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Echo Automotive, Inc. (ECAU) (“Echo Automotive” or the “Company”) a developer of technologies enabling the cost effective conversion of existing fleet vehicles into fuel efficient hybrids is pleased to announce the launch of its latest product offering; a multi-mode hybrid technology aimed directly at significantly improving the economic performance of fleet operations.
The Company, in its first public display, today demonstrated its proprietary hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) technology under the EchoDrive™ brand along with revealing a notable shift in hybrid philosophy through the introduction of multi-power source selection capability via the implementation of a high capacity BEV mode (Battery Electric Vehicle) system option.
“Today’s demonstration of an EchoDrive™ vehicle running in BEV mode delivers an incredible boost to the story behind why our platform is so unique,” announced Dan Kennedy, CEO of Echo Automotive. “EchoDrive™ will now be available in both hybrid and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) versions as we aim to deliver a broad range of capabilities across a variety of vehicles in the fleet transport sector by simply adding or removing modules. For example, the vehicle we previewed today is capable of running as a HEV, PHEV or BEV with a simple push of the button. In BEV mode, it’s running completely under the propulsion of EchoDrive™ with the internal combustion engine turned off.”
The flexibility of the EchoDrive™ platform allows a selected vehicle to be easily custom configured for the requirements and drive cycle of that vehicle. “One customer may drive 75 miles per day while another may drive only 30,” continues Kennedy. “By uniquely configuring each EchoDrive™ system with different battery capacities and capabilities, such as BEV mode and site power, it allows our fleet customers to not only meet their operational objectives, but also allows the CFO to track and realize the fastest payback currently achievable in this sector.”
Echo Automotive’s President, Jason Plotke sees the introduction of BEV mode as tangible evidence of Echo’s technology advantage. “When you can take a system like EchoDrive™ and add new functionality such as BEV mode through mostly software updates and the simple addition of an extended battery pack, it makes the benefits of Echo’s modular platform extremely favorable.”
The Company launched EchoDrive™ in late 2012, as an integrated system to convert existing fleet vehicles to electrically assisted powertrains offering fleet managers an immediate low cost alternative to the high capital investment of relatively unproven, all-new electric vehicle designs. The slow pace of development and introduction, combined with high costs for these new designs has produced an unparalleled opportunity for EchoDrive™. The extensively engineered retrofit solution exploits proven vehicle platforms and readily available components while offering absolute system redundancy as the original engine power is continuously available
