Hybrid turbine-hydraulic kinetic energy drive

In 2003, after more than three decades of experience working with hydrostatic drives and boundary layer turbines, PNGinc’s CEO Ken Rieli offered a new cost-cutting hybrid design to the automotive world. The new drivetrain that his company developed was called the KE Drive™ (Kinetic Energy). And according to PNGinc’s market analysts, their turbine-hydraulic hybrid drivetrain would cost $2,000 less to build compared to diesel-powered HEV (hybrid electric vehicle) systems.

Based on a mix of off-the-shelf hydraulic-accumulator systems components and proprietary disk turbine technology, the KE Drive™ was designed to enable Michigan’s auto companies to take the lead in the growing hybrid vehicle market.

Ken Rieli’s visionary outlook remains positive. “The key to automotive growth in the 21st century is to deliver new drivetrain technology with higher performance, better pricing and lower emissions that will satisfy a new generation of buyers, and reverse environmental damage. Our turbine-hydraulic hybrid system, when fully implemented, will deliver on all of these points.”