Potential Solar-Electric Car Project Unveiled For Wiscasset

From The Lincoln County News

The much-awaited news for production of solar panels for solar-assist all-electric cars rolled forward for Wiscasset Friday with the unveiling of the Kronosport taxi, along with the prospect of locating manufacture of the vehicles themselves here.

Company and state officials' toured the iPark industrial site where the panels, as well as the various models, could be made; models could include a van, police car, garbage collection vehicle, and the taxi in which officials and local people had the opportunity to ride in the Muncipal Building vicinity.

The announcement of the joint state, local, non-profit, and private venture included news of a $15,000 Community Development Block Grant for design and installation of solar panels for the canopies of the Kronosport mobiles.

With much fanfare and enthusiasm, Wiscasset Town Manager Arthur Faucher called the gathering of state, local, company, and Chewonki officials a momentous occasion for the community as the public, private and non-profit sectors partner for a future economic endeavor that would provide jobs and economic benefit to the Midcoast. "What is good for the people of Wiscasset is good for the people of Maine," he said.

Faucher said Wiscasset has become known to tourists for its restaurants, waterfront, and historic village but not so much for its infrastructure favorable to economic development.

"Sometimes the community does not look the part of something that it is," he said. "Visitors may not know we have a deep water port." He listed other resources, such as rail service and the iPark with its infrastructure ready for such economic development.

Kronosport, a Philadelphia-based company has been moving ahead with plans to locate production of the solar panels and has been seriously considering the iPark as the location for its enterprise with an eye to manufacture of all the vehicles in the future, owner Ed Kron said.

Kron and others officials toured the iPark following the presentation at the municipal building Friday morning as the beginning of the road to economic development of the community and region.

As for relocation of the manufacture of vehicles, from Mexico currently, to Wiscasset, Noble Smith, Maine representative for Kronosport said, "This is still in the discussion state. It's far from certainty."

Commissioner John Richardson of the state Dept. of Economic and Community Development hailed the public-private partnership as one that makes success occur.

Richardson likened the excitement over the Kronosport demonstration to what farmers must have thought when they saw a gas-powered buggy travel on country roads for the first time. Area citizens and officials each had a chance to ride the Taxi 21, which the company calls a "sleek, hip, electric rickshaw".

The use of renewable energy presents an important shift toward reduction of dependence on foreign oil, in his estimation and in keeping with Maine's status as green state, Richardson said.

"This is the Maine way, to do more with less," he said. He said the commitment is here for a partnership along with the work ethic combined with the education, innovation, and technology.

Peter Arnold, Chewonki sustainability coordinator, expressed his elation about the partnership, which he said shows how renewable energy can be used for profit and furthers his and Chewonki's mission of promoting sustainable energy.

Chewonki has a hydrogen manufacture and storage operation that could well figure into use for the Kronosport vehicles, he said. Currently Chewonki uses the hydrogen it produces to electrify one of its facilities.

The current weight of the Kronosport taxi's motor is 500 pounds less than that for a golf cart, and there are possibilities of making the entire vehicle lighter. Smith said the company will be making an assessment on whether it can lessen the weight with testing at Chewonki.

Besides the Taxi 21, the company manufactures the Versa Van, which is a cargo-to-go and the Grass Hopper, which is a garden-style vehicle with a dump truck and a hopper for collecting recyclables, trash, leaves and other disposable goods. The company intends their design for ideal uses on campuses and gated communities.

The company advertises the models with their fiberglass bodies as sustainable transportation for the 21st century with a skateboard design platform easily customized, including a comfortable ergonomic recumbent seat for the driver. It uses a 36-volt, 1 kilowatt electric drive.

After recharging the batteries at night, operators can travel up to 25 miles with a controlled maximum speed of 10.5 miles per hour.

Kron told passengers on the fun Taxi 21 that the cars were featured in the Eddie Murphy movie "Pluto Nash", and Al Roker of the Today Show did a Kronosport feature.