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Microcap & Penny Stocks : BAAT - world records for electric vehicles with zinc-air -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: don roberson who wrote (2165)	2/21/1998 8:11:00 PM
From: Zbyte	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6464

I just read this... has anybody seen this article... not good news... USA TODAY 02/19/98- Updated 08:47 AM ET Carmakers: 100 mpg 'no big deal' Investors have treated an inventor's 95-mile-per-gallon diesel minicar as a breakthrough, but automakers have been showing 100-mpg cars for years. Joseph LaStella, founder of B.A.T. International, announced this month that his Burbank, Calif., firm got exceptional mileage from a modified diesel-powered Geo Metro at 40 miles per hour. That "ain't no big deal," says Kathleen Mihelich, spokeswoman for General Motors Research and Development Center, summarizing the attitude of big automakers and industry analysts. GM's 1992 Ultralite concept car got 100 mpg at 50 miles per hour using conventional gas. Ultralite also claimed half the pollution of a conventional car. B.A.T. hasn't tested for pollution. Ford Motor showed off Ka Step 1 minicar in England in 1996, boasting 130 mpg at a 37.5 mph, and 90-plus mpg in a European stop-and-go test. Chrysler plans to sell a 70-mpg midsize sedan in 2003, and Honda foresees a 70-mpg U.S. minicar in a few years. Barriers to fuel-efficient cars are cost, gas prices and pollution rules. Chrysler says it would have to charge a $15,000 premium today for its Dodge Intrepid ESX2, the 70-mpg sedan. It hopes to slice that to zero by the time it sells such a car. As long as fuel prices are low, buyers don't care much about fuel economy. The 10 most fuel-efficient cars and the 10 best trucks together accounted for about 1% of total sales last year. Regardless of fuel efficiency, a car can't legally be sold unless it passes increasingly strict federal emissions tests when new and after 50,000 miles. But B.A.T. spokesman Bill Wason says quibbling over mileage misses the point. He says B.A.T. technology can improve the fuel economy of most engines - small or large, diesel or gasoline - 30% to 40%. "Detroit is saying, 'We could theoretically do this, but it will be years and cost a lot.' And we're saying that the changes to components to get these results don't add to costs," Wason says. The technology could as easily be used to boost a 15-mpg sport-utility vehicle to 20 mpg as to create a 100-mpg tiny car. So what is the best fuel economy you can expect within, say, five years in affordable, family-size cars? About the 70 mpg claimed by Chrysler and Honda. And you'll only see token numbers of those if consumer tastes don't shift away from thirsty trucks. Governments should force the shift, Wason says. Thus, B.A.T. is behind a proposal to forgive California's 6% sales tax on new cars if they get 65 mpg. By James R. Healey, USA TODAY B.A.T.: Tiny company, big controversy