Revenge of the Electric Car

YOU KNOW THE times are a changin’ when you see Republican senators like Richard Lugar turning out for the launch of an electric vehicle.   We interviewed Senator Lugar in DC recently — as we caught the Capitol Hill debut of Bright Automotive’s Idea — a plug-in hybrid electric delivery vehicle.

Senator Lugar was also cheering for his home team –  Bright are from Anderson, Indiana.    They claim the Idea will save a 250 vehicle fleet company more than $500,000 a year in reduced fuel costs.  That’s because the Idea will operate in all-electric mode for the first 30 miles before switching to hybrid mode for a full range of 400 miles.  For a typical drive of 50 miles, that means the truck will consume just half a gallon of gasoline — equivalent to 100mpg fuel efficiency.    Neat.

Bright know what they’re talking about — the company grew out of a project at the Colorado-based Rocky Mountain Institute and is partnered with forward-thinking organizations like Google, Alcoa and the Turner Foundation.  What’s more, Bright’s CEO John Waters helped to develop the battery pack system for GM’s EV1.

We filmed John as he briefed Congressmen and women on the Bright Idea.   Heather Zichal, Deputy Assistant to the President on Energy, said a few supportive words before John and his team walked over to the Senate for a repeat performance.

As the second Bright photo call ended, we were astonished to find a row of electric vehicles — Tesla, GM,  Chrysler — parked outside the Senate office buildings.  It was a pre-Earth Day preview.  Senator Tom Harkin took a Tesla for a test drive.  GM’s Tony Posawatz was there plugging the Volt.   Hard to imagine that happening even a year ago.

Behind all the hoopla however, there was a serious purpose to Bright’s trip.  They’ve applied for $450m of government money — from the DOE’s Advanced Tech Fund — so they can make 50,000 of their 100mpg vehicles by 2012.  The DC charm offensive was all part of the plan — as were the public shows of support from Frito Lay and Duke Energy Corp.

So … fingers crossed for Bright.   We’ll be tracking their progress over the next 18 months for ‘Revenge.’