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Bright Automotive

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Interesting. I can't imagine that they have enough resources to produce a complete vehicle themselves (well, maybe one ;-).

Perhaps they will sell conversions of existing pickups, like AC Propulsion's eBox EV or Hymotion's plug-in Prius.

GSP
 
Some things seem a bit off in that report...
The car will go 30 miles on batteries before the gas engine kicks in and be street-legal....
...Bright is based around a parallel hybrid.
To me if it can go 30 miles on batteries alone it must be a series hybrid (so called E-REV/REEV). They talk about series hybrids needing bigger more expensive motors to be able to go full speed in electric mode... So are they saying that it can go 30 miles on batteries alone but only at low speeds because they use a small eMotor and the gas engine will need to activate if you try to go too fast?

The series hybrid architecture, however, is complex, say critics.
Um, to me series is less complex.
Volt is basically gas engine -> generator -> batteries -> eMotor.
No transmission, no complex method to split eMotor and gas engine power to the same driveshaft. Toyota has a nice package with their "Synergy drive", but to me it is more complex (in operation) than a typical series hybrid.
 
Bright unveils "IDEA" in D.C.

Bright Automotive's IDEA plug-in hybrid comes to DC April 21
...Bright Automotive Announces Name of First Vehicle and Accelerates Date of its Public Unveiling

Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Being Built from Ground-Up by Team of Auto Industry Veterans; Concept Will Be Shown on April 21

ANDERSON, IN (April 6, 2009) – Bright Automotive, Inc. announced today that its first vehicle – a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) that will achieve 100 mpg for an average customer – will be called the IDEA. A concept version of the IDEA will be shown to the public for the first time on April 21, 2009 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. ...

Hybrid Vehicle Manufacturing and Services Company - Bright Automotive

100 MPG EV Maker Bright Automotive Tells Congress that "Auto Bailout" Funds Must Also be Used to Enable Innovation by Entrepreneurial Companies - TACH Agrees
Video - CNBC.com

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A Bright Idea For Plug-In Hybrids - Forbes.com
brightautomotive_398x206.jpg
 
The fleet vehicle is the Smith model. It's great and will benefit from tax breaks even more than private cars. It's just not all that glamorous.

Edit to add:
An Indiana start-up figures the fastest way to get more plug-in hybrid vehicles on the road isn't by designing sexy battery-powered sports cars
.I'm sure everyone here would agree that Tesla's sexy sport car opened the door that Bright is driving through.
 
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Not to be mean or anything, and it's really not ugly ... but it looks to me a bit like what would happen if you cross a Honda Insight, a van, and a hearse. I don't want to think of it this way, but ultimately that's the picture that comes to mind. *sigh*