By Justin Schneider, Herald Bulletin Online Reporter/Manager
justin.schneider@heraldbulletin.com
ANDERSON - Bright Automotive is marketing its homegrown hybrid to the world.
Officials from the Anderson-based startup traveled to Iceland last week to discuss bringing its plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle, the Idea, to Europe. Bright developed the lead during the EVS-24 conference in Stavenger, Norway, which ran May 13-16.
"We met with a large consortium group that included the Icelandic postal service," said Lyle Shuey, vice president of marketing and sales for Bright. "Iceland is en route to Europe, it's kind of the midway point. They also have a fully sustainable electric grid there, based on hydroelectric power and thermal energy."
Bright unveiled the Idea, a 100-mpg hybrid-electric vehicle , during a visit to Washington, D.C. on April 21, but Shuey said EVS-24 represented the "world unveiling" of the Idea.
As the largest electric vehicle symposium and exhibition in the world, EVS-24 gave Bright exposure to customers in Canada, South Africa, Asia and beyond. Bright is also offering the services of its engineers to potential customers in the form of electric conversions (turning gas-burning vehicles into electrics), battery pack systems and what Shuey calls "platform efficiency."
On June 1, Bright announced it had applied for $35 million through two government grants offered by the Department of Energy. Up for grabs is $18 million to develop a state-of-the-art battery pack manufacturing facility through the Electric Drive Vehicle Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative. Another $17 million could develop and deploy hybrid-electric vehicles through the Transportation Electrification Program. Bright applied as a member of the Energy Systems Network, a consortium of Central Indiana businesses for the advancement of so-called "clean technologies."
The company has already applied for $450 million in government loans through the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program established under the Energy Independence Act of 2007.
"Bright Automotive has the expertise and passion to help make the president's goal a reality," Bright CEO John Waters said of President Barack Obama's goal to put one million plug-in hybrids on the road by 2015. "These grants will help ensure we are able to reach our goal of producing 50,000 vehicles annually while creating over 5,000 American jobs before 2015."
Bright has previously announced its intentions to produce 50,000 vehicles annually by 2013. The company makes its home at The Flagship Enterprise Center, but is currently shopping for a permanent production base. Indiana officials want Bright to solicit offers from other states before putting together an incentive package.
Waters and Bright Hybrid Systems Architect Jeff Ronning helped develop the EV-1, General Motors Corp.'s early foray into the electric vehicle market, components of which were produced in Anderson.
"We're located in Indiana for a reason," Shuey said, admitting that Bright has entered into talks with other states. "Indiana is already the Silicon Valley of this industry. Being in Indiana gives us access to some of those great automotive tier-one suppliers. That said, we haven't made a decision where our manufacturing center will be located."
Shuey said Bright will require several support industries to reach its production goal, and the company has already established a relationship with tire maker Bridgestone.
Duke Energy, which serves 800,000 customers in Indiana and is an investor in Bright, is trying to improve its grid to accommodate electric transportation. On June 8, Duke announced it had reached a settlement with the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor and others on a proposal to begin modernizing its delivery system.
"The electric grid is an engineering marvel, but it has not changed a lot since it was built decades ago," said Angeline Protogere, spokeswoman for Duke Energy in Indiana. "Basically, this would be moving from an analog system to a digital system, replacing less-efficient analog technology with advanced digital technology and bring the electrical delivery system into the 21st century."
She said Duke's vision for a "smart grid" means two-way communication that will allow customers to use electricity at off-peak hours. High-tech lines will detect outages, reducing and shortening outages, and allow automated meter-reading that will reduce man hours.
Bright officials say smart grid technology could even allow consumers to take excess electricity generated by the Idea and sell it back to the grid. Protogere said the possibilities of such an exchange are being explored at Duke's Envision Center in Cincinnati.
"The reason we are involved with Bright Automotive and others is because after World War II, when air conditioning came to be, it had a huge impact on the amount of power that people consume and it had a big impact on utilities," Protogere said. "We believe that plug-in electric hybrids can have the same impact and we want to be on the front end of that."