UQM® Electric Propulsion System Powers 2009 Popular Mechanics Car Makeover Featuring the Eco+Muscle Hybrid Dodge Challenger R/T
FREDERICK, Colo.--UQM Technologies, Inc. (NYSE Amex:UQM), a developer of alternative energy technologies, announced today that a UQM® PowerPhase® 125 electric propulsion system is powering the Eco+Muscle hybrid Dodge Challenger R/T car makeover project featured in the May and June issues of Popular Mechanics Magazine.
The 2009 Popular Mechanics Car Makeover feature chronicles the activities that were undertaken to convert an inexpensive full-size, rear drive V-8 muscle car, the 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T stock vehicle—using inexpensive aerodynamic aids and some clever ideas learned at the racetrack—into an eco-friendly, world-class parallel hybrid muscle-car that out-runs, out-stops and out-corners superexotics that cost ten times as much.
Unlike most hybrid cars that blend the power from a small gas engine and a small electric motor to achieve acceptable performance, Eco+Muscle has two separate parallel powertrains, gas and electric, each one independently capable of driving the car. On the highway, where safe passing and long-distance capability are important, The Eco+Muscle hybrid Challenger runs solely as a high-performance muscle car. In the city, at lower speeds, the car is an ultra-low emission electric that delivers full torque from a standing stop.
The Popular Mechanics article raves, “UQM’s motor is amazing. A mysteriously monolithic cylinder less than 9 inches long and 11 inches in diameter, it weighs just 89 pounds but produces 125 horsepower and 176 foot pounds of torque while revving smoothly to 8,000 rpm…This little electric motor is comparable in performance to a typical V-6 rated at 250 horsepower.”
The modification of the Eco+Muscle hybrid Challenger was performed by the experts at Minisport, in Sharon, Connecticut. Rich Taylor, owner of Minisport, long-time contributor to Popular Mechanics, nationally recognized author of over 5,000 magazine articles, author of two dozen books and former motorcycle road racer and driver of factory-sponsored race cars said, “The performance of the UQM® PowerPhase® electric propulsion system we installed in the Eco+Muscle hybrid Challenger exceeded our performance expectations—especially the pavement-wrinkling torque of this electric motor—and we set the bar pretty high as part of our propulsion system selection process. The programmable digital signal processor on the motor controller and an abundance of technical support from UQM’s engineering team, made the process of adding electric propulsion to the vehicle and managing its operation surprisingly easy.”
The Eco+Muscle hybrid Challenger R/T will be available for examination in the Popular Mechanics display at the NASCAR Pocono 500 race on June 6 and 7, at the San Bernardino Route 66 Rendezvous in September and at the Las Vegas SEMA show in November. The vehicle will be auctioned off in Scottsdale, Arizona in January 2010.
