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Energy on demand

Posted on | March 4, 2009 | 1,739 views |

By Jeff McCallister

Rich Housh knew he had a good idea, one that could be lucrative for years to come as the world moves away from automobiles powered by internal combustion engines.

What he didn’t have was a way to develop it, a place to test it or a means to improve it.

It didn’t take him long to find a solution.

Housh, president and CEO of Juice Technologies, has set up his company’s research and development offices at Ohio State’s Center for Automotive Research as a member of the SMART@CAR consortium.

Juice Technologies makes a device that will make it less expensive to charge the batteries of the next generation of hybrid automobiles — the Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV).

Housh said that he first looked at Ohio State as a partner because of OSU’s successful Buckeye Bullet, holder of the world land-speed record for electric vehicles.

“I’m in the electric vehicle business, and they developed the fastest EV ever, so why would I go to the second-best place when I could come here?” Housh said.

“It’s been a fabulous thing for me because I get access to brainy people with the latest and greatest technology,” he said. “They have electronics labs here at CAR where we can work. They also bought a Prius. This is an investment Ohio State made that I didn’t have to make, but I can come here and test my product.”

Members of SMART@CAR pay a fee to be in the consortium and have access to resources here, but that’s really not what drives the program, according to Giorgio Rizzoni, CAR’s director.

“This really is a new model for universities’ collaboration with start-ups,” Rizzoni said. “One of our missions as a land-grant university is to help entrepreneurs and small businesses create jobs, so it is fundamental that we’re well-positioned to provide this support and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

The partnership with Juice Technologies already has created six new jobs as Juice develops its Plug Smart line of products, electrical systems designed to charge electric vehicles and PHEVs during times when electrical usage rates set by a utility company are low (off-peak hours) and grid demand is low.

The company also plans to expand the Plug Smart technology to tie into the systems of homes and businesses. Juice Technologies operates with six employees in an office located at Ohio State’s Center for Automotive Research.

Housh figures another half-dozen jobs will be created this year and predicts further growth in 2010 and beyond, as General Motors unveils its Volt PHEV and power companies such as American Electric Power begin charging customers based not only on how much power is consumed, but when it is consumed.

“We plan on becoming the standard in the industry for smart charging for the entire world,” Housh said. “This is no small thing to us.”

The timing of the project is no small thing, either, as it addresses growing national needs both economic and environmental.

“The electricity used to move a car forward pollutes a lot less than the engine of a combustion vehicle. If we drive electric vehicles, we are not dependent on oil. We can also produce electricity from renewable like solar and wind. So it contributes to our energy independence.”

And the work has drawn the attention of some important potential allies. US Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy invited Rizzoni to be her guest at President Barack Obama’s recent address to a joint session of Congress after her visit to CAR earlier that week.

Kilroy said research such as that done at CAR can give the nation a cleaner energy future but also give Ohio an economic advantage. She said 90 percent of the jobs created through the recently passed Recovery & Reinvestment Act will be accomplished through partnerships between innovators from the private sector and universities and researchers.

“Electric cars, smart plugs and energy independence is in our future,” she said. “It’s not just going to be in the movies, it’s going to be in our cars and our homes.”

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