| Putting the parts and pieces together. |
 The past few months have been very exciting. FVT has completed the second submission with the Progressive Automotive X Prize and the eVaro's custom parts and pieces are starting to come together. We can only give you a glimpse as all will be revealed at the competition April 26th. Without question this prototype will be our most advanced vehicle to date. We are interested to see the performance of this eVaro as tests are leaning towards exceeding 300mpge for combined city driving. 275 mpge is our best to date.
 The rolling chassis is complete and with the help of our newest addition to the team (more below) we have a suspension system tuned specifically for the eVaro. The electric drive motors continue to produce impressive horsepower and last week Brad started up the newest onboard generator prototype for the first time. As we have mentioned in the past, FVT believes an on-board generator plays the key role in making mass produced electric vehicles successful. Results from the generator so far are very impressive. It has the capacity to keep the vehicle at highway speeds and charge the batteries at the same time. All this in a package that weighs less than 200 lbs and is smaller than an average suitcase.
 Frank Cloutier has been working down in Oregon assembling a team of technical pros to develop the software and source code for the eVaro's dash and user interface. Frank said from the beginning that he wanted the eVaro to be "as beautiful on the inside as it was on the outside".
FVT's goal is to not only produce the winning X Prize car but to produce a pre-production vehicle with all the features consumers expect such as air conditioning, sound system, GPS, etc.
This competition is not the destination for FVT - it is just the beginning. This is a real car that consumers will want to purchase and drive - not a one time concept car. The technologies under the hood have applications for almost any vehicle on the road today. |
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FVT welcomes Bart Boelryk |
Six months ago Bart visited our shop with an interest in being part of our team and the X Prize competition. Since that time he has devoted hundreds of hours fine tuning the engineering of the eVaro. The result is nothing short of spectacular. Bart's experience and passion for creating a vehicle unlike any other has had a profound effect on the company.
Bart Boelryk P.Eng.
In 1983 Bart had the vision to develop an enclosed, tilting tandem seat three wheeled vehicle called "The Vortex". Bart and a team of fellow students built this vehicle as part of their mechanical engineering degree at the University of Waterloo. The Vortex won awards in 1992 and 1993 at the Toronto Motorcycle Show.
Bart's work history includes manufacturing engineer for Magna International and Rockwell International - two of the largest automotive suppliers in the world. Bart was promoted to Senior Design Engineer and played a key role on a small team of engineers that launched Rockwell international into the automotive seat hardware business. In 1995 Bart launched his own design engineering service and was contracted as lead engineer on many diverse factory automation projects in automotive and aerospace. As a sideline, Bart also designed, developed, patented and produced a successful sea kayaking out-rigger / utility platform system.
Bart's burning and uncompromising desire to make an impact on the transportation industry lead him to Future Vehicle Technologies where he is applying his engineering talents to something he feels could change the world. |
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New Sponsorship Partnership |
 FVT would like to welcome Sandy Skees and her team at "Communications 4 Good". Sandy has been involved in marketing and promotion for over 20 years and is very excited about having the opportunity to help FVT raise sponsorship funds. "Communications 4 Good creates transformative communications so that organizations are inspired to achieve their greatest potential and bring goodness to the world." Sandy's clients include Adobe Systems, HP, and Sun Microsystems. We think Sandy's vision and FVT are a perfect match. |
