News

NAVC Announces Four EV Projects

June 24, 1999 by Jeff Shepard

The Northeast Advanced Vehicle Consortium (NAVC) announced that four clean transportation projects have been awarded funding by the US Advanced Vehicle Technologies Program (AVP). The AVP is funded jointly by the Departments of Transportation and Defense, to spur development of innovative technologies for medium and heavy duty vehicles.The first project receiving funding is to develop a transportation system for use by maintenance staff in national parks, envisioned now as a variety of electric vehicles from pickup trucks to bicycles to lawnmowers. The park used for the project test will be Spectacle Island, part of the Boston Harbor Islands National recreational area.The second project will be measuring emissions and fuel consumption of heavy duty hybrid-electric vehicles being deployed in demonstrations across the US. The NAVC is teaming with West Virginia University and MJ Bradley Associates on the project.Project three is aimed at developing a state of the art hybrid-electric school bus in conjunction with Blue Bird Corp., the largest manufacturer of school buses in the US, and Solectria Corp. Testing will be carried out in the Northeast by EVermont.The fourth project is aimed at lowering the cost of manufacturing fuel cells. Jet Process Corp., will collaborate with other fuel cell technology companies on a process to optimize and reduce the cost of manufacturing thin film catalysts.