An American green technology company has developed a hybrid Hummer capable of over 100mpg.
Raser Technologies, the company behind the hybrid hummer, claims to have achieved the impossible by greening up one of the cars with the worse environmental record. Hummer cars are known to have previously achieved as little as 12mpg, but thanks to Raser Technologies; who are currently exhibiting the new Hummer at the Plug-In Conference 2009, until Wednesday, 12 August at the Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, California; the reputation of the Hummer could be on the mend.
Raser Vice President David West is expected to speak at the convention on “Scaling Up from an Idea to Production.”
“We’ve taken a vehicle known for being both a gas guzzler and an environmental polluter and turned into a clean, green machine that outperforms its gasoline powered equivalent,” said West.
The Hummer H3E is a plug-in electric vehicle with an onboard range extender. It’s designed to go about 40 miles in all-electric mode after which a small gas powered engine kicks in and powers a generator which then re-charges the batteries. The H3E can go about 400 miles before needing to refuel. For most drivers, this means over 100 mpg in typical local daily driving and about 5 cents per mile versus 20 cents per mile for the typical gas version. The Hummer H3E was developed in cooperation with General Motors and integration partner FEV.
“We will be working now to implement this powertrain in as many trucks and SUVs as possible for both fleet and consumer use,” West added.
The Raser plug-in Hummer SUV was introduced at the SAE World Congress in Detroit, Michigan in April. It then went on a coast to coast tour, stopping at the New York Stock Exchange, U.S. Capitol, California State Capital and Western Governors’ Association Annual Meeting in Utah.
Raser Technologies is an environmental Energy Technology company focused on geothermal power development and technology licensing. Raser’s Power Systems segment is seeking to develop clean, renewable geothermal electric power plants and bottom-cycling operations, incorporating licensed heat transfer technology and Raser’s Symetron™ technology developed internally by its Transportation and Industrial segment. Raser’s Transportation & Industrial segment focuses on extended-range plug-in-hybrid vehicle solutions and using Raser’s award-winning Symetron™ technology to improve the torque density and efficiency of the electric motors and drive systems used in electric and hybrid-electric vehicle powertrains and industrial applications. Further information on Raser may be found at: www.rasertech.com.
