The mission of BGSU's Electric Vehicle Institute is to develop and promote
advanced electric propulsion technology and transfer these technologies to
appropriate corporations and public agencies for production and implementation.

Hybrid Booster Drive™

The Hybrid Booster Drive™, HBD, is a system composed of four major component modules:
a motor/generator, an inverter/controller, ultracapacitor energy storage, and the EVI supervisory control system. This system utilizes the patented hybrid vehicle technology developed by the Electric Vehicle Institute at
Bowling Green State University.

The uniqueness of the Hybrid Booster Drive™ is in the simplistic design along with the supervisory control logic to produce a hybrid vehicle drive system that utilizes ultracapacitor energy storage devices directly. No buck-boost or other similar electronic device between the capacitor and electrical drive components is necessary to convert the variable voltage power to fixed voltage power.

When incorporated into vehicle applications, this configuration offers the advantages of an ultracapacitor based parallel hybrid in a compact and economical package. The Hybrid Booster Drive™ achieves up to a
30% improvement in overall fuel economy by recovering braking energy and providing acceleration assistance.

The Hybrid Booster Drive™ system excels in vehicle applications with missions requiring numerous starts and
stops at speeds less than 40 miles per hour.