Collier Technologies Inc., the Reno company developing a low-emission engine fueled by a mix of hydrogen and natural gas, last week took a big step toward bringing its engine to the market.
The company said it created a new company, City Engines, that will import engine blocks manufactured by Korea's Daewoo Heavy Industries.
City Engines plans to outfit the blocks with cylinder heads created by Collier Technologies and begin marketing the engines to big-city bus systems.
Jerry Jones, the president of City Engines, said the Metropolitan Transit Authority in Los Angeles is likely to be a key market.
The California Air Resource Board set aggressive emissions standards for buses and other heavy-duty vehicles that go into effect in 2007.
Collier Technologies has said that its hydrogen-natural gas engine technology will meet the standard.
Already, Jones said, the LA bus system needs 500 buses to meet a less-stringent 2004 standard a standard that Collier Technologies believes it can meet with an engine running on compressed natural gas.
"It's a big enough dollar business to make it worthwhile," Jones said.
The company will set a price tag of about $40,000 each on its engines.
Creation of the new company depended on Collier Technologies' ability to sign a deal with a major manufacturer of engine blocks, and Jones said American companies weren't interested.
"We're finally at the point where we have a manufacturer who is willing to give us a distribution agreement,"he said.
Next up for City Engines:Working through the technical details with Daewoo engineers and winning certification from California officials for the engine fueled by natural gas as well as the version that uses a blend of hydrogen and natural gas.
The company expects certification will take six months to a year.
If nothing else, Collier Technologies has hoped its test results will convince transit officials that the new emissions standards are feasible.
Some major manufacturers have wanted a rollback, claiming the standards are impossible.
With the creation of City Engines, Jones moves from the presidency of Collier Technologies to the presidency of City Engines.
Neal Mulligan makes a similar change as chief operating officer.
Kirk Collier, one of the founders of Collier Technologies, will become the president of the company.
It will exist primarily to license its technology to City Engines and other users.
Collier Technologies holds a 20 percent interest in the new company.
Private investors own the remainder.
Jones said City Engines almost certainly will need an infusion of capital before it begins full-scale manufacturing.
"We've got enough to get started, but not enough to get finished,"he said.
