{"id":26590,"date":"2010-07-13T08:01:25","date_gmt":"2010-07-13T13:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=26590"},"modified":"2010-07-13T08:01:25","modified_gmt":"2010-07-13T13:01:25","slug":"bill-gates-betting-23-5-million-on-detroit-start-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2010\/07\/bill-gates-betting-23-5-million-on-detroit-start-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Gates Betting $23.5 million on Detroit Start-Up"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Microsoft founder Bill Gates is betting $23.5 million on a promising new engine technology, the opoc.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He\u2019s better known as a tech guru \u2013 and, since his retirement from Microsoft, as a mega-philanthropist.\u00a0 But Seattle billionaire Bill Gates is now betting on what some have described as a revolutionary new automotive engine technology.<\/p>\n

Gates is one of two new principal investors in EcoMotors, a suburban Detroit start-up that is developing a technology called the opoc motor.\u00a0 Short for opposed piston-opposed cylinder, its developers claim it can run on either regular unleaded gasoline or diesel and not only boosts fuel economy but also reduces the number of parts needed compared to a conventional gas or diesel powertrain.<\/p>\n

The Microsoft founder is putting up $23.5 million in two-year-old EcoMotors.\u00a0 He is joined as a new investor by Khosla Ventures, a major investment firm from Menlo Park, California.\u00a0 The Silicon Valley venture capital firm\u2019s founder, Vinod Khosla, was one of the co-founders of Sun Microsystems.<\/p>\n

The new engine \u201ccan be an important step in providing affordable, low-emissions transportation for the developing world,\u201d said Gates, explaining his involvement in the EcoMotors project.\u00a0 He has steered a significant share of his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation cash to third-world projects, such as the elimination of malaria.\u00a0 But his personal involvement in the auto industry \u2013 beyond Microsoft\u2019s push into auto technology \u2013 is new.<\/p>\n

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Energy!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

EcoMotors\u2019 appeal is twofold.\u00a0 There\u2019s the new technology, and a set of old names.\u00a0 The venture is run by one-time General Motors wunderkind Don Runkle, who left the maker to work at its parts spin-off, Delphi Corp., before venturing out on his own.\u00a0 He serves as CEO, while John Coletti, best known for his work on Ford Motor Co.\u2019s performance vehicles, is president and chief operating officer.\u00a0 The basic design of the opoc engine, meanwhile, was developed by Peter Hofbauer, former head of powertrain development at Volkswagen AG.\u00a0 Hofbauer is EcoMotors chairman.<\/p>\n

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An opoc engine is half the size and weight of a gas engine, with less than half the parts.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That distinguished cast has earned credibility for a company going up against a well-entrenched production base for conventional engine technology.\u00a0 Over the decades, inventors and entrepreneurs have proposed a variety of alternatives to the long-lived internal combustion engine, including the Wankel rotary \u2013 today used in only limited application by Mazda \u2013 the Stirling engine, and Orbital\u2019s two-stroke.<\/p>\n

Each of these technologies has either proved lacking in some key area \u2013 the rotary short on mileage, the Orbital unable to meet emissions standards \u2013 or simply unable to offer enough of an advantage to justify replacing billions of dollars of investments already laid down for conventional powertrain production.<\/p>\n

But the opoc appears to have some solid advantages that is getting the technology some serious attention.\u00a0 EcoMotors claims the engine can yield up to 50% better fuel efficiency than a conventional gasoline powertrain, with a comparable reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.\u00a0 An opoc, meanwhile, is half the size and half the weight, with half the parts of a conventional gas engine.\u00a0 That, EcoMotors projects, should mean lower costs for tooling and production.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a better mousetrap,\u201d contends Runkle, who suggests that the technology could be put into production within the next several years.<\/p>\n

(<\/strong><\/em>Click Here<\/span><\/a> <\/a>for more on the opoc engine.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The former GM vice president says he carries a small version of the opoc in his briefcase which is powerful enough to power an entire home.\u00a0 That suggests that the technology could find applications beyond the auto industry.<\/p>\n

Along with the new venture funding from Gates, EcoMotors has a request pending for a $200 million loan from the Department of Energy, which has been sponsoring a number of efforts to develop clean, high-efficiency powertrain technologies.<\/p>\n

Other recipients include Tesla Motors, the California-based electric vehicle manufacturer that recently launched an IPO, and Fisker Automotive, another Golden State firm planning to produce plug-in hybrids.<\/p>\n

Coincidentally, all three firms hope to launch production at former General Motors facilities.\u00a0 Tesla recently announced it is taking over the NUMMI plant, near San Francisco, long run as a Toyota-GM joint venture.\u00a0 Fisker has acquired an abandoned GM plant in Delaware.\u00a0 And EcoMotors hope to produce the opoc at an old GM engine plant in Livonia, Michigan.<\/p>\n

But those other two start-ups suggest another challenge for EcoMotors.\u00a0 While few experts believe the internal combustion engine will go away any time soon, electric powertrain technology is getting the spotlight right now \u2013 and a significant share of the new capital flowing into the auto industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He\u2019s better known as a tech guru \u2013 and, since his retirement from Microsoft, as a mega-philanthropist. But Seattle billionaire Bill Gates is now betting on what some have described as a revolutionary new automotive engine technology. TheDetroitBureau.com has more on why Gates is betting on the pint-sized opoc engine — and the Motor City superstars behind EcoMotors, the start-up hoping to put the technology into production.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26590"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26590"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=26590"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=26590"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=26590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}