Meineke service centers, with the help of Echo Automotive Inc., will soon give people the option to convert their conventional internal combustion engine-powered vehicles into hybrids, with an estimated payback time of under two years.
Echo Automotive specializes in converting conventional ICE-powered fleet vehicles into fuel-efficient hybrid-electric vehicles (HEV). This week they announced that they had signed an agreement with Meineke Car Care Centers, Inc to have them offer installation services for Echo’s retrofit hybrid drive system.
“We are extremely pleased to have Meineke onboard as a strategic partner,” commented Jason Plotke, Echo Automotive Chairman and President. “Our relationship with Meineke greatly assists us in scaling our business through the support of this highly recognized and respected national service provider and is a tangible advantage we are delighted to offer our customers.”
Meineke said that their 900 car care centrs in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China, Saudi Arabia and the Caribbean have serviced about 50 million vehicles since 1972. Hybrid vehicle conversions have been done in peoples’ back yards and at small garages for many years, but with a huge corporation like Meineke on board, hybrid conversions could become more commonplace.
Echo Automotive’s patent-pending hybrid system EchoDrive system attaches to the back of the transmission of rear-drive vehicles, not unlike the XL Hybrid system. But Echo claims that their system has a Return On Investment of 24 months or less, making it appealing for fleet owners looking to save on fuel costs. That said, we have heard very little about Echo until now, though this large-scale partnership seems to indicate they are quite serious about this business plan. Will Meineke become a green car conversion hub, or is this just another bright idea unfounded with today’s economic reality?
Source: Hybrid Cars
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