excerpt from a full page ad that ran in the NY Times on 2/14/1996

How Much Is It Worth To You
To Increase Your Car's Gas Mileage To 120 MPG?

$1000.00? $100.00? $10.00? 32 cents?

What if your car could get four or five times the gas milage it gets now?

A typical medium size car today averages only about 23 miles per gallon of gas. But suppose it were able to average five times that amount.

If you drive just 12,000 miles annually, your savings on fuel would amount to at least $530 every year with present fuel costs. If you're like most people, those savings would add up to more the $2,200 during the time you own the car.

So isn't the chance to reap such long-term savings worth the price of a postage stamp?

Introducing the Hydrostatic Power Train with Energy Storage.

Starting in 1982, Valentin Technologies, Inc. began to develop a new powertrain with the potential to revolutionize driving as we know it.

Yet the vehicles it is being developed for will appear no different from those on the road today. No "space-age" materials or noticable reduction in the size of the car are needed to achieve such incredibly high fuel efficiency.

Instead, we are developing a new, lighter powertrain to replace the inefficient engines and transmissions use in current automobiles. We call it the Hydrostatic Powertrain With Energy Storage. This fundamental change in powering automobiles can more than quadruple your car's gas mileage. And it can drastically reduce air pollution.

Both the federal government and the State of Wisconsin were impressed enough to invest over $200,000 in the development of the main powertrain components.

But if it is to become a reality, we'll need more funding to complete the final stages of development of this new approach to power automobiles. And we'll need your help.

How does it work?

The biggest wasters of energy in today's cars are the brakes and an engine that has to run at various speeds and powers. Every time you apply your brakes you are discarding loads of potential energy. In fact, braking from 50 mph to a stop uses as much energy as driving one mile at 35 mph. The hydrostatic powertrain stores this energy from braking and uses it again to power the car. The engine runs only at constant power and speed.

It consists of a small engine, an accumulator to store energy and a wheelmotor in each wheel. The engine with the hydraulic pump charges the accumulator with pressurized hydraulic fluid. This fluid drives the adjustable wheelmotors. During braking, the wheelmotors become pumps and restore all braking energy back into the accumulator. This functions are controlled by the powertrain computer.

This process leads to drastically improved gas milage and reduced pollution. Today, a typical mid-size car such as a Ford Taurus or Chevy Lumina averages 20 mpg in city and 27 mpg in highway driving. The new powertrain would improve these averages to 13 mpg in the city and 90 mpg on the highway.

Please note, the car gets better gas milage in the city due to less air drag (speed) and high rate of regenerative braking. And again, these figues do not assume the use of any special "space-age" materials. The size and weight reductions are only a result of the lighter and smaller powertrain.

The low fuel consumption and high power of the wheelmotors (700hp) will result in outstanding driving performance. The average car with a 17 gallon tank will be able to travel 2,000 miles on a single tank of gas. And accelerations of 0 to 60 mph in 5 seconds will be possible, too. The safely and comfort of the car will also be improved noticeably since the power on each wheel can be controlled fast and easily through the powertain computer. The functions (ABS, 4-wheel drive, traction control, locked differentials and improved dynamic control) are part of the computer software and are included at no additional charge.

In fact, the projected cost of a car with the hydrostatic powertain will be competitive with conventional cars with ABS when produced in similar volumes.

Where Other Powertrains Fall Short.

Present powertrains have reached a high degree of maturity. Research data indicate that improvements of even 40% are very unlikely and would result in a sizable increase in the cost of vehicles.

Where We Fall Short.

The major stumbling block in making the hydrostatic powertrain a reality is funding. We applied to the federal government's Advanced Technology Program (ATP) for a grant and were turned down.

Their reasons? They stated that the system should be been described in "greater detail," and the business plan wasn't "comprehensive enough." But they were unable to be specific as to why. Timothy C. Moore, researcher from the Hypercar Center of the Rocky Mountain Institute in Colorado stated: "I have rarely seen such a thorough and detailed project plan and workmanship."

We've approaced some car manufacturers. Typically, they do not support outside research and product development. The best we could do was to get a few to agree to see a demonstration of our new powertrain, and to help us test the prototypes when they become available.

To date, we've invested over $500,000 of private funds in this project -- excluding the cost for full-time labor and interest. The only way to complete it now is to get additional government funding.

This ad is costing us plenty, but ignoring it could cost this country $45,000,000,000.

This ad is our last attempt to get funding for this powertrain. We believe so strongly in our concept and its importance to the country, that we are riskng the only remaining savings we have to try to bring it to reality.

The hydrostatic powertrain has the potential to reduce U.S. oil imports by more that 80% - a savings of $45 billion per year.

Don't let this important development disappear in a sea of government red tape. Write to the address below to show your support. If enough people write in, the government won't be able to ignore us.

If you desire more information on this project, send $5.00 to:

Valentin Technologies, Inc.
14900 Westover Road
Elm Glove, WI 53122

fax 282-821-1910

UPDATE for 2003: We were not successful in convincing the government and many of the people who responded said we shouldn't depend on the government. We now have U S Patent 6,293,231 issued Sept 25 2001, FREE-PISTON INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE and expect another patent on the hydraulic pump.For more information we'd appreciate a donation of $5.00.

This article came out in March 1996, a month after the NY Times ad, as the only published response.

Advanced Transportation Technology News
A BCC, Inc. Publication
25 Van Zant St., Norwalk, CT 06855-1781
203/853-4266 FAX: 203/853-0348

Volume 2, Number 11 March 1996

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Powertrain Tries to Get Rolling. It was a "one-shot deal," and it cost $66,000, but to Ingo Valentin, last month's full page ad in The New York Times was the best way to tell the world about his hydrostatic power train. Valentin, who heads his own firm, says he needs about $1.5 million to come up with a working system after he successfully tests a proof-of-concept model. The ad represented an effort to elicit public support and raise some of the additional dollars needed to reach that goal.

Valentin's powertrain consists of a small engine with a hydraulic pump that charges an energy storage container (accumulator) with pressurized hydraulic fluid. The engine drives the car and simultaneously charges the accumulator. This takes about a minute. Energy from the accumulator can then drive the car for three to six miles. Meanwhile, the engine has been turned off by the powertrain computer which will start it again before the accumulator is emptied. If any braking is done, this energy will be returned to the accumulator.

Because the powertrain is small and lightweight, the weight of a medium size car could be reduced by about 570 lbs. to 2,550 lbs. Also, the powertrain would permit the engine to run under constant conditions with regard to torque and rpm. Higher power (50 hp) at lower rpm (2,400) would lead to very low fuel consumption and negligible pollution per fuel unit burned.

Contact: Ingo Valentin, Valentin Technologies, Inc., 14900 Westover Road, Elm Glove, WI 53122

fax 282-821-1910.