Export Electric Cars to U.S.

A new kind of electric car developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology will be exported to the U.S.

KAIST said Sunday that it has signed a letter of intent to export Online Electric Vehicles, or OLEVs, to Park City in Utah. KAIST President Suh Nam-pyo will visit the city to ink the deal on Sept. 24.

KAIST focused on tackling the shortcomings of battery-powered electric vehicles with the new car. Due to the limited capacity of lithium-ion batteries, battery-powered electric cars can only travel a relatively short distance on a single charge. Using a bigger battery makes the car heavier and more expensive.

The OLEV can be charged by cables located beneath the surface of the road, although this requires the installation of a grid on the existing road network.

In Park City, a resort city famous for the Sundance Film Festival, the OLEVs will run on a 2.6-km section of road. KAIST and the city plan to complete the US$5 million project by next year to transport visitors to the film fest in January 2012.