BAT Achieves 80 Miles Per Gallon at 55 mph
25 August 1998
BAT Achieves 80 Miles Per Gallon at 55 mph on California Freeway Further Testing Needed to Certify Results and Confirm Fuel Economy
Achieved by Toyota Prius
BURBANK, Calif., Aug. 25 -- Preliminary results indicate BAT
International's (OTC Bulletin Board: BAAT) SuperCar was able to achieve a fuel
economy of 80 miles per gallon at an average speed of 55 miles per hour on a
California freeway on Sunday, August 23rd. The 63 mile round trip run was
repeated twice on a normal stretch of coastal freeway from Costa Mesa to San
Onofre and back that included hills, on-off ramps, medium to heavy traffic and
other typical highway driving conditions. Data gathering and calculations
were verified by a representative from California State Northridge, College of
Engineering. Further testing is needed to gain additional replications on the
BAT SuperCar and confirm the fuel economy achieved by the Toyota hybrid
electric vehicle, the Prius. Data gathered on the fuel economy of the Prius
was inconsistent in the two runs and the certifier was unable to estimate fuel
economy achieved by the Prius. Additional testing on the highway is planned
in the near future to obtain more data to allow an accurate comparison between
the Toyota Prius and BAT SuperCar.
Testing on the highway was meant to further supplement data on fuel
efficiency gathered at the California Speedway two-mile oval loop over the
last 8 months. BAT conducted one set of tests on August 19th with the Toyota
hybrid electric Prius and BAT SuperCar both completing a 50 mile segment. Not
enough accurate data was obtained to be able to verify fuel economy of either
vehicle. Prior testing on California Speedway by the BAT SuperCar resulted in
fuel economies of 93 mpg and 94 mpg at a constant speed of 40 mph in two
separate sets of tests in January and February, (see press release 1/16/98).
Further field data and dynomometer testing will be completed in the near
future and data from all tests used to prepare a white paper for distribution
to interested parties and government agencies.
The results of the highway field test indicate that there has been a
substantial improvement in Dolphin Pulse Charge technology since January and
February testing. Reasons for reaching this conclusion are as follows:
a) Cold weather leads to higher fuel efficiency versus warmer
temperatures (temp. difference of 47 degrees F)
b) Testing on the track is on a flat loop with a constant speed versus
highway driving that includes hills, traffic, on & off ramps and other
typical highway driving conditions
c) There is an exponential increase in the power requirements to go 40
mph versus 55 mph. At the same time, there is only a 17% difference
in the fuel economy between 80 mpg and 93 mpg
What this means is that achieving 80 miles per gallon at 55 miles per hour
on a real highway in warm weather is a much more significant achievement from
an engineering perspective than getting to 93-94 mpg on a flat track in cold
weather at 40 mph.
The BAT SuperCar utilizes a proprietary Dolphin Pulse Charge technology
that was placed in a 1.5 liter Yanmar diesel engine and put in a standard
production four door Geo Metro sedan. Only minor modifications to four
existing components of the engine are required to achieve efficiency results.
As a result, the technology is expected to have very little impact on engine
cost in large volume production. BAT plans on licensing technology to major
auto companies and other markets where efficient engine technology is very
valuable.
The results are particularly newsworthy, since 80 miles per gallon is a
national fuel economy goal set by President Clinton when he established the
"SuperCar" program in 1993. The U.S. Government's "Partnership for a New
Generation of Vehicles" established a partnership with the "Big Three" U.S.
Auto Companies that is supposed to lead to the development of a five passenger
sedan ("SuperCar") with a fuel economy of 80 miles per gallon by 2006.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on this program, but
prototypes developed by auto companies do not appear to have reached the goal
and some technologies are expensive to manufacture. BAT Dolphin Pulse Charge
technology offers a compelling alternative that could allow major auto
companies to quickly achieve the 80 m.p.g. objective in the near future.
Another important consideration is the environment. While average fuel
economy of new cars and light trucks is declining, there is increasing concern
about the effects of inefficient vehicles and trucks on increasing CO2
emissions and the impact of these emissions on Climate Change. The recent
agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the Year 2008, including a
7-9% CO2 reduction by Japan, Europe and U.S., is creating a lot of pressure on
auto companies to make drastic improvements in fuel economy. BAT technology
offers an important breakthrough technology in considering cost-effective
strategies to achieve this environmental goal. If fuel efficiency can be
achieved with little impact on engine manufacturing cost, it offers a
"no-risk" strategy to help avoid potentially drastic impacts predicted in some
Climate Change models.
BAT International is organized as a holding company with major ownership
position in a set of subsidiary companies now commercializing advanced
automotive and energy technology products developed by BAT over the last six
years, including Dolphin Pulse Charge technology. Other products include
advanced lubricant additives, electric vehicles, advanced batteries and power
electronics, electric bicycles & scooters, and electric power generation, (for
information, see BAT web site http://www.baat.com. or call Cheryl Mitchell
360-384-2730).
This press release contains forward-looking statements that should not be
used to make an investment decision. Please refer to our web site at
http://www.baat.com and other sources for more detailed Company information or call
Cheryl Mitchell 360-384-2730.
