AFS Trinity Power Corporation today filed a patent application disclosing the company’s new technology for an “Extreme Hybrid” car capable of carrying the average American motorist more than 250 miles on a single gallon of gasoline or ethanol. The Extreme Hybrid will plug into a house’s electrical current overnight and could run without gasoline or ethanol for the 40 miles that the average American drives each day, the company said. For longer trips, the vehicle would operate as a conventional hybrid that efficiently burns gasoline or ethanol.
“The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that the average American drives 300 miles per week,” company CEO Edward W. Furia said. “Most days Americans drive 40 miles or less. At $3 a gallon, this costs about $48 a week for a conventional 20 mpg car and $36 if the car can get 25 mpg. The most efficient conventional hybrids get about 50 mpg which means $19 a week. By comparison, the Extreme Hybrid will use less than $8 per week total for fuel and electricity.”
AFS Trinity plans to build the XH drive train with the help of UK-based Ricardo plc, an automotive design and engineering firm.
AFS Trinity and Ricardo have signed a “mutually exclusive Technology Partnership Agreement” to work together to develop the plug-in hybrid technology. With sufficient funding they expect that XH demonstration vehicles could be in the hands of fleet owners in two years and could be licensed for mass production by car makers in three years.
The Patent and the Technology
The AFS Trinity patent filing discloses that Fast Energy Storage technology, including ultracapacitors, controllers and power electronics, will enable the Extreme Hybrid to “overcome the limitations of the energy storage components of conventional hybrids and other plug-in designs.”
“This technology will permit a car to travel the entire 40 miles of an average American’s daily driving in all-electric mode, without giving up rapid acceleration or the ability to travel at highway speeds, all without burning a drop of gasoline,” Furia said.
The patent filing also discloses that idle XH vehicles will be capable of sending power back into the grid through a vehicle to grid – V2G – subsystem, which will help stabilize the power grid and reduce XH owners’ cost of electricity.
“The Extreme Hybrid won’t only cost less to operate on a daily basis, it will also be the first hybrid that will save enough money from reduced operating costs to more than offset the higher purchase price of the car,” added Furia. “In fact, over five years, we estimate that the XH owner will be $11,000 ahead and, over 10 years, $22,000 ahead.”
Filling up once every 10 weeks
“The advantages to the environment and our independence from foreign oil are obvious, but the reason we believe consumers will want this car is because they will save money and because the performance of the XH will be no different than that of conventional cars,” Furia said.
“To recharge the Extreme Hybrid for your daily driving you will need to plug in your car to house current every night, but the average American will only have to fill up with gasoline or ethanol once every 10 weeks or so unless they take a longer trip.”
