November 2011
EnviroTech In the News:
EnviroTech hosts media open house for Lightning Hot Rod! Some local coverage...
EnviroTech hosts media open house for Lightning Hot Rod! Some local coverage...
From The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, Nov. 4, 2011: Blue lightning streaks across the glossy white surface of this first production model. Chrome accents glimmer in the sun. Instead of a souped-up gasoline engine, a 156-volt DC racing motor is powered by 13 lead acid batteries and a 1,000-amp industrial controller. The Lightning welds "the excitement of hot rodding with an economic electric car. It's a different style of driving," Mark Kalish, president of EnviroTech said. Photo by Shane Opatz, Story by Blythe Wachter, Read more
From WEAU 13 News, Nov. 4, 2011: "I felt like the electric cars available aren't that fun to drive. They're just for transportation, a four-door sedan. I wanted something that would really bring back the real driving experience," says Kalish. Kalish says the idea for the 1940s and 50s Indy race car-inspired Lightning came from a North High School senior who was on the electric racing team and came to work for Envirotech. And already, people are asking about the Lightning. Story by Jenny You, Read more
October 2011
EnviroTech In the News:
University, private-sector collaboration brings Bucky Wagon back for Homecoming
University, private-sector collaboration brings Bucky Wagon back for Homecoming
From University of Wisconsin-Madison News, Oct. 7, 2011: Decades of rust, bent running boards and unreliable cable brakes and steering aren't suitable for a campus icon.
That was the case on the UW-Madison campus when, in 2009, old age finally caught up to the 1932 LaFrance fire engine affectionately known as the Bucky Wagon. Its cracked transmission and rare replacement parts threatened to banish the wagon to the scrap heap. But thanks to both the hard work of UW-Madison College of Engineering faculty and students and a multitude of generous corporate donors, the wagon will make its debut Oct. 14 and 15 at the UW-Madison Homecoming celebration. This time, it'll be an environmentally friendly electric vehicle.
Restoring the exterior of the 80-year-old wagon, which had seen a fair amount of abuse at the hands of Spirit Squad members in its time, required some outsourcing. ... Eau Claire-based powder-coating specialist Envirotech worked its magic to make the frame of the wagon look like new. And finally, the whole wagon was re-assembled at Pierce Manufacturing in Appleton - but not before Pierce engineers determined how many of the pieces were unsalvageable. "People drilled a lot of holes to mount various things over the years, and nobody fixed any of them," says Bower. "It started to look like Swiss cheese." Read more.
More pictures and info on the Bucky Wagon EV Project on the UW Bucky Wagon Blog
