A Bright plug-in hybrid that could get 100 miles per gallon

Bright Automotive, launched just last year, rolled out a plug-in gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle on Tuesday that doesn’t just get an estimated 100 miles per gallon — it gets 100 mpg hauling a bunch of stuff.

The “IDEA” isn’t some cramped commuter car. It’s a 21^st Century panel van designed for commercial fleet use with 180 cubic foot cargo capacity and a 2,000 pound payload.

The vehicle was designed specifically for commercial fleet use, said John E. Waters, CEO and President of Bright Automotive, at the unveiling in Washington D.C.

It is the first such vehicle designed from a clean sheet of paper that incorporates lightweight materials, advanced aerodynamics and low-rolling resistance tires, said Waters, who developed the battery pack system for the EV1, an electric car produced by General Motors in the 1990s.

Targeting commercial fleets also allows for a fresh-start business model, Waters said in a telephone press conference. The IDEA sales pitch will focus on total operating costs, not just the sticker price.

The IDEA will save fleet managers $6,000 per vehicle per year, Waters said while dodging questions about the proposed MSRP (the sticker price).

Bright Automotive also is targeting business and government fleets because they buy a lot of vehicles – up 500,000 a year.

The IDEA uses battery power for the first 30 miles, using little or no gasoline and less than $1 of electricity, Waters said. After this, it functions like other hybrids with a four-cylinder gasoline engine supplying power to the front wheels and the rear-wheel-drive electric motor boosting acceleration.

It’s an efficient combination, Waters said, adding that driving a 50-mile daily urban route, would take about a half-gallon of gas – the equivalent of getting 100 mpg. For a 70-mile daily drive, the IDEA would use one gallon of gas – equivalent to 70 mpg.

Waters said production of the IDEA would begin in the U.S. by the fourth quarter of 2012 with an annual run rate of 50,000 vehicles in 2013. But that timeline depends on getting a $450 million loan this summer from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program.

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