Paice Corporation Case Study
Case study by APR America
Paice Corporation, developers of a breakthrough hybrid electric powertrain system for cars and trucks, asked AutoCom to help increase its visibility among potential customers and supplier partners. The company’s Hyperdriveä system had proven superior to other hybrid systems in laboratory tests and simulations and Paice management was interested in licensing development and production rights to one or more major OEMs.
AutoCom’s communications strategy was based on the credibility of the Paice management team, which combined scientific expertise with a highly accomplished group of automotive executives and engineers.
The agency organized a series of interviews and events at the Center for Automotive Research’s annual Management Briefing Seminars, the largest automotive conference in the U.S. at the time. The PAICE story made the front page of the conferences show daily. Virtually unknown on the first day of the show, Paice was “news” 48 hours later.
Technology magazines picked up the thread, a major automotive news show on public television devoted a full half-hour program to Paice, and important articles in several technical publications resulted as well. The company’s principals were invited to participate in global symposiums studying the hybrid powertrain phenomenon and its future as an alternative to the internal combustion engine.
Paice LLC was a U.S. technology company formed in 1992 to develop hybrid vehicle technology that promotes lower emissions, superior driving performance and fuel-efficient operation of internal combustion engines. Through its inventive endeavors, Paice had obtained 11 U.S. patents and numerous foreign patents related to hybrid vehicle technology. These include important concepts of high voltage in a hybrid vehicle and improved methods of control. Paice has demonstrated that using voltage as high as 500 volts or more is essential to achieving real efficiency in hybrid automobiles. A study ranked Paice’s hybrid patents as the most dominant in the world.
Paice LLC is considered to be one of the earliest leaders in electric vehicles and was granted its very first hybrid vehicle patent back in 1994, this was way before most of the other automakers started to seriously focus their attention on figuring out ways to enhance and improve fuel efficiency while reducing emissions. Paice’s technology proved valuable and helped accelerate the growth of the hybrid vehicle industry.
Paice LLC has licensed its hybrid vehicle technology portfolio to some of the most important automakers from across the globe, including:
• Toyota
• Ford
• Hyundai/Kia
• Honda
• GM
Together, these automakers make up more than 80% of all hybrid vehicle sales in the United States.
