Hartke requested additional information on the matter; accordingly, I am submitting the following questions to you. These questions and your response will be made a part of the hearing record.

(1) The Clean Air Act calls for the establishment of a government-industry technical committee on motor vehicle pollution. What is the purpose of the committee?

(2) What is the relationship between the committee's activities and the overall HEW program concerning research and control in the area of motor vehicle pollution?

(3) What has this committee done to obtain information on the efforts of private industry, such as Union Carbide, to develop nonpolluting power sources for automobiles?

DEAR SENATOR MAGNUSON: This is in response to your letter of March 28 concerning this Department's efforts to deal with the problem of air pollution from motor vehicles. I am pleased to have this opportunity to elaborate on my testimony of March 14, particularly with respect to the three questions you have asked about the purpose and the activities of the government-industry technical committee established under Section 106(a) of the Clean Air Act, as amended. 1. In December 1963, when the Clean Air Act was passed, the need to move toward national control of motor vehicle pollution was already apparent; it was also apparent that immediate progress in this direction could be achieved most effectively through the development and application of control technology applicable to the conventional internal engine. The purpose for which the technical committee was formed was to evaluate progress in research on control apparatus and fuels and to recommend further research programs in these areas. 2. The members of the Automotive Vehicle and Fuel Pollution Technical Committee well represent their respective industries and provide valuable advice on the research programs and engineering activities of their organizations. In this regard, they provided useful guidance in the planning of the Center's overall program of research and control activities concerned with vehicle emissions. Recognition of the need to work directly with the technical experts in the several individual manufacturing companies rather than solely with the associations' representatives has led to regular and frequent meetings with the technical committees of the American Petroleum Institute, Coordinating Research Council. and the Vehicle Combustion Products. Thus, while the activities of the Technical Committee appointed by the Secretary under Section 106(a) of the Clean Air Act have not been especially productive and no meetings of the Committee have been called since December 1965, significant progress and considerable improvement in research and development for reduction of vehicle emissions has occurred as a direct result of liaison with the several other groups enumerated.

3. Your final question concerns non-polluting power sources for automobiles, presumably alternatives to the conventional internal combustion engine. Though this subject was discussed in general terms at meetings of the Technical Committee, the Committee's attention was focused almost entirely on methodology for controlling pollutant emissions from the internal combustion engine, for reasons indicated in my response to your first question. In addition, it was not until national action was taken to reduce air pollution from the automotive power systems now in use that there was any truly meaningful incentive for private industry to give serious consideration to the development of new systems. I trust that this information will answer your questions. If I can be of further assistance at any time, please do not hesitate to call on me.

Sincerely yours,

DEAN W. COSTON, Deputy Under Secretary.

Senator SPONG. Our next witness is Mr. Andy Leparulo, assistant vice president, Yardney Electric Corp.

STATEMENT OF ANDY LEPARULO, ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT, YARDNEY ELECTRIC CORP., NEW YORK, N.Y.

Mr. LEPARULO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee, we appreciate the opportunity to present our views on the development of the modern, electric-powered vehicle as an alternate to those powered by the internal-combustion engine.

The performance of an electric vehicle is dependent on the ability of its power source to deliver energy for vehicular propulsion. The electric vehicle, although it has had a long and impressive history, failed in this fundamental respect until recently.

Virtually all of the electric vehicles in use since the early 1900's utilize massive batteries of the lead-acid type to deliver the necessary power to meet the modest demands required of it. A large percentage of this battery system's power is actually used to overcome its own inertia, leaving insufficient power for satisfactory propulsion. Compared to a gas-driven vehicle, its acceleration is poor, and its range and speed are insufficient to meet present-day traffic demands. This is the principal reason why electric vehicles did not find widespread acceptance.

In technical terms, the lead-acid battery system's power and energyto-weight ratio are poor. Limitations in battery development hindered the advancement of a satisfactory electric vehicle. Little progress was made in battery technology from the early 1900's until after World War II. Shortly thereafter, a significant breakthrough was made in harnessing and controlling the energy of a rechargeable silverzinc battery couple by Yardney's associate, Professor Andre, of Paris, France. Depending on the design, this revolutionary system performs at five to six times the energy-to-weight ratio of a lead-acid system, which means that within the same size and weight, 500 to 600 percent more energy is available for propulsion. Further, since voltage and capacity of the silver-zinc system are practically unaffected by heavy loads, it is capable of delivering more power over a longer period of time.

In 1948 Yardney produced the first cell of this type. It was a small half-ampere-hour cell and was capable of two or three recharges. It had a life of only a few days. However, the pioneering development program of more than 15 years by Yardney's scientific and technical team resulted in tremendous improvements in this silverzinc system.

Today the silver-zinc system is capable of 200 to 350 charge-discharge cycles and has a life of 2 to 3 years, depending on conditions of

use.

But this is not by any means our ultimate goal and aspiration. We are continuing our research and development, within our limited budget, toward achieving a silver-zinc system which would have a capability in excess of 500 cycles and a life of more than 5 years. We do receive some limited support from Government agencies as the U.S. Army's Electronics Command at Fort Monmouth. While we are making excellent progress, much more research and development work is required in this area. We are positive that further advances can be made in this relatively new advanced battery technology.

Since the start of its development in the late 1940's our Silvercel battery is used and is producing power for propulsion of electric homing torpedoes, high-speed submarines and is part of virtually all of the missile and aerospace programs, including such sophisticated systems as the short-range attack missile and the Lunar Module, Polaris, Poseidon, and Nike X programs. Its realiability and performance under the extremely severe requirements of the missile and space systems in many respects far exceed those necessary for an electric land vehicle.

In 1953 our organization installed silver-zinc batteries in an electric automobile. Under the direction of Professor Andre, we converted a Dyna-Panhard automobile to electric propulsion. This experimental vehicle achieved a top speed of 50 miles an hour and a range of about. 120 miles on a single charge. This indicated the superior performance of the silver-zinc battery in meeting the requirements of modern electric vehicles. Similar tests were made in 1957 by our British associates, Venner Accumulators, Ltd.

Because funds were limited, the market at that time questionable and investment costs high, little additional work was done by us on the electric automobile systems until 1964. In that year we acquired a converted Renault Dauphine, which previously had been powered by lead-acid batteries. Again, with the lead-acid system, the performance was not satisfactory. This Renault had 750 pounds of lead-acid batteries in it, or nearly half of its body weight. Its range was limited to 20 to 40 miles, its acceleration slow, and it had a speed of only 20 to 30 miles per hour.

Yardney Electric modified this vehicle with silver-zinc batteries, utilizing batteries from its production line which were not optimized for auto use. These batteries were actually designed for use on the F-105 fighter aircraft. The silver-zinc system weighed approximately 200 pounds and occupied about one-fifth of the space taken up by the original lead-acid batteries. The performance of this car was and is

excellent.

It has a top speed of 55 miles per hour and a range of about 80 miles on a single charge. The car accelerates from 0 to 30 miles per hour in less than 5 seconds. General Motors further demonstrated the power obtained by silver-zinc in their experimental Electrovair II, a Corvairtype car, which uses our silver-zinc battery. The acceleration of the silver-zinc system is about the same as an internal combustion engine. It can be fully recharged on ordinary house current at a cost of less than 10 cents for electricity.

The Yardney experimental electric car has been operating in New York City for more than 2 years without any mechanical problems. In future cars, however, the present speed control system, using electromagnetic relays, would be converted to solid state electronics. Our car requires little or no maintenance. It has been driven up hills, through rain and snow and has been tested exhaustively, clearly showing a capability far beyond that of lead-acid battery-powered cars.

You will note that the electric vehicles in existence today are a hodgepodge of parts put together in the manner of a teenager-built hot rod. There is no doubt that if an automobile were designed, utilizing the newer technology of silver-zinc battery systems, the car would be capable of a speed of at least 60 miles per hour and a range in excess of 150 miles per single charge. Such a battery system would have a life in excess of 3 years or 50,000 miles before replacement would be necessary. A vehicle such as this could be in production within 2 years, with proper preproduction leadtime for tooling, and so forth. And, as we have suggested, its performance and economics could be improved still further by a sustained research and development effort.

In discussions of silver-zinc systems by both opponents and proponents of electric vehicles, it is acknowledged that the power and technology of silver-zinc is capable of meeting the requirements of a modern electric car. The Federal Power Commission report further emphasizes this idea.

With most technical problems already solved, the problems remaining are the cost of the system and the availability of silver. Let me comment on these problems. With respect to cost, silver is indeed the most expensive item in the silver-zinc battery system; but it must be kept in mind that the silver is virtually completely recoverable. It is never lost, since the nature of the electrochemical couple is completely reversible. The battery, after its life has been expended, will contain the same amount of silver that it has when new. Therefore, it is feasible and practical to rent the silver to its user at a fee of, say 10 percent a year. In a battery system for an electric vehicle, which contains approximately $1,200 worth of silver, the cost per year on a rental basis would be $120.

As for the production cost of the silver-zinc battery system, given the leadtime for proper tooling, we estimate we could produce runs of 10,000 silver-zinc batteries for electric vehicles today at a cost of approximately $700 to $900 per battery, exclusive of the cost of silver which, as indicated previously, could be provided on a rental basis or Government furnished. Taking all costs, including depreciation, insurance, operating costs and silver rental into consideration, studies at Yardney Electric place the total cost of an electric car between 8 cents and 10 cents a mile. This compares with an average of 12 cents to 13 cents per mile for the internal combustion automobile, taking all costs into consideration.

The major reason for the reduced cost of an electric car is that it requires no gas, oil, radiator, water pump, transmission, carburetor and other expensive parts which raise the operation and maintenance costs of the internal combustion automobile. We, therefore, believe that the argument of cost advanced by opponents of this system is not a valid one.

Regarding the silver availability, critics of electric vehicles point out that a silver-zinc system is impractical because there is not enough silver in the free world to meet the demand for large-scale production. Our studies, however indicate the following:

1. The Government has in storage approximately 600 million ounces of silver. An additional 2.3 billion ounces is stored in coins.

2. Based on past experience with other minerals, there should exist many untapped sources of silver in the world which continued exploration will no doubt discover.

3. It is known that the ocean waters contain large quantities of silver-approximately 30,000 ounces per cubic mile. It is possible to show that in regions of the ocean where significant currents flow-say about 1 mile per hour-the extraction of silver as well as other noble metals is technically feasible. Magnesium, for example, is already extracted from the sea. A process to extract silver is under investigation by Prof. John Bockris of the University of Pennsylvania.

The battery system for an electric vehicle requires approximately 1,000 ounces of silver. Therefore, 10,000 vehicles would require 10 million ounces. Approximately 410 million ounces of silver are consumed per year at the present time. As you can see, 10 million ounces is not very much compared with the present total of silver usage. Further, as we have indicated previously, the silver is completely recoverable and therefore regenerative. This means that an additional 10,000 batteries