"We are very excited to partner with Generac on this game-changing initiative for the power generation industry," said Don Runkle, CEO of EcoMotors. "Together, our organizations look forward to bringing clean, efficient opoc®-powered Generac products to the power generation market in the near future."
Aaron Jagfeld, CEO of Generac, added, "This agreement with EcoMotors reflects Generac's proud role as the standby power generation industry leader and innovator, and our continual quest to bring new technologies that add value for our customers and shareholders."
Allen Gillette, Generac's Senior Vice President of Engineering, noting the inherent functional advantages of opoc® said, "We believe that this remarkably compact and flexible engine can play a key role in ensuring that Generac products remain responsive to our customer needs, and to further distinguish Generac in terms of advanced technologies that are environmentally sound."
EcoMotors claims its “opoc engines” are 15 to 50 percent more fuel efficient than traditional internal combustion engines, as well as smaller and lighter to boot.
Chief executive officer of EcoMotors, Don Runkle (who spoke at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York last month) explained the impact of the partnership with Generac to his business:
“We’re going to work with Generac to qualify the ‘EcoMotors opoc engine’ for applications in gen sets, or the power generation area. We’d expect to begin to see [generators equipped with our engines] on the market in 2013. We have engines in prototypes, now in a wide variety of applications.
Partnering with a market leader in generators— which is about an $8 billion market, compared to a larger market in automotive— we hope to get through development quickly.
It can be easier to get engines tested for this application because you don’t have to do crash [tests] to see what happens to an engine like you would with vehicles. Gen sets run at one speed, also. In the U.S. that’s 60 cycles per second, and in EU that’s 50 cycles per second. Whereas with automotive, marine and aerospace applications, you have the engine going up and down in speed, obviously. It is easier to calibrate for generators.”
Since 1959, Generac has been a leading manufacturer of backup power generation products serving residential, light commercial and industrial markets. Generac's power systems range in output from 800 watts to 9 megawatts and are available through a broad network of independent dealers, retailers and wholesalers. Generac is committed to developing a long-term vision that promotes environmentally responsible products, processes and partnerships and strives to be a positive contributor of sustainable growth in the backup power generation industry. For more information on Generac and its extensive line of both portable and automatic generators, visit www.generac.com.
Established in early 2008, EcoMotors is changing the landscape of internal combustion power. Based in Allen Park, Mich., EcoMotors is commercializing the unique opoc® engine for use in cars, light trucks, commercial vehicles, aerospace, marine, agriculture, auxiliary power units, generators, etc. Anywhere conventional gas or diesel power is currently utilized, opoc® represents a better propulsion solution.
The two primary investors in EcoMotors are Khosla Ventures and Bill Gates. Khosla Ventures, based in Menlo Park, California, offers venture assistance, strategic advice and capital to entrepreneurs. The firm helps entrepreneurs extend the potential of their ideas in breakthrough scientific work in clean technology areas such as solar, battery, high efficiency engines, lighting, greener materials like cement, glass and bio-refineries for energy and bio-plastics, and other environmentally friendly technologies as well as traditional venture areas like the Internet, computing, mobile and silicon technology arenas. Vinod Khosla, who founded the firm in 2004, is a founder of Sun Microsystems and was formerly a General Partner at Kleiner Perkins.
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