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Raser Finalizes Agreement with a Major Vehicle OEM to Develop a Plug-in-Hybrid Vehicle Using Symetron Motor Technology

Raser Technologies, Inc. has signed an agreement with a global automotive manufacturer in its effort to produce a plug-in-hybrid electric demonstration vehicle incorporating Symetron electric motor and electronic drive technology.

Raser also announced previously that it teamed with FEV Engine Technology, Inc. as the integrator for this plug-in-hybrid vehicle project. (Earlier post.) The vehicle is targeted to achieve more than 100 mpg for the typical American driver with improved acceleration while dramatically reducing harmful exhaust emissions.

FEV has previously supported this undisclosed OEM as an engine, powertrain and vehicle developer, and system integrator. FEV works with OEMs worldwide to develop new powertrain and vehicle integration designs into prototypes that can be integrated into OEM production vehicles.

By combining the strengths of the three companies in this project, Raser plans to demonstrate the plug-in-hybrid benefits for improved fuel economy and reduced emissions. We believe that this vehicle can be designed to recharge from a regular 110V or 220V outlet and driven in excess of 400 miles using stored grid power and its onboard generation capability.

—Jim Spellman, Raser Technology’s Vice President of Transportation

Symetron is an umbrella label for several Raser innovations in motors and controllers that increase power, torque and efficiency. The Symetron technology, which can be applied in a range of packages, AC or DC, can deliver the high torque of a permanent magnet motor without the use of permanent magnets—in essence, enabling the production of smaller, more powerful and less expensive motors. (Earlier post.)

Comments

J

"A SUV That Gets More Than 100 Miles Per Gallon and Reduces Emissions is Targeted"

Harvey D

J:

Any details on size and specs?

Rafael Seidl

MPG numbers are meaningless for PHEVs, as there is no agreed-upon test procedure. It's just marketing smoke and mirrors.

Richard

It's still less fuel consumption which means less spent on gasoline/petrol.

Bob Bastard

"A SUV That Gets More Than 100 Miles Per Gallon and Reduces Emissions is Targeted"

I didn't see any mention that the vehicle was to be an SUV in this article, the previous article, or the link. Is it mentioned somewhere else?

AES

http://www.fev.com/content/public/default.aspx?id=965

FEV has worked before with Ford - and recently at that. Could Ford be this "undisclosed" third party?

Patrick

Harvey D said (above) that the MPG numbers are meaningless. He is 100% correct.

You could buy a PHEV and then on the way home you stop and pour in literally "one gallon" of gasoline.

Then you plug it in everynight for the rest of your life.

Assuming that you never drive beyond the "electric driving range" of the vehicle on any given day - the gasoline engine would never kick in.

Then, lets say 10 years past and you decide to sell the car with 10,000 miles on the odometer.

Does that mean you got 10,000 miles to a gallon?

No - I don't think so.

Harvey D is correct - we need to develope a realistic method of calculating MPG for PHEVs.

Harvey D

Patrick;

Rafael said that.

Of course mpg for PHEVs needs apporpriate standards for more credibility.

Patrick

DOH !!!

J

I got my information from the "signed" link in the article.

Patrick

Sorry Rafel. I misread who posted your original thought.

Anyway dude - You are right on the money.

This industry needs some well defined standards.

Bob Bastard

I got my information from the "signed" link in the article.

Oops, missed that one. Thanks for clarifying.

realarms

why not standardize the fuel consumption to kWh/km (EMEA,ASEAN) or km/kWh (US,JP); and limit this to tank-to-wheel (although this would hide a lot of the energy costs for hydrogen powered cars)...

You can easily calculate the kWh / gallon (liter) of current test fuel (and even real-world fuel)...

After a one or two year grace period with simultaneous labelling of new cars with both numbers, continue with only the new scheme...

critta

It would be interesting to know the identity of the global automative manfacturer and whether the agreement is a speculative move by the manufacturer.This 'agreement' could mean anything but hopefully it will lead to vehicles on the road in the near term.

Elliot

Why not label the PHEV with all electric range in miles as well as mpg once the ICE kicks in? If the ICE kicks in at a certain speed, list that too.

Kilowatt hours are probably a good measure to put on there as well, though many are going to want a formula for a more direct mpg comparison, and that's where it gets tricky.

Ron

Personally, I want them to design their motors & controllers into any vehicle that will use them. I think they will have a good market for this. The 100 mpg is not a necessary achievement for this, but high efficiency is what mfg. will look at. The Geothermal energy is what I bought the stock for and motors are a +. There are at least 3 new low emmision combustion engine companies that can beat the normal gas engine design as well. Look at TTEG, AXVC and CYPW for this.

kip

Hmm and I got a day order to sell jan covered call at 17.50...Glad I up the strike, have to see what the institutions do.eh Just tring to collect a little rent to buy more:-)

Peace

Roger Pham

The specs on Raser motors are very impressive, as well as the efficiency level. If substantial cost reduction could be realized as Raser has announced, then much higher HEV market penetration will ensue, and this will mean a very significant reduction in petroleum consumption will soon be realized. HEV's are fantastic at fuel efficiency, only the cost of the technology so far has severely limit their market penetration.

I would recommend significant market penetration of HEV's before turning to PHEV, because PHEV's consumes a lot of battery-making raw materials, thus will escalate the price of batteries, and thus will undone the progress being made in cost-reduction in hybrid power train.

donee

Hi Roger,

Welp, Priuschat is down for new posts, but I was reading through one of the threads. Various new Prii owners were looking for comebacks to ignorami comments from various aquantances. So, I updated my spread sheet that I used, taking out the 3150 tax break, and upgrading the vehicle to something with similar legroom, comfort, stowage cpability, acceleration performance and similar popularity here in Chicagoland - a Pontiac G6 base (4 cylinder). The Prius has better stowage, but the G6 is a little quicker, so the two cars are an overall similarity. The 12 K mi/year break even came out at 3.10 years (37200 miles). The spread sheet uses lifetime costs for mantenance, normalized to a per/year costs for both vehicles, besides gas mileage ($3.00/gal yearly average) and new car costs(including sales tax and license) and cost of lost savings interest (assumes a cash purchase).

So, the HSD HEV costs are quite inline with present vehicle expenditures, just slanted towards the up-front costs. As long as the break even time is less than the life of car, the costs are in line. By evaluating the overall cost of ownership for the life of vehicle, resale differences will be accounted for. The HSD HEV has the smaller maintenance costs (fewer brake refurbishments, no starter or alternator repairs, more reliable - mechanically simpler transmission). A break even life of 3.1 years is fantastic, meaning a reduction of costs if the ownership lasts beyond 3.1 years. Which is a good bet with the lower repairs of the HSD. People primarily trade cars in at 3 years to 5 years, to avoid the hassle of unexpected repairs. With the HSD HEV, repairs from the 3 to 5 years are greatly reduced, so longer ownerships would be the result.

This might be why GM was against HEV's, as two of their major profit centers - repair facilities and finance, take a major hit with a HSD style HEV vehicle.

Your recommendation was the implied conclusion of "Who Killed the Electric Car". That there was a under-the-table agreement between car makers and CARB that the car makers would implement the HEV solution , in return for being let out of the zero-emissions requirement. And it deffinately made allot of sense back in the late 90's due to the lack of battery mass-production experience.

The issue then is if its time to ratchet up on the energy performance (to the PHEV) or not? Has the Prius investment been amortized? Have battery technologies been upgraded with the Prius investments ? Hard to say from a industry outsider point of view. GM is betting 2010 is the year for it to all come together apparently.

Sulleny

Ridiculous. Little carbon-based creatures desperately trying to save their sorry greed-driven ases. "Technology extends the misery until the inevitable end." blusfemur

Roger Pham

Thanks, donee, for the info.

Of course, "planned obsolescence" is the modus operandi of car and electronic mfg's. They would make it so that you would feel the urge to splurge for new models every few years, whether one really needs to do it or not!
Profit motive weighs heavily on any big businesses. However, due to severe competition, large discounts at the expense of profits have to be given in order to maintain sales in order to ensure the company's solvency. Likewise, mfg's often time have to make high-quality, low-maintenance products in order to compete for market share. GM will have no choice but to make high-quality, low-maintenance products (full HEV's) in order to survive in business.

Sulleny,
Are you the little green alien who is spying on Earth? Call Home, ET!

Sulleny

Rog, I would xcept the dilithium Ga silica batteries (D-Li4–3xGaxSiO4) in my E-phone have flat lined. Can't wait to get home and eat some good ol' INorganic food again!

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