Extreme Hybrid Showcases Green Technology

Innovative Energy Storage Devices Let One Concept Car Drive 40 Miles On Electric Power Alone

(CBS)  From the outside, the AFS Trinity Power Corporation's concept vehicle looks almost unremarkable.

But the company's Chief Technology officer, Don Bender, took CBS News correspondent Seth Doane for a drive in it and told him that he absolutely loves this car.

The technology tucked inside is called "XH", or "extreme hybrid" and that is what makes this automobile revolutionary.

"The idea," Bender says, "is to make it feel familiar, to make it feel good and make it feel ordinary. It's not supposed to be exotic."

What is exotic about the car is that owners can, in part, trade trips to the gas pump for a simple electrical plug.

Finally, a "plug-in hybrid" powerful enough to accelerate to sixty miles per hour in about ten-seconds, with the range to run forty miles on battery power alone.

According to figures from the 2003 National Highway Travel Survey, that's enough to get roughly eighty percent of Americans through their daily routine.

"So," Doane asked Bender, "for most people going to the store, running errands, getting to work, those typical things - you could take this car; it would run on battery all of the time?"

"It would never burn a drop of gasoline," Bender answered.

After those 40 miles, the car switches to a standard gas-powered engine.

The innovation lies in special energy storage devices called ultra-capacitors or ultra-caps, which kick in during acceleration to protect the lithium-ion batteries.

Historically, electric cars have been mostly experimental, with limited range and performance. The problem has been developing durable and safe batteries with enough power to run a big machine.

"All electric vehicles were plagued by the same problem, which was the battery," said AFS Trinity's Ed Furia, who has ushered this technology from plan to the parkway. He says it could signal a wholesale change.

"If you can go to work, come back, plug it in, get up the next day and do that every day and not burn a drop of gasoline," Furia suggested. "Everything else follows."

The manufacturer estimates this technology will add another $8,500 to the sticker price of any car, but claims it will pay for itself in three to five years when you factor in the gasoline savings.

Getting this plug-in hybrid prototype to a track, where it operates pretty much like a normal vehicle, has been a process that's taken some 15 years, Doane reports, and it's been a labor of love.

For Furia, once a co-founder of Earth Day and EPA official, developing this technology has been a dream.

"It's almost too exciting to express," he said.

And getting behind the wheel is quite emotional.

"What we're doing is engaging in something that could produce massive change," Furia said slowly, "so there's a lot of resistance to that."

Furia hopes this technology could eventually help free Americans from pain at the pump, and America from its growing dependence on oil.

[pepperwood2]

"If you can go to work, come back, plug it in, get up the next day and do that every day and not burn a drop of gasoline," Furia suggested. "Everything else follows."

The manufacturer estimates this technology will add another $8,500 to the sticker price of any car, but claims it will pay for itself in three to five years when you factor in the gasoline savings.

Wow...Groovy....Socko! What I like best is the up to 40 miles between recharging and the Savings that will pay for itself in up 5 years.

Wait until PPL finds out then they can double the rate charged for electricity to Mr. & Mrs. America. Aw shucks they''re doing that now. You still may be able to pay for it in up to 10 yrs. right??

But look new disposal batteries, new technology they will probably be guaranteed for 50 years?? Right?? Aw Shuckins no guarantees or warranties all you do is dispose of them along the road like we do with all our rechargeable batteries with the new technologies.

Aw More Shuckins.....you need to pay for having them disposed at a special recycling point.

Why can''t we employ more battery powered equipment for use in the home to save big time. Aw drat....the power grid during the hot summer cannot accommodate the extra electricity it takes to run AC & all our battery powered accomodations. Sounds Like another Green Team IDeeeaarr.

Fool me once shame on me. Fool me twice Just get used to the idea. Right!

Double Drat I can hear the Clintons & Al Gore CACKLING all the way to the Bank.

[rf35]

Come on lochlan, this is an opinion area...people are entitled to form an opinion without knowing any facts!

[lochlan-2009]

It is amazing how little people know about science. If you are interested enough to post here, spend the hour or two learning all the information browsing the web, that they didn''t put in the article. Start with the EV-1 and go from there.

[rf35]

This would get me around my daily route. And where I live, I don''t pay for electricity. Sign me up! I''ll take the convertable model.

[godseyesore-2009]

An additional $8500??!!!
I paid less than half that for a used 90 Toyota that consistently gets 32mpg, STILL. ''Payback'' becomes meaningless.
When vehicles are available far exceeding gas mileage requirements of US standards (and so for 18 years,
it shows how shameful the US auto industry and the lackey congress was, is, and will be. US politics sucks and the world suffers.

[istesso]

"revolutionary" is the incorrect word. the capacitor type, NOT BATTERY, used in this car was originally invented, and described mathematically, by Hermann von Helmholtz in the 19th century. it has had many applications since. this capacitor is just a bigger higher density version. and it used activated charcoal as "plate" medium thus a way to sequester carbon and added +.

[mattyann2003]

I heard you were doing a story on s.s.disability, my husband cannot work, but they have totally turned him down.This did not change his disability he still cannot work. [e-mail]

[sjc_1]

AFS is going to the Detroit auto show this week to see if auto makers are interested. If they are not, they intend to raise capital and do it themselves. I wish them all the best in their efforts. We need to reduce the amount of gasoline used each year from the present 140 billion gallon per year level.

[aeasus]

How about building some solar power collecters to plug the car in to each night for recharging the battery, as an acessory. Where I live electricty is more pricy than gasoline.


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Posted by httpwwwnews at 01:15 PM : Jan 13, 2008


Solar collectors don''t work at night....lol

[loaddown2]

I wonder how they will address the problem of gasoline stability in the system?
These PHEVs will require some kind of check valve or built in self cleaning mechanism for the ICE power unit if you rarely go over 40 miles.

[aeasus]

mokenman,

Iceland already has a hydrogen based economy. Yes it can happen,and yes it does work.

Just google it :D

[stanleyrice]

Before you all get involved in a discussion of technologies, you might want to download the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car". And you may also want to do a little more research on hydrogen powered vehicles to realize they will not happen, nor can happen in this life time (on a large commercial scale). Why do you think the Bush Administration got concerned about the environment over night?. It was an opportunity to back a "new" tecnology that could never work, the hydrogen powered car! Until you change your power brokers in America, you won''t change the source of power for your vehicles. Corporations (like Exxon) rule! Mokenman speaks to you from self imposed exile.

[aeasus]

Citroen, Renault, Audi, VW, and a bunch more turbodiesel powered cars get 65-70 mpg. And since there are so many of them, diesel sells for about 20% less a gallon than gasoline. And there is even a biodiesel option which lets you mix about 20% biodiesel in with the diesel for an even bigger savings. But you can''''t have one because they''''re from Europe (France and Germany, for example) where people aren''''t civilized and are very stupid and aren''''t interested in the environment and so the US prohibits their import in order to protect the American consumer from these horrible little cars.
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The problem isn''t the car...It''s the fuel!! USDOT standards are based on petro-diesel. If it was biodiesel these cars would burn 80-90 percent cleaner.

Change the fuel source and you have fixed the problem.

[aeasus]

Hydrogen is an element not a fossil fuel. Any 6th grader, that paid attention in science class, knows hydrogen can be released from water with electricity. It''s just that simple! Where ever you want a refill station just provide an electric and water source.

Furthermore,do you really think it takes less energy to pump oil out of the ground,load tanker boats to ship across oceans,process through refining plants,load onto tanker trucks,then run pumps at fuel stations? When did that become efficient? Plus your shipping your dollars over seas instead of giving your fellow countrymen a job.

[radiob-2009]

Hmm Porsche thought of this technology over 40 years ago.

[radiob-2009]

Explains Martin Boughtwood, PML%u2019s MD: %u201CUntil now, most electric vehicles have been little more than souped-up milk floats, limited by range and speed, with compromised performance. For those with a green conscience who also value an enhanced motoring experience, there is still something missing.

%u201CWorking in partnership with our customer, Synergy Innovations, we set out to demonstrate what our electric wheel technology is capable of. We simply took a standard BMW Mini One, discarded the engine, the disc brakes, the wheels, and the gearbox. These components were replaced by four of our electric wheels, a lithium polymer battery, a large ultra capacitor, a very small ICE with generator (so small it almost fits alongside the spare wheel), an energy management system and a *** in-car display module.%u201D
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/08/the_hybrid_mini.php

[johngoodnews]

Citroen, Renault, Audi, VW, and a bunch more turbodiesel powered cars get 65-70 mpg. And since there are so many of them, diesel sells for about 20% less a gallon than gasoline. And there is even a biodiesel option which lets you mix about 20% biodiesel in with the diesel for an even bigger savings. But you can''t have one because they''re from Europe (France and Germany, for example) where people aren''t civilized and are very stupid and aren''t interested in the environment and so the US prohibits their import in order to protect the American consumer from these horrible little cars.

[aeasus]

Ford made a V-10 hydrogen 4WD pickup with a range of 500 miles and 400 lbs. torque.

http://media.ford.com/newsroom/release_display.cfm?release=22295

Electric cars are only good for local commutes. Hydrogen is a better answer for most people.

[xzs0911]

[Yawn] This isn''t news worthy. Did CBS miss the story about the Tesla that came out about 1.5 years ago? Its range is 200+ miles and does 0-60 in 4 seconds... and you can actually buy them [for a small fortune].

Detroits problem is they just cant build a light weight car, and they are unwilling to partner with companies that have solved the battery problem.

Nanosafe Li-Ion battery will: last longer than the car, charge in 5 Minutes, and function in cold weather. [http://www.altairnano.com] There are probably other as well.

[usayesterday]

It''s too bad America (and the rest of the world) is getting on this green/hybrid technology bandwagon about 10+ years too late!

But as the saying goes...

..."Better late than never."

A poor cop-out, yes, but at least the masses are beginning to think differently about our environment for the sake of future generations... if not our own right now.