Paice Corporation's Breakthrough Hybrid Vehicle Powertrain Described to House Subcommittee

WASHINGTON, June 26 -- A breakthrough hybrid gas-electric powertrain that can increase the fuel economy of America's total vehicle fleet by more than 50 percent is being described today to the Energy Subcommittee of the House Science Committee.

The unique Hyperdrive(TM) system delivers a previously unattainable combination of better fuel efficiency, reduced emissions, and vehicle performance, according to Bob Templin, a director of the Paice(SM) Corporation, which is developing and commercializing the system. He is testifying at the subcommittee hearing.

"Hyperdrive technology presents the opportunity to dramatically reduce our dependence on foreign oil imports by millions of barrels per day in a very few years," he declared, "because it can improve the fuel economy of virtually all of the wide range of vehicles American consumers choose to buy."

"Unlike hybrids on the market today, the Hyperdrive powertrain is well suited for the large cars, SUVs, minivans, and light trucks that many Americans want," said Templin, who is a former chief engineer of General Motors' Cadillac Division and former technical director of GM's Research Laboratory.

"Hyperdrive will work in any climate, climb steep hills, and haul big loads," he declared. "It will operate in all conditions as well or better than today's conventional cars and light trucks."

"We believe it is the only hybrid drive system available today that can be commercially produced in large volume and be successful in the market place," he said. "That's because it can deliver high fuel efficiency and also meet the needs and desires of consumers and automakers for performance and cost."

The Hyperdrive system can be produced at costs competitive to today's conventional powertrains because it uses the same technologies and materials, he said; "nothing new, exotic, or expensive."

"For the longer-term future, if fuel cells are ultimately developed to be practical and economical for powering vehicles, the Hyperdrive system may be the most efficient way to use them in vehicles," Templin explained.

"The Hyperdrive system can also be designed with a dual-fuel engine that can run on current fuels now and alternate fuels whenever they are made practical and available," he said. "This can be done with technology available today."

Based on dynamometer testing of the Hyperdrive system and standard engineering computer modeling techniques, Paice has calculated performance and fuel economy of Hyperdrive systems in numerous vehicles in the categories of the Department of Transportation's Energy Data Book, ranging from small cars to SUVs, minivans and light trucks.

In every class, Hyperdrive produced significantly better fuel economy than current vehicles. Improvements ranged from 70 percent in mini-compact cars to 55 percent in large cars, and from 36 percent in small pickup trucks to 57 percent in small SUVs.

"Our design results indicate that we can, on average, increase the fuel efficiency of all vehicles subject to CAFE regulation by roughly 50 percent," Templin declared.

"Significantly, in a large SUV, Hyperdrive can achieve a combined EPA rating of 26 miles per gallon, compared to 16 in the conventional SUV. And this can be achieved with better acceleration and equal trailer-towing capability," he reported.

For environmental goals, regulated exhaust emissions from a Hyperdrive vehicle can be reduced to undetectable levels, he said. Also, carbon dioxide will be significantly lower.

What makes Hyperdrive unique and superior among hybrid powertrains, Templin explained, is its use of high-voltage and high-power semiconductors, high-horsepower electric motors, and an internal combustion engine sized for maximum efficiency. The whole system is electronically controlled to achieve near maximum attainable fuel economy.

Depending on power required in different driving modes, a Hyperdrive vehicle will be driven by the engine alone, by the electric motor alone, or by both together. A computer runs the system at optimum efficiency for whatever the driver commands.

"We have successfully proven the Hyperdrive concept in tests of a full- size prototype system on a dynamometer, using the automobile industry's standard test procedures," Templin said.

The Paice Corporation intends to make the technology available to all automakers, he said. "We have been in contact with automakers in the U.S., Europe and Japan for almost two years and we are now working with several of these companies to help them evaluate our technology and determine the best way to bring this important technology to market."

Hyperdrive's application of high-power semiconductors and high-voltage power to control the internal combustion engine for almost maximum fuel economy was developed by Dr. Alex Severinsky, Paice's chief executive officer, who is a globally-recognized power electronics systems engineer and expert on lead-acid battery applications.

The Paice Corporation's management staff and board of directors include engineers with more than 200 total years of experience in the American automobile industry, said Templin, who was responsible for design and engineering of Cadillac's full line of vehicles at General Motors.

Paice Corporation has created, tested and patented Hyperdrive(TM), a unique gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain system for cars and light trucks. The company has offices in Silver Spring, MD, and its engineering center in Livonia, MI. Additional information is available at www.paice.com