Like Milton from Office Space, did the LA Auto Show try to move Edward Furio to the basement?

Last June, we told you about the 150-mile per gallon hybrid developed by Washington state company, AFS Trinity Power Corporation. The “extreme hybrid,” the XH-150, is a plug-in hybrid SUV that does not sacrifice power, size, or drivability. Originally slated to be shown at this month’s LA Auto Show, the CEO of Trinity, Edward W. Furia, recently decided to pull the extreme hybrid from the show to express his and many others frustrations with the autogiants.

Furia makes an excellent point here. His company, a relative start-up, managed to produce the technology to create the XH-150, a vehicle, which if widely adopted, could reduce our dependence on oil and make a significant positive impact on our planet. Meanwhile, the big guys crow about hybrid SUVs which get up to 20 or 30 miles per gallon. While that represents an improvement, it is not the significant change we need to reverse the damage conventional SUVs have done to the earth.

This should infuriate any U.S. taxpayer, as the automakers in Detroit are currently seeking our money for a government bailout. “The suppression by the automakers of information about technologies such as this raises serious questions about the judgment, vision, intentions and capabilities of the leadership of these companies,” Furia said last week. “Such conduct by the automakers, who are currently seeking tens of billions of taxpayer dollars, ostensibly to develop fuel efficient vehicle technologies, is evidence they are reluctant to embrace solutions they didn’t invent.” (from Marketwatch)

LA Auto Show management had allegedly relegated the XH-150 to the show’s basement and asked that any ads Trinity might run be shown to them first. Auto show management also said that Trinity’s 150-mile claim would not be allowed on any advertising also promoting the auto show. This didn’t sit well with Furia and other Trinity execs, so they decided to plan their own, independent show in LA during the Auto Show.

From an article in Motortrend…Furia claims information about AFS Trinity’s technology was suppressed in large part by the Greater Los Angeles New Car Dealers Association (the AFS press release alleges the association “owns” the L.A. show and it takes its marching orders from the Detroit Three) and “such conduct by the automakers is evidence they are reluctant to embrace solutions they didn’t invent.”

It is such a shame that this amazing technology exists and yet so do all of these obstacles to getting it on the market.

PS - Edward, next time you bring the XH through the midwest, look us up so we can get some video here!