Oak Ridge National Lab Joins Plug-in Hybrid Development Consortium to Cooperate on PHEV Development

Business Wire, Nov 30, 2007

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. -- The Plug-In Hybrid Development Consortium (the "Consortium") announced today that the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), one of the nation's leading research labs, has joined the Plug-in Hybrid Development Consortium. The Consortium is made up of a growing number of automotive suppliers, manufacturers and other organizations working together to accelerate the commercial production of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs).

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, houses the Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Center (PEEMRC). The center (PEEMRC) is the U.S. Department of Energy's premier broad-based research center for power electronic and electric machinery development. During this decade, the Center has dramatically advanced the technology of soft-switched inverters, multilevel inverters, DC-DC converters, motor control techniques, and efficient, compact electric machines.

"Oak Ridge is leading the development of power electronics for electric motors and drive systems. We look forward to working with Raser Technologies (NYSE Arca: RZ) and the other members of the Hybrid Consortium in several key areas that we feel are important to the next generation of hybrid vehicle electric drives," said Laura Marlino, FreedomCAR Program Technical Manager - Power Electronics and Electric Machinery (PEEM) Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Oak Ridge and the Hybrid Consortium plan to work together cooperatively to advance electric motor and power electronics for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Oak Ridge is also a participant in the U.S. FreedomCar & Fuel Partnership.

Tom Kaporch, Vice President Business Development for Raser Technologies and power electronics advisor to the Consortium, said, "We have been impressed by ORNL's benchmarking work and innovative research in power electronics for hybrid vehicles. We welcome ORNL to the Consortium and look forward to working with the PEEM research center to establish targets and goals for PHEV development and to benchmark those advancements."

About Oak Ridge National Laboratory

The Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Center (PEEMRC) is designated as a National User Facility. The designation encourages collaborative efforts between the PEEMRC, industry, and academia. The most advanced analysis, simulation, and design software is available to the PEEMRC staff to implement state-of-the art circuit and motor designs. The PEEMRC provides extensive expertise and capabilities to generate data and analyze advanced power electronic and electric machinery devices.

About The Plug-in Hybrid Development Consortium

The Consortium is made up of component suppliers who intend to work together with participating automobile manufacturers to coordinate and accelerate the development of key hybrid components and demonstrate these advanced technologies in "next generation" plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

More information

Plug-In Hybrid Development Consortium: www.hybridconsortium.org

Oak Ridge National Lab may be found at: http://peemrc.ornl.gov/ and http://www.ornl.gov/