Phoenix developing pluggable version of its electric SUT

UQM Technologies (AMEX: UQM) announced today that will be collaborating with Phoenix Motorcars on a plug-in hybrid model of a sport utility truck currently produced and sold by Phoenix.

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles ("PHEV") use the same technology as the popular hybrids on the road today, but have a larger battery that can be recharged by plugging into a standard home outlet.

The Phoenix Sport Utility Truck is a five-passenger dual cab pickup truck with a 1/2 ton payload carrying capacity. It's been sold to date as an electric-only vehicle.

The new plug-in hybrid model is to include a small gasoline fueled internal combustion engine, a UQM® PowerPhase 100 propulsion system and NanoSafe® lithium titanate batteries from Altair Nanotechnologies (NASDAQ: ALTI).

"The development of a plug-in hybrid model of our sport utility truck is an important expansion of our model offering that we expect will meet the needs of a broader range of customers," said Dan Elliott, President and CEO of Phoenix Motorcars.

"Plug-in hybrids offer the opportunity to operate the vehicle in the most common driving environments in all-electric mode, saving money and reducing emissions, while maintaining the flexibility to travel cross-country. We believe a potentially large market will develop for this category of vehicle and we intend to develop a high performing vehicle that our customers can be excited to own and drive."

Phoenix is a privately-held company headquartered in Ontario, Calif., and has been a leader in the development of battery-electric, freeway-speed vehicles since 2001. Altairnano is a part owner of the company.

Cleantech developments making news in the past 24 hours

• Generating energy underwater from good vibrations
• Indian companies order 300MW in wind power
• Beijing meets "blue sky days" target early
• Finland, Vietnam launch fish fuel project

View the last week of cleantech developments here | Subscribe to full feed