A Bridgeport company marketing kits to convert vehicles into electric hybrids has purchased a 45,000-square-foot industrial facility in Shelton and plans to take occupancy later this month.
Alpha-Core Inc. paid $4 million for the facility at 6 Waterview Drive, according to Vidal/Wettenstein L.L.C., which represented the property owner.
Founded by Ulrik Poulsen, until now the company has sold wiring, connectors and transformer cores.
Alpha-Core is now marketing the Poulsen Hybrid Power Assist kit, which the company says can convert any car into a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) requiring minimal fuel. The company reportedly showcased its idea last month at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Alpha-Core is seeking patent protection for its system, which attaches external electric motors to two wheels of a vehicle, resembling somewhat “boots” attached to cars slated for towing.
On the observation that cars require no more than 15 horsepower on flat roads, the company says its external drives can run a car at speeds up to 70 miles per hour. To accelerate or climb hills, power is shifted back to the combustion engine for the needed extra kick.
Alpha Core says it takes less than a day to install the system on a vehicle; for the less mechanically inclined, it also plans to offer kits through a planned network of authorized installers. A kit costs $3,300 and the company estimates mechanics will charge $600 to install it.
The company”™s motors rely on high-energy magnets that generate high power and torque within a compact, lightweight disk, making it well suited for road vehicles under certain conditions.
The magnets were first used to power “Sunraycer,” a General Motors Corp.-backed vehicle that won the inaugural, 1987 predecessor race to the World Solar Challenge in the Australian Outback. The following year, Sunraycer hit 75 miles per hour in a speed test.
Alpha-Core plans to enter a contest itself next year ”“ the Automotive X Prize, which will award a $10 million prize to the first team that can achieve vehicle fuel efficiency of 100 miles per gallon, or its energy equivalent.
The prize is sponsored by the X Prize Foundation, which in 2004 awarded $10 million to Burt Rutan and Paul Allen after they successfully flew a privately-financed aircraft into space twice in two weeks.
Besides fuel economy and emissions criteria, the Automotive X Prize will consider safety and the commercial appeal of contest entrants, but said it will give fair shake to unconventional ideas that push against the envelope of conventional vehicle design. Companies must be able to ramp up a production run of 10,000 vehicles.
