The Company was founded in 1967 to fabricate fiberglass component parts for various applications including aircraft and kit automobiles. In the early 1970’s, the Company designed and manufactured “dune buggies” for recreational enthusiasts. In the late 1970’s, our focus shifted to the development and manufacture of an all-composite, purpose built, environmentally friendly, battery electric passenger automobile tradenamed the “Electrek.” During the period from 1978 to 1982, over 75 Electreks were manufactured and sold, some of which are still in operation today. During the development of the Electrek, we began to experiment with concepts for a better performing electric motor that was suited for the propulsion of a vehicle including the delivery of high torque and high speed with exceptional energy efficiency. These efforts led to the invention of our patented core permanent magnet motor technology. Since that time, we have developed and patented numerous extensions of this technology including methods of manufacture, methods of electronic control (including switching circuit architecture and phase timing advancement), the packaging of an electro-mechanical brake inside of a motor and a low cost method for accurately sensing rotor position.

Historically, we have applied our technology to the development of vehicle propulsion systems and provided application engineering and vehicle integration services for customers worldwide. A sample of some notable projects we have undertaken over the last 25 years include:

• The development and construction of a purpose-built hybrid electric mobile broadcast studio used by ABC Sports to broadcast the 1984 Olympic marathon event.

 

• The development and construction of a hybrid electric firefighting robot for use on Naval ships capable of 360 degree steering of each of its four independent wheels.    

 

• Conversion of a 22-foot Orion transit bus to hybrid electric drive and the deployment of this vehicle in various transit districts in New York State, achieving recognition as the first hybrid electric bus to carry fee-paying passengers in North America.
  
• The development and supply of electric propulsion systems for BMW’s electric vehicle program and Alcan Aluminium’s fuel cell vehicle program in the early 1990s.

 

• In 1998, the launch of volume production of the industry's first gearless brushless direct drive motor for Invacare’s Storm® series electric wheelchair line.

 

• The development of a “multipurpose unit” to start the internal combustion engine, control regenerative braking and synchronize gears in General Motors hybrid electric Precept concept car introduced at the 2000 Detroit Auto Show.

 

• In collaboration with PEI Electronics, the development of a hybrid electric propulsion system for High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (Humvee) for evaluation by the U.S. Army. Several hybrid electric Humvees have been delivered to the U.S. Army for field testing.

Our objective is to leverage our technology base and name recognition to develop and manufacture products for our customers that are superior in performance at competitive prices. Fundamental to this strategy is the continual advancement of our proprietary motor, generator, power electronic controller and software technology portfolio and the maintenance of a high quality and competitive manufacturing capability for products that we develop.