Gateway here is a nice article on Hybrid from the Charlotte, NC. Observer...
Car conversion plant debuts amid questions
Leno, snack-food maker say they won't be driving Hybrid Technologies' refitted autos
GILLIAN MAY-LIAN WEE
gwee@charlotteobserver.com
Hybrid Technologies Inc., a Las Vegas company which says it's developing electric cars, unveiled its Mooresville plant Thursday and displayed several vehicles it has converted to run on batteries.
The company has made claims in the past year that both "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno and Frito Lay were to accept some of its refitted cars. But both Leno and Frito Lay say they are not customers of Hybrid.
Four months ago, Hybrid moved its production facility from Van Nuys, Calif., into a building on Raceway Drive, where it employs about 35 workers, said company spokesman Richard Griffiths. Hybrid chose Mooresville for its NASCAR culture, he said.
The cars on display Thursday included a Chrysler Crossfire, a Mini Cooper and a Smart, a tiny car sold by DaimlerChrysler in Europe, which Hybrid had bought and converted.
Speakers included state Sen. Dan Clodfelter, D-Mecklenburg, who said the plant showed there was a future for U.S. auto making and that North Carolina could play a role. He also noted that the cars were environmentally friendly.
Hybrid says it's developing prototypes that can go faster than 120 mph and will operate for 45 hours between charges.
Hybrid says its main customers are the federal government and Fortune 500 companies. Griffiths would not give names, the prices of cars or how many units it has delivered citing nondisclosure agreements. He said government agencies and companies are testing cars now "with an aim for purchasing."
The company is publicly traded on the OTC Bulletin Board. In the company's fiscal year ending in July, it posted a loss of $12.6 million on zero sales, according to a securities filing.
Griffiths said the company has enough capital to continue its marketing plans.
In news releases last year, the company claimed that its first converted Crossfire "had found a new home" with Leno and that PepsiCo's snack company Frito Lay had agreed to purchase vehicles. Both Leno and Frito Lay said those statements were incorrect.
In an interview with the Observer, Leno said he remembers seeing a Hybrid car about a year ago. He went for a ride in one and it broke down. "I was not impressed and I left," Leno said, adding that he did not buy one.
Since then, he said he has sent cease-and-desist orders to the company through his attorney telling Hybrid to stop using his name.
"I've spent a lot of money saying I have nothing to do with it," Leno said. Griffiths said the company still intends to deliver a car to him.
Griffiths said Hybrid had developed a relationship with Frito Lay but a potential deal fell apart. Frito Lay said Hybrid was not authorized to issue the press release that named the snack-food maker. "We were in discussions with them, but at this time we are not moving forward," said Jared Dougherty, a Frito Lay spokesman.
Battery-powered vehicles are different than hybrids such as the Toyota Prius. The Prius has a small gas engine and batteries. The car runs on battery power under some circumstances, cutting its emissions and improving its gas mileage. Other times the gas engine helps power the car.
Batteries powerful enough to propel a car are expensive and impractical, said Dan Benjamin, a transportation analyst at ABI Research in New York. The expense mounts if the batteries need to be replaced frequently, he said. Batteries generally don't last long if they're frequently discharged and recharged.
Griffiths said Hybrid has a partnership with a Korean battery company that brings prices down.
Don Hobart, a spokesman for the N.C. Department of Commerce, said the agency did not recruit Hybrid to Mooresville and had no role in Thursday's ribbon-cutting. The agency did not give Hybrid any incentives or grants, said another commerce department spokesman, Greg Thomas.
Executives with the Mooresville-South Iredell Chamber of Commerce said Hybrid did not ask them for relocation information either.
Gillian May-Lian Wee: (704) 358-5160.
