Utah firm's goal for SUV: 140 mpg

A Utah County-based company known for its development and design of geothermal-energy projects is taking its technology to the street: Raser Technologies Inc., headquartered in Provo, next week plans to unveil a prototype hybrid electric vehicle that could get about 140 miles per gallon.

The vehicle was developed in partnership with German engine company FEV and was designed to achieve more than 100 miles per gallon in typical city driving, with near zero emissions, by driving up to 40 miles per day in all-electric mode.

Raser's vice president of marketing, David West, said that the technology initially will be used in large, company fleet vehicles such as full-sized pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles.

"People who usually use trucks use them for business. They're using it to make money, not to commute. We're using the bigger vehicle as a way to bring the technology out for all vehicles," West said.

"Let the trucks be the early adapters. They are going to help bring down the cost for all of us."

West said that Raser's "Extended-Range Electric Vehicle," a Hummer H3, will be demonstrated next week at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress in Detroit. The vehicle is the first to be equipped with Raser's range-extended electric-vehicle technology and also includes an advanced powertrain designed by FEV, a FEV news release said.

West said that the vehicle's higher initial cost makes fleet customers the most likely candidates for buying the vehicles, because companies would be able to recoup the fuel costs much more readily. But in a few years, he said, the up-front costs would be lower, thereby making vehicles with the hybrid electric technology more affordable to a broader range of drivers.

The company hopes to have the technology tested and ready to put into mass-production fleet vehicles by 2011, with an eye toward a larger distribution, West said.

"If we put this powertrain in smaller vehicles down the road," he said, "you could expect about 400 miles per gallon for the average (city) consumer."

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