Desert Area Seeks to Energize Its Economy
Auto manufacturing is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of the fun-in-the-sun desert hot spots east of Los Angeles. But in a golf cart manufacturer’s converted upholstery shop, a Desert Hot Springs company is building alternative-energy-powered minitrucks and possibly the beginnings of an industrial base that could rev up the economy of the Coachella Valley.
Coval Partners Inc., working with Italian fuel-cell maker De Nora and Western Golf Car, is manufacturing from the ground up prototypes of utility trucks that run on battery-generated electricity and on hydrogen-powered fuel cells.
The Coval project--whose ultimate goal is to manufacture municipal fleets of utility trucks--is part of a broader effort among the communities of the Coachella Valley to be on the leading edge of a nationwide movement to reduce dependency on imported fossil fuels.
In the process, local officials hope to develop the region into a “Silicon Valley” of alternative-fuel technology and expand its largely seasonal, low-wage economy based on tourism, retailing and agriculture to include high-tech, high-paying jobs for engineers and researchers.
The region “is becoming a hotbed of alternate transportation activity,” said Peter Lehman, director of the Schatz Energy Research Center at Humboldt State College in Arcata.
Since 1994, Coachella Valley has been converting its government fleets--street sweepers, school and public buses, among other vehicles--from diesel to cleaner-burning compressed natural gas. In addition, officials have encouraged local businesses to make the change.
As funding becomes available and the technology improves, area officials plan to convert city, county and transit agency vehicles to the more expensive, but even cleaner-burning hydrogen-powered fuel-cell engines machines, which emit only water.
To advance the area’s position in the alternative fuel industry, the regional SunLine Transit Agency, Riverside County and the nine Coachella Valley municipalities--including Palm Springs, Palm Desert and Indio--are courting private manufacturers of fuel cells and other alternative transportation companies to set up shop in the desert.
“The main goal is to keep the Coachella Valley ahead of the curve that the Los Angeles Basin got behind,” Riverside County Supervisor Roy Wilson said. “We hope to create incubator businesses in alternative fuels.”
Coval has been driving in that direction. The company has been trying to convince De Nora, of Milan, Italy, to set up a permanent fuel-cell plant in the desert, which could cut Coval’s manufacturing costs.
Currently, Coval has an annual budget of about $100,000 but has been operating at a loss. One of its partners, Western Golf Car of Desert Hot Springs, has been keeping the company afloat, Harris said. Coval’s work on the fuel-cell-powered truck and its electric-powered sister has cost the company about $300,000. And with their retail cost at $16,000, the trucks are pricier than their diesel counterparts, Harris said.
Despite these obstacles, Coval is moving forward with its marketing plans for its fuel-cell-powered minitrucks. SunLine is putting together a team to discuss using Coval trucks, said SunLine General Manager Richard Cromwell III.
Coval has already begun marketing its trucks to the desert’s myriad gated residential communities, such as Del Webb’s Sun City Palm Desert, and to airports and universities, Harris said.
Privately held Coval is also hoping to work with SunLine to convert the transit agency’s fleet to hydrogen-powered engines.
In establishing an infrastructure to allow this technology to flourish, an alternative-fuels maintenance training program is cultivating the area’s own technicians.
Developed in 1993 at the College of the Desert, which formed a consortium with UC Riverside, SunLine and others, the training curriculum has, for the most part, become the industry standard for programs nationally, said Michael Daly, director of the Advanced Transportation Technologies Initiative at the school.
And with a $2.5-million grant from the Army’s National Automotive Center, the consortium is studying the possibility of developing fuel-cell technology for military purposes. There’s a provision in the project agreement that any work emanating from the research be done locally.
The region’s activity has begun to garner wider recognition. Last week, the International Fuel Cell Seminar was held in Palm Springs, a testament to the commitment the region has made to advancing the technology.
In addition to seeing the potential economic advantage of building the alternative-transportation industry, Coachella Valley officials recognize the importance of its effects on the surroundings.
“We’re kind of vigilant about air quality out here,” said Michael Bracken, director of human and community resources for the Coachella Valley Assn. of Governments. “If the communities don’t plan to protect what drew people to it in the first place, they’ll lose it.”
