AC Propulsion is a

San Dimas, California San Dimas ( Spanish for "Saint Dismas") is a city in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, its population was 34,924. It historically took its name from San Dimas Canyon in the San Gabriel ...

, USA company founded in 1992 by Alan Cocconi, Wally Rippel, and Paul Carosa, that specializes in

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...

-based drivetrain systems for electric vehicles. It offers AC-induction traction motors. The company produces electric vehicle drive systems featuring high performance, high efficiency induction motors and integrated high power battery charging. Previously, they built an electric sports car, the

tzero The tzero is a handmade battery electric vehicle, electric sports car designed and built in very limited numbers by the U.S. company AC Propulsion in the early 2000s. It was the direct predecessor of the Tesla, Inc., Tesla line of electric cars. Th ...

and the eBox, an electric conversion based on the Scion XB. They also develop prototype

electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...

s for

OEM An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...

customers.

History

Founder Alan Cocconi designed and built the controller used in the original GM Impact, which later became the

GM EV1 The General Motors EV1 was an electric car produced and leased by General Motors from 1996 to 1999. It was the first mass-produced and purpose-designed electric vehicle of the modern era from a major automaker and the first GM car designed to ...

. ACP introduced the first AC-100 in 1992 and the AC-150 150 kW (200 hp) integrated drive system in 1994. The AC-150 has been used in a variety of applications such as the BMW

Mini E The Mini E was a demonstration electric car developed by BMW as a conversion of its Mini Cooper car. The Mini E was developed for field trials and deployed in several countries, including the United States, Germany, UK, France, Japan and Chin ...

, Foton Midi taxi and a USPS LLV demo vehicle. AC Propulsion is a leader in

Vehicle to grid Vehicle-to-grid (V2G), also known as Vehicle-to-home (V2H) or Vehicle-to-load (V2L) describes a system in which plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) sell demand response services to the grid. Demand services are either delivering electricity or by re ...

or V2G systems, with their second generation AC-150 drivetrain offering a bidirectional grid power connection. The company works with automobile manufacturers such as

Changan Automobile Chang'an Automobile Co., Ltd. is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Jiangbei, Chongqing. *

AC Propulsion tzero The tzero is a handmade battery electric vehicle, electric sports car designed and built in very limited numbers by the U.S. company AC Propulsion in the early 2000s. It was the direct predecessor of the Tesla, Inc., Tesla line of electric cars. Th ...

* AC Propulsion eBox *Volvo 3CC * Venturi Fetish *Courreges EXE * Courreges ZOOOP (with

lithium polymer batteries A lithium polymer battery, or more correctly lithium-ion polymer battery (abbreviated as LiPo, LIP, Li-poly, lithium-poly and others), is a rechargeable battery of lithium-ion technology using a polymer electrolyte instead of a liquid electro ...

) *

Wrightspeed X1 The Wrightspeed X1 is a one-off Ariel Atom heavily modified to use an all-electric powertrain. The Atom was chosen for its light weight and efficient design. The electric motor and inverter are sourced from AC Propulsion, makers of the AC Propul ...

(based on the

Ariel Atom The Ariel Atom is a road-legal high performance open-wheel car made by the British Ariel Motor Company based in Crewkerne, Somerset, England, and under license in North America by TMI Autotech, Inc. at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, ...

) *

Peraves Peraves AG was a Swiss manufacturer of high-end aerodynamically-enhanced cabin motorcycles. It won the Automotive X Prize for its entirely electric X-Tracer in 2010. By 2019 it had declared bankruptcy. History Peraves AG was founded in 1972 b ...

E-Tracer *

Toyota RAV4 EV The Toyota RAV4 EV is an all-electric version of the popular RAV4 SUV produced by Toyota until 2014. Two generations of the EV model were sold in California, and to fleets elsewhere in the US, with a gap of almost ten years between them. The fi ...

Tesla Roadster (2008) The Tesla Roadster is a battery electric vehicle (BEV) sports car, based on the Lotus Elise chassis, that was produced by the electric car firm Tesla Motors (now Tesla, Inc.) in California from 2008 to 2012. The Roadster was the first highway ...

Connection with Tesla Motors

Martin Eberhard Martin Eberhard (born ) is an American inventor, engineer and entrepreneur who co-founded Tesla, Inc. (then Tesla Motors) with Marc Tarpenning in 2003. Eberhard served as Tesla's original chairman, and its CEO until late 2007. In 2015, he was in ...

and

Marc Tarpenning Marc Tarpenning (born June 1, 1964) is an American engineer and technology entrepreneur who is the co-founder of Tesla Inc. with Martin Eberhard in 2003. Tarpenning served as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Vice President of Engineering ...

had both taken test drives in the lithium-ion battery powered revision of the

before founding

Tesla Motors Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Tesla designs and manufactures electric vehicles (electric cars and trucks), battery energy storage from home to grid- ...

. Martin Eberhard encouraged Tom Gage and Alan Cocconi to move their prototype tzero into production. When they declined, in favor of working on their electrified

Scion xB The Scion xB is a compact car (subcompact car in its first generation) made by Scion (automobile), Scion, a now-defunct fully owned division of Toyota, for the United States market. It is a box-shaped, 5-door hatchback. First generation (XP30; ...

called the eBox, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning incorporated

to pursue the idea of building an electric roadster in the spirit of the tzero.

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The Bori ...

later test drove the tzero as well, and he also encouraged AC Propulsion to commercialize the vehicle. Tom Gage again deferred, but put Elon Musk in contact with Martin Eberhard which led to Musk becoming Tesla Motors' first major investor through Series A funding. Before

developed its Roadster's proprietary

powertrain A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...

, the company licensed AC Propulsion's EV Power System design and Reductive Charging patent which covers integration of the charging electronics with the

inverter A power inverter, inverter or invertor is a power electronic device or circuitry that changes direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC). The resulting AC frequency obtained depends on the particular device employed. Inverters do the opp ...

, thus reducing mass, complexity, and cost. Tesla then designed and built its own power electronics, motor, and other drivetrain components that incorporated this licensed technology from AC Propulsion. Given the extensive redevelopment of the vehicle, Tesla Motors no longer licenses any proprietary technology from AC Propulsion.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ac Propulsion Battery electric vehicle manufacturers Electric vehicle manufacturers of the United States Technology companies based in Greater Los Angeles Companies based in Los Angeles County, California San Dimas, California Electronics companies established in 1992 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1992 Technology companies established in 1992 1992 establishments in California Car brands