Swiss Le Mans series Hybrid race team and technology development group establishes North American operations via Coachella Valley iHUB

Swiss Le Mans series Hybrid race team and technology development group establishes North American operations via Coachella Valley iHUB

Palm Springs, CA – July 27, 2012: One year ago, Benoit Morand – CEO of Morand Racing, received official certification by the ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest) for the Swiss team’s “Oreca” as a proper Hybrid LMP1 – authorized for competition in the 2011 Le Mans 24H (LM). With this achievement, Mr. Morand became the very first Le Mans series team owner to engage a prototype car (P1) using mechanical Hybrid technology at this most prestigious endurance race in the world.

Fast forward one year – modifications and enhanced electronics during the current season has the car positioned to compete among a small, elite field of entries in the 2012 “Petite Le Mans”, the grand finale of the 2012 American Le Mans series, October 17 – 20, at Road Atlanta, USA.

This fall following the Atlanta event, the Morand Racing LMP1 car will make its way to the Coachella Valley where it has already been requested for presentation at major economic development and technology innovation summits. The car and its developer, Mr. Morand will participate via its association with the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership (CVEP) and the Coachella Valley iHUB (CViHUB) business incubation center out of Palm Springs, California.

Joe Wallace, the managing director of the CViHub stated “while having a CViHub client in the “Le Mans” hybrid racing circuit brings a touch of international flair to the Coachella Valley, it is the future applications of the “hybrid” engine off of the race course that brings us the potential to leverage this partnership to create jobs and wealth at the local level.”
The significance of Morand Hytech`s focus on North America for future growth and technology development, centers on the rapidly evolving competition between commercial Hybrid platforms. Existing electrical Hybrid technology centers on a battery platform, whereas the mechanical Hybrid solution stores energy generated while braking and releases this energy during acceleration. Currently this set up economizes fuel consumption by 25% and will increase with next generation models.

As is often the case, such leading edge engineering and innovation, takes place in the high performance world of international race competition before reaching its full potential through commercial and consumer deployment. Establishing a foothold in North America via the CViHUB builds on current advances achieved in Europe together with Ecole dìngenieurs Fribourg, one of Europe`s leading engineering institutions, who will extend its collaboration with colleges and universities in the Coachella Valley to create the next generation power plant that will initially target the mass transportation and heavy truck industries.

“With CVEP’s integrated Jobs/Workforce program, we are already working with this company to identify the skills required for the Coachella Valley to develop the workforce for these jobs,” Tom Flavin, chief executive officer of CVEP said. “CVEP is one of the few economic development organizations in the US that has both job creation and workforce development programs – this provides us, the Coachella Valley, with a competitive edge.

“Today, Morand Hytech seeks a long term relationship with strategic North American entities positioned to benefit from an association with this renewable energy technology, via additional funding, as well as the necessary infrastructure for the licensing of the technology for broadest industrial and consumer benefit.

Inquiries and Additional Information:

Morand HyTech & Morand Racing (pictures below):
Christopher Egolf
Chris@MorandRacing.com
Tel: 760-851-8486