Forty Miles on a Charge: What's the Holdup?

For all the gas hysteria sweeping the country, you would think AFS Trinity could find a taker for its hybrid technology that supposedly can take an SUV 40 miles on a single electric charge. Owner Edward Furia says that in his talks with U.S. automakers, he's only had "nibbles," according to an interview in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Most of today's electric vehicles can exceed 40 miles on a single charge, but are usually sub-compact in size.

With automakers abandoning SUVs and GM sweating bullets over its 2010 deadline for its much-hyped plug-in Volt, it seems odd that AFS hasn't found any takers to license its technology. The battery system uses lithium-ion technology but overcomes the technical issue of the battery draining too quickly by introducing ultracapacitors. The devices power the car during acceleration by shooting quick bursts of energy to the motor, thus sparing the battery the work.

It took four years for AFS to perfect the technology, which it recently demonstrated in a retrofitted Saturn Vue Green Line.

So what's the catch? Although AFS may have built a better mousetrap, the typical issues with plug-in electrics haven't gone anywhere. They're still moving emissions from the tailpipe to the power plant, and the cost remains fairly steep. Furia estimates that the battery technology would add $8,600 to the price of a car or SUV.

'They Can Go 40 Miles for a Dollar,' If Cars Get Made (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)