As the largest container port in the UK and one of the largest in Europe, the Port of Felixstowe represents the perfect testing ground for the MaxEV. The two week trial involved testing by a number of departments within the port, and employees were invited to drive the vehicle and make a personal assessment of its performance.

The trial revealed information about the participants perception of electric vehicles both before and after their drive. Most participants had not driven an EV before the MaxEV, and found the vehicle to be very responsive and smooth. Many said it was very similar to a normal car with good acceleration and braking, and overall better than they initially expected it to be.

Another interesting aspect of the study was the occurrence of ‘range anxiety.’ This can be described as a fear of running out of charge due to the lack of familiarity with a range/SOC dynamic in a fully electric vehicle. The trial revealed that while a great number of the drivers initially experienced range anxiety, it subsided over the course of the trial as drivers began to understand the commuting distances actually driven.

David Gledhill, Chief Executive Officer of Hutchison Ports (UK) Ltd, which owns the Port of Felixstowe, commented:

“There is greater pressure than ever before, upon both businesses and individuals, to look at the way we live our lives and to reduce the impact we have on the environment. Climate Week is an annual reminder for each of us and our workplaces to take a look at our ‘green credentials’ and find ways of improving our commitment to the environment.

He continued:

“These are exciting times for ‘green’ technology, and we are pleased to be one of the first businesses in the area to trial a 100% electric vehicle. We take the effect our operations have on the environment very seriously, and are constantly striving to reduce the impact we cause. This series of events will help us to raise the profile of this as an issue and give our employees greater opportunity to contribute to this change.”

Energetique’s MaxEV is the 100% Electric Light Commercial Vehicle in Energetique’s range, and like the evMe has a maximum speed of 130km/h and motor efficiency of up to 97%.

Press Release
17th October 2010

Challenging the Future – MAXEV - 100% Electric

RLE International and Energetique are delighted to announce their entry, into first Future Car Challenge, Brighton to London rally sponsored by the RAC held on 6th November 2010.

The Future Car Challenge will take place the day before the world famous London to Brighton Veteran Car Run using the same 60 – mile course.

The challenge aims to highlight low energy impact vehicles, which can have a major positive effect in climate change. Prizes will be awarded for vehicles that use the least energy throughout the 60 mile course.

Michael Collins, Business Development Manager commented “Over 60 vehicles have entered into the spirit of the challenge.” He continued “The maxEV team are truly excited about this challenge. Since launching MAXEV at the Cenex Low Carbon Vehicle show at Millbrook, in September, we have inspired by the reaction to our vehicle. We have been overwhelmed by the interest we have had in our Isis (Innovative Software – Inspired Solution) technology approach and companies wishing to purchase maxEV. The event is a further demonstration of maxEV and our belief that the vehicle is truly world class”.

Dr Phil Coop, Managing Director, of Energetique said”We believe our vehicle, maxEV, has a good chance in our class at the event. MaxEV sets us apart from the competition in combining our experience with integrating power-train, battery and grid technology with RLE’s proven track record in vehicle design and development”. He continued “maxEV is a vehicle which can deliver the future for fleet operators, parcel, post and delivery services which need to reduce their carbon footprint and transition away from fossil fuels”.

The advanced charging technology under development will enable fleet operators to migrate towards proactive or prognostic charging and take advantage of variable electricity tariffs. With the phase in of Feed in Tariffs across Europe, the maxEV technology could also allow fleet operators to export the energy stored in the vehicle battery to the grid (Vehicle to Grid or V2G). This will allow fleet vehicles to become a valuable resource in the integrated management of the companies energy needs.

Paul Bridden, Head of Engineering, RLE International UK, points out: “Tomorrow’s motorists want more information and reassurance on alternatively fuelled vehicles. They want to see and feel what is different. He continued “To that end, that is one of the principle reasons why this event is so important and our team is really excited to be part of this inaugural event”.

The maxEV platform has been developed with Energetique specifically to meet these requirements for fleet delivery, logistics and ‘in location’ service companies.

Ends

For further information please contact:

Michael Collins
Business Development
RLE International
Mobile: 0044 (0) 7966 617 262
Email: michael.collins@rle.co.uk

Supplementary Information

The RLE INTERNATIONAL Group is one of the world’s leading development, technology and consultation service providers to the international mobility, energy and service industries.
We provide, design development and consultancy support and effective solutions for our customers in the fields of Mobility, Services and Energy.
Core Competence areas are in the fields of Vehicles, Drive and Electronics, Product Lifecycle Management and Business Services in the After-Sales environment as well as Wind Industry Engineering.
At our worldwide locations that are close to customers in Europe, North America and Asia we face up to today’s requirements reliably and with a great deal of motivation.

ENERGETIQUE specialises in the design, development, and integration of high density energy storage and energy management systems for the automotive, renewable, and power industries.
Energetique’s innovative power-train, battery and grid integration technologies have already been proven in the 100% electric vehicle, evMe which was released in November 2008. The Energetique technology platform has also been used to power the light delivery van maxEV.

Notes for Editors

The RAC Brighton to London Future Car Challenge takes place on Saturday 6 November, the day before the Royal Automobile Club’s world famous London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. Starting at Madeira Drive, this unique live event will use the traditional 60-mile veteran car run route in reverse.

Provisional Timings:

• Start (Madeira Drive, Brighton) at 08:30 to 09:00.
• Halfway stop (Crawley) 09:30 to 10:30.
• Finish (Pall Mall, London) 11:15 to 12:30
• Presentation (Regent Street, London) 12:30 to 16:00.

The formal finish will be in Pall Mall followed by a special ceremonial finish and presentation in Regent Street. Here, the vehicles will join the display of more than 100 pre-1905 motor cars in the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run Concours in front of an estimated 250,000 audience.

More than 60 vehicles have entered to participate in this inaugural event. They are coming from manufacturers, institutions, individual motoring pioneers and private owners. The event will be staged, promoted and judged in the three categories – Electric, Hybrid and Internal Combustion Engine. Within each category, entries will be measured in various modes for the energy used during the drive from Madeira Drive to Pall Mall. The challenge will be to complete the event with the least energy impact.

Each of the 25 category winners will receive an engraved Royal Automobile Club trophy and the overall winner will receive the coveted Royal Automobile Club Gold Medal. There will also be an award for the best private entry and each classified finisher will receive a Club medal and certificate.

The RAC Brighton to London Future Car Challenge will be judged by the event’s Technical Panel comprising: Ben Cussons, Chairman (The Royal Automobile Club Motoring Committee), Dr David Bizley (Director of Technical RAC), Richard Parry-Jones (industry), John Wood (Institution of Mechanical Engineers), Dr Ricardo Martinez-Botas (Imperial College London) Steve Cropley (Autocar) and John Hilton (Flybrid Systems).

Since its creation in 1897, The Royal Automobile Club has actively supported and promoted the development of motoring in Great Britain including the introduction of the famous 1000 Mile Trial of 1900; the first motor race (the Tourist Trophy) in 1905; the first British Grand Prix in 1926 and, since 1930, the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. This celebrates the Emancipation Run of November 1896, an historic event that promoted and demonstrated the capabilities of the then recently invented horseless carriage at a time when electric and steam power, as well as the internal combustion engine, were competing for mass-production dominance.

In March 2010, The RAC Foundation, one of the sponsors of the event, produced a report on the potential of low carbon vehicle technology entitled Driving Down Emissions. The report concluded: The challenge is not only to stimulate both the supply and demand side of the low carbon vehicle market, but to make sure progress on each happens in tandem. It will not be easy but it must be done.

For more information about the RAC Brighton to London Future Car Challenge, including regulations and entry form, visit www.futurecarchallenge.com

The RAC Brighton to London Future Car Challenge is kindly supported by the RAC, Goodyear, the RAC Foundation, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Imperial College London; City of Westminster, Brighton & Hove City Council, Crawley Borough Council, Central Sussex College and the Regent Street Association.

The RAC Brighton to London Future Car Challenge is organised and promoted on behalf of The Royal Automobile Club by Motion Works – the organising team of the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.

The Cenex LCVS has become a popular industry event since its inauguration three years ago in 2008, showcasing the innovative R&D of world leading automotive OEM’s, technology companies, supply chain, research organisations and universities.

The event gave attendees the opportunity to get behind the wheel of maxEV and experience first hand the latest and greatest in low carbon vehicle technology on a number of tracks within Millbrook Proving Ground.

Zoom

This year’s event set out to prove that despite the economic turmoil of the past year, development and deployment of Low Carbon Vehicles is continuing to gather pace.

According to Energetique’s Chief Technical officer Norman Boessler who attended the event, maxEV was extremely well received, with the overall response being ‘I can’t believe it’s an electric vehicle!’

He also felt that the maxEV was well and truly up to the standard of the much larger car companies exhibiting at the event. “It’s fantastic to see Australian technology holding its own on an international stage like this,” he said.

Press Release
15th September 2010

Delivering the Future – 100% Electric

RLE International and Energetique are launching the maxEV, their 100% Electric Light Commercial Vehicle at the Cenex Low Carbon Vehicle Show and Conference on 15th September, at Millbrook Proving Ground.

Since the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in December 2009, this partnership has set its goals on generating Electric Vehicles for a broad range of mobility applications.

Dr Phil Coop, Managing Director, of Energetique said “We believe our partnership sets us apart from the competition in combining our experience with integrating power-train, battery and grid technology with RLE’s proven track record in vehicle design and development”. He continued “maxEV is a vehicle which can deliver the future for fleet operators, parcel, post and delivery services which need to reduce their carbon footprint and transition away from fossil fuels”.

Proven Technology

The latest offering from this exciting partnership is the maxEV which utilises the robust VW Caddy Maxi as the donor vehicle and applies a derivative of Energetique’s evMe proven power-train technology to deliver a high performance light commercial vehicle with an effective range of 150km (extended up to 200km).

The maxEV platform provides UK and EU fleet operators with a real choice in electrification for their chosen fleet vehicle, with an effective 600kg payload. A customised version of the platform suitable for limited post code pick up delivery routes is currently being investigated with a large fleet operator.

Paul Bridden, Head of Engineering, RLE International UK, points out: “We are really excited about this venture. The automotive industry is entering a new horizon of development. Increasing awareness of corporate social responsibility allied to Government pressure through incentives and penalties are starting to make reducing carbon emissions a high priority item. The resulting focus on reducing use of energy resources and cutting carbon emissions, is creating opportunities for UK businesses to lead the way and become a major players in developing new Green Automotive Technology”. The maxEV platform has been developed with Energetique specifically to meet these requirements for fleet delivery, logistics and ‘in location’ service companies.

Future benefits for a fleet delivery company is that the charge of the maxEV may be optimised to meet the driving needs of the following day. The advanced charging technology being developed will enable fleet operators to migrate towards proactive or prognostic charging and take advantage of variable electricity tariffs. With the phase in of Feed in Tariffs across Europe, the maxEV technology could also allow fleet operators to export the energy stored in the vehicle battery to the grid (Vehicle to Grid or V2G). This will allow fleet vehicles to become a valuable resource in the integrated management of the companies energy needs.

We look to welcome all interested parties to our Ride and Drive on 15th and 16th September, at LCV 2010 at Millbrook.

Supplementary Information

The RLE INTERNATIONAL Group is one of the world’s leading development, technology and consultation service providers to the international mobility, energy and service industries.
We provide, design development and consultancy support and effective solutions for our customers in the fields of Mobility, Services and Energy.
Core Competence areas are in the fields of Vehicles, Drive and Electronics, Product Lifecycle Management and Business Services in the After-Sales environment as well as Wind Industry Engineering.
At our worldwide locations that are close to customers in Europe, North America and Asia we face up to today’s requirements reliably and with a great deal of motivation.

ENERGETIQUE specialises in the design, development, and integration of high density energy storage and energy management systems for the automotive, renewable, and power industries.
Energetique’s innovative power-train, battery and grid integration technologies have already been proven in the 100% electric vehicle, evMe which was released in November 2008. The Energetique technology platform has also been used to power the light delivery van maxEV.

For further information please contact:

Michael Collins
Business Development
RLE International
Mobile 0044 (0) 7966 617 262.
Email: michael.collins@rle.co.uk

NICHE Australian electric vehicle (EV) outfit Energetique has announced a joint-venture project with Queensland’s Ergon Energy, and is in negotiation with a number of other power companies, to develop and test the integration of EVs with the electricity grid.

As a working group within the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) mulls the ramifications of mass-market plug-in hybrid and full-electric car launches from 2012, the fledgling independent Energetique – which has the Mazda2-based evMe EV on sale now – is forging alliances to assess a range of infrastructure issues, including the benefits and drawbacks of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) integration.

Energetique chief executive Phil Coop told GoAuto it was crucial that electricity companies were prepared for an influx of vehicles drawing on their networks, and understood how to manage the integration “because they’re the ones that are going to bear the brunt of providing the ‘fuel’ for these cars”.

He said that if integration was not well managed, EVs had the potential to exacerbate peak electricity demand, which could in turn force unforseen investments via network upgrades.

On the other hand, Dr Coop said EVs offered opportunities to mitigate peak demand, with car owners feeding electricity back to the grid from their vehicles – a bonus for the electricity utilities, as well as a means for motorists to reduce their running costs.

For that to occur, however, the vehicles will need to be compatible with so-called “smart grid” digital technology that utilities are beginning to roll out across the world, including in Australia.

“What they (the utilities) all want to do is to make sure that the electric vehicle industry comes up and has smart grid technology, which they can use in their grid filtering and their grid maintenance,” said Dr Coop.

“It would be ridiculous to put a whole stack of cars on the charge at a peak energy load time, because that would finish them off – it’d be like putting 20,000 new air-conditioning systems on a network that was already suffering.

“So the first issue is to mitigate the charging load.”

Using smart grid technology, electricity companies can control the flow of energy between the vehicle and grid, enabling the flow to be slowed, delayed or even reversed. The network managers will be able to determine the optimal charging time, and the charge itself might come in bursts.

“The really positive side is that that energy in the car is actually available to be put back on to the grid through V2G technology,” said Dr Coop. “In this way, the vehicle can deliver power when the utility requires it while still meeting the customers’ driving needs.”

The Energetique chief said this sort of collaboration between the consumer and power retailer would allow households to reduce their energy costs and provide a valuable tool for the electricity provider to manage the network. It could also see electricity supply costs come down.

“It sounds a bit blue sky, but the whole notion of community transport will change,” he said. “The car is going to be the next wave of technology to be integrated, just like the mobile phone and the palm pilot and the computer and the TV are all integrating – like converging technologies – the car has caught up with that now. And it has the added advantage of being able to provide energy for all this stuff as well.

“It also consumes a substantial bunch (of energy) in itself. People who use fossil fuel – petrol – are sort of hidden from the sheer volume of energy they put into their tank each day. Once you get back to electricity, you suddenly realise that the electric car has a budget that is similar or more to what is used for the house. But the whole thing is going to be very transparent.”

For ‘smart charging’ to occur at all, the vehicle must be equipped with software to interact with the smart grid when it is available. The evMe has it onboard, as does the recently launched plug-in version of Toyota’s Prius – dubbed Switch – developed by the University of Technology Sydney, which is conducting a V2G assessment program in collaboration with EnergyAustralia.

GoAuto understands that most of the forthcoming EVs, including now the Chevrolet Volt, will also be compatible.

However, Dr Coop said some car manufacturers were struggling with technology as they race to market with EVs.

“We are in dialogue with a few of them, and we’re finding that they’re not coping that well,” he said. “It’s not entirely their fault – they are very large bureaucracies that manage to manufacture a car with a global logistics network so that you and I can buy one for $14,990 or something, which is a huge achievement.

“But I think that they are still struggling with technology – they still need to prove the technology. Once they start going into production, they don’t want anything to start going wrong when they’ve got 100,000 vehicles in the marketplace.

“There’s a lot of issues that haven’t been resolved yet, and a lot of standards that haven’t been set. And we’re right in the middle of all this.”

Ergon Energy acting general manager of corporate development Glenn Walden said distributed energy would be one of the key responses to the challenges the company faces in delivering services to customers in the future.

“Energy management systems and energy storage in particular will feature prominently in future supply solutions,” Mr Walden said. “It will also enable integration of greater levels of clean energy into the grid as renewable energy sources become more available.”

Ergon Energy is owned by the Queensland government and services more than 650,000 residential and business customers across 97 per cent of the state – virtually all areas outside Brisbane. Energetique is based in Armidale, NSW, and builds the $70,000 evMe to order. It sold its first example in April, and has expressions of interest from more than 100 other customers.

As GoAuto reported in June, Energetique has also signed a preliminary agreement with German automotive engineering service provider RLE International to develop and market the evMe platform in Europe.

The Energetique-Ergon alliance follows an announcement from infrastructure provider Better Place last week that it will work with electricity retailer ActewAGL to establish an EV recharging network – which will include smart grid technology – in Canberra in 2012, ahead of a rollout in other states and territories.

Zoom

Representatives from Energetique and Ergon Energy joined with Mr Garrett to open the event and test drive Energetique’s evMe, which featured at the event in conjunction with Ergon Energy’s Smart Grid technology.

Led by Ergon Energy, the Townsville Solar Cities program aims to better understand the benefits and barriers to solar technology uptake. Information gathered from the project will be analysed to see how different members of a community can best reduce energy consumption, and how governments, industries and individuals can support wise energy usage.

Townsville is one of only seven cities to be part of the Australian Governments $94 million Solar Cities program and Energetique has been working closely with Ergon Energy to develop a grid interactive platform that manages the transfer of energy between the grid and the vehicle battery.

The Energetique Vehicle to Grid (V2G) platform is also Smart Grid enabled. This will allow customers to specify their energy requirements for driving and the additional energy capacity of the battery that can be utilised by the utility. In this way the vehicle can deliver power when the utility requires it while still meeting the customer’s driving needs.

Mr Garrett said it was encouraging to see the substantial advances made by Ergon Energy and the significant reductions in energy consumption already achieved as a result of the Solar City project in Townsville.

The Solar Cities program was developed by the Australian Government to bring industry, business, governments and communities together to rethink the way they produce, use and save energy. The seven Solar Cities include Adelaide, Alice Springs, Blacktown, Central Victoria, Moreland, Perth and Townsville.

Energetique and Ergon Energy have announced a joint project to develop and test the integration of electric vehicles with the electricity grid.

The Grid Intelligent Electric Vehicle project will demonstrate Smart Charge and Vehicle to Grid (V2G) capabilities and integration with energy management systems – essential work in assessing the benefits and drawbacks of vehicle-grid integration.

While Grid Intelligent Electric Vehicles and Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles are expected to have increasing market appeal, smart integration with the network is crucial.

If not managed well, they have the potential to exacerbate peak electricity demand causing costly extra network investment if not managed well. However if managed well they offer opportunities to mitigate peak demand by customers feeding electricity back into the grid from their cars – a distributed energy concept called Vehicle to Grid.

As a result of the trial, Ergon Energy will evaluate the impact of electric vehicles charging from the grid and control of energy flow between the vehicle and the grid.

During peak load periods, the flow of energy can be delayed, slowed or reversed to manage peak demand and provide benefits to the vehicle user and the network.

Energetique spokesperson Dr Phil Coop, said to enable this, Energetique would develop a platform that manages the transfer of energy between the grid and the vehicle battery.

“The Energetique Grid Intelligent Electric Vehicle will enable Smart Charge whereby vehicle users will specify their energy requirements for driving and Vehicle to Grid where they will specify the additional energy capacity of the battery can be utilised by the network. In this way the vehicle can deliver power when the utility requires it while still meeting the customers driving needs,” Dr Coop said.

“By collaboratively managing the vehicle batteries, customers will be able to reduce their energy costs and electric vehicles can become a valuable tool for network management and reduce electricity supply costs.”

Ergon Energy Acting General Manager Corporate Development Glenn Walden said distributed energy would be one of the key responses to the challenges Ergon Energy faces in delivering services to its customers in the future.

“Energy management systems and energy storage in particular will feature prominently in future supply solutions,” Mr Walden said.

“It will also enable integration of greater levels of clean energy into the grid as renewable energy sources become more available.”

Backgrounder

Energetique specialises in the design and development of electric vehicles and energy management systems and has spent the past 4 years in research and development of the 100% electric vehicle evMe. The vehicle’s power electronics and battery technology deliver:

• Extended Range 200km
• Maximum Speed 150km
• Power Acceleration 0-100km in under 10 seconds
• Motor Efficiency up to 97%
• Full Digital Control
• Zero Vehicle Emissions

Energetique have recently partnered with RLE International, a Global Automotive Engineering group based in Germany to develop an electric vehicle pilot in Europe.

www.evme.com.au
www.rle.de

Media Contact:
Emily Sullivan
Ph: (02) 6772 7113
emily.sullivan@energetique.com.au

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maxEV enters Brighton to London rally

“maxEV is a vehicle which can deliver the future.”

17/10/2010

maxEV European launch

“I can’t believe it’s an electric vehicle!”

15/9/2010

BBC By Any Means 2

Charly Boorman test drive “I’m so impressed by this car”

27/09/2009

More Media

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Top Gear Australia (magazine)
Photos: Thomas Wieleki
Andrew Chesterton
July 1, 2009

Cars will become plug-in. It won’t be fuel, it won’t be gas. It will be electric.
How a cattle farmer from Armidale is saving the world, one car at a time.

Phil Coop is going to save the world. Not in some namby-pamby way, like enschewing plastic bags or not eating whale burgers. Nor in some flashy celebrity fashion, like hosting a turgid telethon or kidnapping an African kid, or two.

Nope, Phil Coop is literally going to save the planet, which, when you think about it is a pretty decent claim to fame for a 50 year old cattle farmer from Armidale in rural NSW. Why? Phil builds electric cars, and pretty bloody good ones at that. But we’ll touch on that in a moment.

Firstly, how does a regular country boy make the jump from cows to conduction? It all started a few years back, when the price of a litre of petrol was roughly comparable to the cost of a functioning kidney on the body bits-black market. Phil, like most of us, got sick of being screwed at the pump. And he decided to do something about it.

But while most of us where busy waiting for some big car firm to pump out an affordable, environmentally friendly option that doesn’t make us what to stick our heads in a medical waste bin, (sorry Toyota), Phil took a distinctly country approach; he decided to solve the problem himself.
So he sourced an old ute, powered by dozens of lead acid batteries, to use for short trips and to get around his property. Sadly, the ute had less grunt than your average calculator and needed constant recharging, but Phil wasn’t deterred. He set out to make it better.

“The last time fuel prices were up, we bought an old battery powers Suzuki Mightly Boy,” he says. “If you were only going to travel short distances , it would do it; very badly, but it would do it. We knew then that there was something in this. And that we could make it better. So I organised a team to take around the world with me to look at the best technology available. And when we came back, we decided that this idea could be a goer.”

Five years, more international research tours and $2.5 million of his own cash later, the evMe was born. Based on the Mazda 2 shell - though the technology will fit into pretty much anything you care to name - the evMe has 96 lithium-polymer batteries stored under the back seat, each one as thin as a pizza tra like device you can see Phil holding in our photos. It takes 10 hours to charge and, fully juiced, will travel about 200km.

The electric motor generates 89kW - 123 more than the standard Mazda 2 - and it will sprint to 100km/h in 10 seconds when tuned for range over power. With a few quick turns of a spanner - or what ever the hell you use on an electric engine - that time falls to around under 6 seconds. That’s Golf R32 territory.

But even without the turning, this is a handy little car. One of the electric propulsion’s key advantages is that you can access all of the motors torque instantly, and 220Nm is plently to snap you smartly away from rest. Despite the 200kg of extra weight from all those batteries, the evMe still feels nimble and light on its feet. And because the gear box has only two choices, forwards and backwards, there is no time spent hanging around waiting for those old-fashioned gear changes.

So the car is a success then, but surely there were times when Phil, or at least his family, questioned his decision to sink $2 million into a concept that for years was met with sniggers by his neighbours. “People believe cars will become plug in,” he says. “It won’t be fuel, it won’t be gas. It will be electric. And I agree.

“People are convinced that electricity is the path of forward innovation for the world of motoring. And batteries are going to be the fundamental technology we use.”

Think of the evMe as the United Nations of cars, with bits bought all over the world; the shell is from Japan, the batteris are shiped from South Korea, the motor an electrics are built in Switzerland, while the battery management system is flown in from Poland. But technology is like a politician’s promises; it’s forever changing. And even as Phil puts the finishing touches on the first of his fleet of cars, new and better products are becoming available.

“This is the finest technology of its kind in the world,” he says. Put we’ve still got some problems. We’re now looking at a new battery management system out of Germany.”

So what of our bold claim that Phil and his team will save the planet? That was no hyperbole, and this is no backyard operation. After five years of hard graft, Phil company, Energetique is currently ploughing through a backlog of about 100 orders for conversions - including Fiestas, VWs and even a Lotus Elise - while Phil and his team have just returned from a trip to Europe where they met with manufacturing arms of major car firms, including Ford.

Not bad for a boy from Armidale huh? Actually, while we’re on the topic, why the bloody hell is the firm still based in Armidale? Surely Sydney or Melbourne would be easier?
“I’m just a grazier” we run a cattle property,” he says. “I have an intrest in technology but I am not necessarily qualified. But I enjoy bringing the right people together.”
“It makes no sence to have this project in Armidale, but we love the regional lifestyle. It probably cost us between 40 and 60 per cent in extra transport costs on every product. But we’re comitted to the region. Regional areas have to do something, or they’re just going to disappear. And innovationcan happen here. It isn’t easy, but I hope regional areas will have their own heroes who can bring innovation forward.”

Phil, if you were any more of a hero, you would need a cape. More power to you.