BOLDER Technologies Corp. (Golden, CO) has shipped an initial order of its SecureStart Portable Jump Starter product to Target stores this month. The product is expected to appear in a majority of Targets 900 stores in late April. The Secure Start Portable Jump Starter is a small, lightweight, rechargeable device capable of providing an instant […]
Moltech Power Systems Inc. (MPS, Cainesville, FL) successfully utilized their nickel-metal hydride technology to power an electric streamliner to 254mph. This speed, reached on October 22 and 23, 1999, at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Wendover, UT, shattered the existing US and world land speed records. The 6,040 NiMH cells in MPS's battery produced 200,000W […]
Siemens Westinghouse Power Corp. (Orlando, FL) and Southern California Edison successfully completed factory testing for the world's first fuel cell/gas turbine hybrid power system. The 220kW proof-of-concept system will be readied for shipment, installation and operation next month at the National Fuel Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine. During the testing, the […]
Energy Ventures Inc. (EVI, Toronto, Canada) will receive a CDN$495,000 repayable contribution from the Canadian Government under the IRAP-TPC Precommercialization Assistance initiative. EVI plans to use the contribution to work towards the development of its nickel-zinc and zinc-carbon-bromine rechargeable battery technologies. The total cost of the nickel-zinc and zinc-carbon-bromine battery program is CDN$1.5 million over […]
IMPCO Technologies Inc.'s (Irvine, CA) Advanced Technology Center has been awarded a patent for its new and innovative in-tank pressure regulator technology for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and natural gas vehicles. Combined with the company's proprietary TriShield ultra-lightweight, advanced-composite, fuel-storage tanks, IMPCO's new in-tank regulator offers a great reduction in fuel system cost while increasing […]
Mazda Motor Corp. (Tokyo, Japan) has joined DaimlerChrysler AG (Germany) and Nippon Mitsubishi Oil in a government-led project to test fuels for next-generation fuel cell vehicles. Mazda and DaimlerChrysler will each contribute fuel cell vehicles, while Nippon will contribute hydrogen, methanol fuel and test tracks for the three-year project. The purpose of the project is […]
NESS Corp. (Korea) announced the introduction of their new 2.3V ultracapacitor technology for electric and hybrid-electric vehicle applications. The new NESS ultracapacitor is designed for use in regenerative braking, where it recaptures and recycles energy normally lost through brake-friction heat. The company reports that the ultracapacitor earned the Chairman's Choice Award for components at the […]
Ford Motor Co. (Detroit, MI) will begin selling a hybrid-electric version of its Escape sport-utility vehicle in 2003, a compact SUV expected to achieve 40mpg in stop-and-go urban driving. The hybrid's electric drive train augments a four-cylinder engine that automatically shuts off during deceleration or while stopped, then restarts near-instantaneously. The hybrid SUV will have […]
DaimlerChrysler (Frankfurt, Germany) has become the first automaker to offer fuel cell vehicles for sale. The company plans to build 20 to 30 city buses with fuel cell drives during the next three years. The buses will be sold to transport-operating companies in Europe and abroad. The first vehicles are planed for delivery by the […]
Lithium Technology Corp. (LTC, Plymouth Meeting, PA) and Pacific Lithium Ltd. (PLL, Auckland, New Zealand) announced a revised timetable for all SEC-related actions and events associated with their impending merger and the concurrent IPO of the successor public company, Ilion Technology Corp. LTC previously reported that it anticipated holding a stockholder meeting in May 2000, […]
ON Semiconductor (Phoenix, AZ) has completed the acquisition of Cherry Semiconductor Corp.'s semiconductor subsidiary for $250.0 million. ON Semiconductor expects to continue to operate, for the foreseeable future, both the design center and the wafer fab at Cherry Semiconductor's East Greenwich, RI, facility. Cherry Semiconductor portfolio consists of analog ICs for the power management and […]
Enova Systems (Torrance, CA) announced it has entered into a contract with Hyundai Motor Co. (Korea), the world's seventh-largest automobile manufacturer, to design and develop a new parallel-hybrid system for its production vehicles. This contract follows the successful completion of a development program between the companies that resulted in a parallel-hybrid system for Hyundai's hybrid-electric […]
A hybrid-electric-powered humvee, operating with advanced propulsion technology developed and manufactured by Unique Mobility Inc. (UQM, Golden, CO), reached a milestone on arriving at the Continental Divide of the Rocky Mountains on a 3,200-mile marathon driving tour from Washington, DC to San Francisco, CA. The Hybrid-Electric-Powered High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), developed by PEI Electronics […]
General Motors Corp. (Detroit, MI) has announced that it has devised a repair for 450 1996 EV1 electric-powered coupes it recalled earlier this month, but it will not be ready until 2001. Due to the length of time before the repairs can be made, the company has announced that it would terminate its leases on […]
Ebus Inc. (Downey, CA) unveiled its first HEV at an Alternative Fuel and Electric Transit Bus Workshop hosted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The Ebus HEV is a 22ft long replica of an old-fashioned trolley car. It features an all-electric drive train with a small pack of liquid-cooled NiCd rechargeable batteries. An […]