has.”

Furia, the EPA’s first Philadelphia Office regional administrator, knows Delaware well. He worked with former Gov. Russell W. Peterson on the EPA’s first Clean Air Act prosecution, which targeted waste-oil burning power Delmarva Power generator what was then the Getty Delaware City Refinery.

During Furia’s term, the EPA also acted to stop Philadelphia’s dumping of waste and sewage sludge off Delaware’s shore.
Source: delawareonline.com