Hybrid-Electric Startup Urges EPA to Issue Meaningful Fuel Efficiency Metrics

Speaking in a voice far louder than the startup’s size might suggest, ETV Motors has challenged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to hold the car industry accountable for meaningful and usable fuel efficiency metrics. In an open letter sent to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, ETV insists that companies like General Motors and Nissan have made mileage claims (respectively, 230 mpg and 367 mpg) that are “confusing at best and, under some circumstances, misleading.”

In its letter, ETV Motors, itself a developer of advanced hybrid-electric propulsion technology, calls for a wholly new approach to measuring car efficiency. The company urges the EPA to play a leadership role in defining a well-articulated, rational and consumer-sensitive set of vehicle efficiency measurement regulations that would allow car buyers to make informed decisions in a timely manner.

“A new breed of vehicles calls for an entirely new set of measures,” insists ETV’s CEO Dror Ben David. “The car industry and its customers need unbiased standards that allow people of reasonable intelligence to make a meaningful comparison of the options available in the market.”

ETV contends in its letter to the EPA’s Jackson that “the need is urgent and requires immediate resolution.” The company provides three practical measurement approaches, along with examples that illustrate the use of the proposed new metrics:

— All Electric Range (the distance a vehicle driven under normal driving
conditions can expect to achieve when operating in purely-electric mode)
— Energy Efficiency in All Electric Mode (the energy efficiency of the
vehicle in its All Electric Range)
— Fuel Efficiency in Charge-Sustain Mode (a measure of fuel efficiency
for range extended electric vehicles such as the Chevy Volt)

These metrics address the need to characterize all-electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and range-extended electric vehicles.

The full text of ETV Motors’ letter to the EPA is available at: http://www.etvmotors.com/Documents/ETVM_Letter_to_EPA_10Sep09_As_Sent.pdf

ETV Motors is developing and commercializing novel technology for electrical vehicle propulsion. It draws on the interdisciplinary experience of a team with strong backgrounds in industry and academia. The company was established in 2008. More information at www.etvmotors.com