Armidale Express - 17/11/2008

Ecological sustainability has a new home-grown ride

The World now has a technologically advanced electric vehicle (EV) – designed and built in Armidale.

Armidale- based technology company, Energetique, has a prototype electric vehicle which will be formally launch in the Mall at 1 o’clock today. The ‘evMe’ - a fully electric vehicle, the result of four years research – will be officially launched by Member for New England, Tony Windsor.

Member for Northern Tablelands, Richard Torbay, and Armidale Dumaresq deputy mayor, Jim Maher, will also attend.

The launch will include the hand over of the first evMe to be sold in Australia.

The team behind Energetique includes Phil Coop as CEO, chief technical officer Norm Boessler, systems engineer Brendan Heywood, body engineer Dwayne Riley, sales and media manager Emily Sullivan and Marketing and strategy manager Donna Francis.

The evMe features state of the art technologies that will finally allow electric Vehicles to be viable alternative for commuters.

The efficiencies and performance of the evMe have been achieved through the integration of the worlds most advanced power electronics and energy storage technologies.

The evMe does not have a gearbox as the driver motor is a unique, liquid cooled hybrid synchronous motor which provides power for the vehicle from start to its maximum speed, while operating at efficiencies of around 97 percent.

The batteries are high quality Lithium ion that are both light weight and energy dense. The evMe has a range of 200-300km per charge, depending on the driving mode selected and conditions, at top speed in excess of 130kph, and can travel from 0-100kpp in a little under 10 seconds.

Recharging the evMe is easy – just plug it into a domestic socket and charge it at home, although there are several other recharging options which can the time to around two hours. Energetique is also developing a unique on-board rapid charger that will recharge the evMe in around one hour.

The vehicle also integrates well with solar energy solutions. The evMe is currently available in a four door hatch body style, however there are several other body styles that are suitable as a platform for an electric technology solution.

The evMe technology will soon be available in a commercial delivery van and a high performance sports roadster. There are many benefits arising from electric vehicles, particularly cheaper running costs: an average consumption rate of 10-15 KWhs per 100 kilometres translates to a cost of around $2-$3 per 100 kilometres. Electric vehicles emit no emissions or particulates, helping create cleaner air for urban environments, and help reduce Australia’s dependency on imported fuels. Energetique plans the production and release of 100 vehicles as a pilot program to prove and further develop the evMe technologies.

The evMe will be available for sale in 2009 by pre order as part of the pilot program of 100 vehicles.