Electric bus production has been a success story in Chattanooga, Rotarians were told Thursday.
"As many of you know, the air quality in Chattanooga from the 1970s up until the early 80s was horrible. We were in the process of losing downtown," Joe Ferguson told Rotary members in his program entitled "You Make What in Chattanooga?"
AVS, Advanced Vehicle Systems, was formed in 1992 and cut its first deal in 1993. The purpose of this company originated when Carta buses were becoming involved in the development of downtown Chattanooga.
The company's vision was to provide over 1,000 parking spaces downtown as well as provide a clean, quiet and free form of transportation for the downtown area. The revenue earned from the parking spaces would be used to fund the free shuttle service that was being developed.
"It is amazing to think that we started a company of such high technology right here in Chattanooga. Other cities have used our electric and hybrid-electric bus systems as a model for their systems," Mr. Ferguson said.
When an electric bus system was introduced in Miami Beach, Fla., 1.5 million people participated in the first year. "This system kept 1.5 million vehicles off the road. Not only are we cutting back on traffic, but we are also cutting back on air pollution," Ferguson said.
The hybrid-electric bus created by AVS won the title of most innovative vehicle in the 2002 Tour de Sol contest.
"Our electric buses have made quite an impact. Our company is the leader in electric and hybrid-electric vehicle sales in the United States. We are also the technology leader in heavy duty hybrid-electric vehicles," Rick Hitchcock, official of AVS, added.
The future goals of AVS include focusing on series hybrid designs to incorporate advanced energy storage, replacing mechanical components with silicon, owning or controlling critical technology, and applying core competence to additional platforms.
"We are in the process of testing delivery trucks run by electric power. This will cut back significantly on the amount of diesel fuel that is polluting our air," Mr. Hitchcock said.
Fuel cell vehicles are estimated to be available within the next 5-10 years, it was stated.
"I know the demand is there. We just need to work on the reliability and durability of our product," Mr. Ferguson concluded.