GM Invests in PHEV Maker Bright Automotive, Says Strategic Alliance Next
By John O'Dell August 3, 2010
General Motors Corp. said it has invested $5 milllion in Indiana-based Bright Automotive and intends to begin sharing technology with the start-up company.
Bright, a spinoff from the famed Rocky Mountain Institute, is developing a plug-in hybrid commercial van - the IDEA - that is targeted to deliver 100 mpg fuel economy from a system that uses a four-cylinder gas engine to drive the front wheels and an electric motor to drive the rear wheels.
Weight reduction accomplished by strategic use of aluminum and other lightweight body parts is a key part of the formula - enabling the streamlined van to use smaller, lighter, less costly batteries than its size and range would otherwise dictate.
Bright has said it is aiming to deliver up to 40 miles of all-electric range before the gas engine kicked in. The electric motor also could be used to assist the 36 mpg gas engine. Depending on the amount of daily travel, the IDEA could deliver 100 mpg, the company said (fuel economy would decline as mileage between battery charges increased).
Bright was started in 2008 by battery specialist John Waters, who developed the battery system for the Segway people mover and led the team that developed the EV1 battery pack for GM in 1999. A recent management shuffle moved Waters out of the CEO's office so he could concentrate on engineering while Chairman Reuben Munger took on the chief executive's job as well
GM and Bright have signed an "agreement to pursue a strategic relationship" and GM, through its GM Ventures investment unit, has provided some badly needed equity funding for Bright - which still is awaiting word on its application last year for a $450 million federal advanced vehicles manufacturing loan guarantee.
The companies expect to finalize their alliance later this year, at which point GM would become a minority stakeholder and Bright would have access to GM engines, transmissions and other technology for use in the IDEA.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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I'd take the Bright through the road system over the Volt series hybrid anytime.
That's quite a blind spot.
@greenpony,
If you have arguments to make on the superiority of series hybrids, by all means make them.
I am certainly prepared to defend my preference for through the road, although perhaps some variants of series hybrids may be much better than what appears to be the case for the Volt.
I thought I simply said "That's quite a blind spot." Do you see more? Maybe there's hidden commentary in there somewhere on different types of hybrid vehicles, but I don't see it or remember writing it.
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