EVLN(Piero Rivolta Isigo's for S.Florida U to research producing US nEVs)

[Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter <brucedp@iname.com>]

EVLN(Piero Rivolta Isigo's for S.Florida U to research producing US
nEVs)
[The Internet Electric Vehicle List News. For Public EV informational
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 --- {EVangel}
EV - Sarasota Herald-Tribune (SSTA) BUSINESS ELECTRIC CAR GETS A
CHARGE AUTO DEVELOPER FUNDS RESEARCH AT USF TAMPA CAMPUS Cherie Jacobs
Lane STAFF WRITER 02/26/99 (Copyright 1999)

Talk about getting a charge out of driving to work.
Perpetual entrepreneur Piero Rivolta wants to produce an electric car
that runs on batteries, which owners will be able to charge in their
garage.

Rivolta, a longtime automobile developer, on Thursday donated two of
his Isigo vehicles to the University of South Florida in Tampa to
research the quality and cost of producing an electric car in the
United States.

He hopes to produce them at Rivolta Marine in Port Manatee, where he
designs and produces yachts.  The Isigo isn't really a car. Rivolta
calls it "something between a car and a golf cart." Technically, it is
a gasoline-powered "neighborhood vehicle," that seats two and can
travel up to 25 mph.

In Europe they are called "quadricycles."
The vehicle is intended for short errands around town, not for
long-distance travel. The battery-powered version is expected to run
for about 60 miles at a time.  "You use a big car to go from one city
to another, and then you unplug the car and go around," Rivolta said.
"You arrive in a big boat in the bay, and you have the dinghy to go
around. To me, the electric car is like that."

Some Anna Maria Island residents and Sun City residents use similar
neighborhood vehicles to travel around their low-traffic communities.
Other companies, including automakers like General Motors and Toyota,
produce electric cars.

Rivolta's company has produced about 2,000 of the vehicles in Foligno,
Italy, during the past year. In Europe, the quadricycle has special
rules: A driver doesn't need a license, and teens can drive at age
14.

Rivolta has converted two of his cars to battery power; one is in
Milan, Italy, and the other is in Switzerland.  Now, he wants to mass
produce the electric version of the cars.  To do that, he turned to
the University of South Florida.

Through a research program - which Rivolta is helping to pay for - USF
will help him learn how feasible and effective it would be to produce
the electric cars.  The study will look at the car's characteristics,
quality, speed and cost.

Rivolta hopes to keep the car's $9,000 price tag the same for the
electric version. That is still more expensive than a golf cart, but
users say the neighborhood vehicles are more efficient and more
comfortable.

The study will include two professors and two graduate students.  The
one-year study is funded by the I-4 Corridor development fund for
$45,000, and by Rivolta Engineering, which provided $10,000 in cash
and about $80,000 in shipping, travel and in-kind services, including
providing two cars and one chassis.

"You drive it and maybe you go shopping," said Lee Stefanakos,
chairman of USF's Department of Electrical Engineering and the chief
investigator on the project. "And then you take it home and plug it in
and charge it and you're ready for another trip."

PHOTO (C); Caption: Piero Rivolta sits in a car similar to the Isigo
on Thursday at the Rivolta Group offices in Sarasota.  STAFF
PHOTO/BARRY McCARTHY
 ...
 http://www.newscoast.com/  newscoast@home.com
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
 ---
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      __/o|__\~        EVangel: messenger bringing good news
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132V S-10 Blazer http://members.aol.com/brucedp/  BruceDP@iname.com
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Renewable Energy News contributing Editor   EV & AE List sysop
        % Use Renewable Energy to charge your EV %

'Web it Out':  http://www.rivolta.com/  rrivolta@gte.net
Rivolta Group  (941) 954-0355, Fax (941) 954-0111
1741 Main Street, Suite 101, Sarasota, Florida USA 34236 USA
 http://www.golfweb.com/linksmagazine/9611/florida3.html