January 14, 2004

By: Sandra Ade
Website: http://www.1st-in-batteries.com

Skaters delighted with clean air and smooth ice

Solectria Corporation announced today that it is providing electric vehicle (EV) components to Resurfice Corporation of Elmira, Ontario, manufacturer of the Olympia line of ice resurfacers, for use in the OLYMPIA CELLECT, the world's first Nickel Cadmium (NiCad) powered ice resurfacer that debuts today at the annual Ice Skating Institute Conference and Trade Show in Las Vegas. A variety of Solectria components including motors, motor controllers, and battery chargers will be used to power the OLYMPIA CELLECT's traction drive, all the onboard ice maintenance devices including the board brush, edger, horizontal and vertical augers, as well as a hydraulic pump motor to lift the snow bin and for power steering.

The name "OLYMPIA CELLECT" was chosen by Resurfice to highlight the fact that the machine's source of power is long life NiCad battery cells produced by SAFT. These batteries provide ample power for a minimum of 20 "flood" cycles before the machine needs to be recharged, greatly exceeding the capability of any other electric ice resurfacing machines presently on the market. The SAFT NiCad batteries are ideally suited to cold temperature operation and, combined with the Solectria electric drive system, enable the OLYMPIA CELLECT to easily handle slopes in excess of 20 degrees and to operate at speeds up to 18 mph (30 kph).

The OLYMPIA CELLECT is being introduced by Resurfice in response to a rapidly growing market demand for ice resurfacing machines offering high performance and low operational costs while producing zero emissions. An issue of concern for many ice skating rink operators around the world is poor indoor air quality frequently attributed to emissions from internal combustion-powered ice resurfacing machines, particularly as rinks have become better insulated in recent years to save energy.

For more information, see hybrid car batteries.

About The Author:

Sandra Ade is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.1st-in-batteries.com.  A great resource for batteries of all kinds including camcorder, laptop, cell phone and more.