BONITA SPRINGS, FL – Paice, a company holding what an Australian study called “the most dominant hybrid (electric car) patents in the world, has raised $4 million from ten investors, according to a regulatory filing.
During the oil crisis of 1979, Paice founder Dr. Alex Severinsky conceived the idea for a hybrid gasoline/electric car that could help reduce America’s dependence on oil. That led Dr. Severinsky to form Paice (Power Assisted Internal Combustion Engines) in 1992 as part of the small company incubator program at the University of Maryland’s Clark School of Engineering.
Later that year, he filed a patent application covering his groundbreaking concepts for a hybrid vehicle. Paice was issued U.S. Patent No. 5,343,970 (the ‘970 patent) in 1994.
According to the company website, hybrid electric vehicles increase fuel economy and reduce harmful emissions by combining an electric motor with the vehicle’s internal combustion engine. The ‘970 patent describes a hybrid vehicle with a microprocessor that receives control inputs and uses that information to determine whether the internal combustion engine, the electric motor, or both should provide torque to the wheels. It also describes a system with a powerful electric motor that receives energy from a battery at high voltage and low current to increase dramatically the efficiency and performance of the system.
Paice’s United States Patents rank as the two most dominant hybrid patents in the world – and four of its patents rank among the 10 most dominant patents – according to a recent study of all hybrid patents filed worldwide. The company has licensed its patented tech to Ford and Toyota.
The company received funding in 1998 from the Abell Foundations, which it says has invested more than $20 million in its hyperdrive system.
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