Herald Sun
Thursday 12/6/2008 Page: 71
SOUTH Melbourne company Szencorp has not only skidded past the local motoring industry to win the race to develop an electric car, its marque can pump energy back into buildings. Federal Minister for Finance Lindsay Tanner will today unveil Australia's first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), created at Sydney's University of Technology (UTS) for Szencorp, a developer of energy and water efficient properties.
The car has been retrofitted with extra batteries so that it can store more electricity than a conventional hybrid, allowing it to bypass its petrol tank for at least 30km. "Unlike ordinary hybrids that derive all their electrical energy from petrol, the PHEV, a converted Toyota Prius can be charged up using renewable energy from a normal power point," Szencorp chairman Peter Szental said.
Asked if the PHEV will have as much grunt as a petrol driven car, Mr Szental told BNW: "You will be able to lose your licence just as easily in a PHEV." Szencorp and UTS have partnered with Stan Baker, from Green Auto Conversions,in the venture and are ready to take orders from motorists who want to retrofit their Priuses.
It is estimated that when the venture reaches production line scale, the cost of retrofitting will be between $4000 and $5000. Over time, savings will be made through reduced petrol and electricity costs as the vehicle will store energy that can be fed back into buildings. Capitalising on the car's unique "plug out" feature, Mr Szental plans to use it to supply power to his Albert Rd headquarters, which was Australia's first six-star energy efficient refurbished building.
An array of rooftop solar panels currently supply almost half of the building's electricity needs and will now also power the office car. "Szencorp has funded the PHEV project to demonstrate that cutting edge, low-emission technologies like these are viable and can literally plug in to our existing infrastructure." he said.
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