Google Inc. co-founder Sergey Brin is funding development of a lithium-ion battery pack for an all-electric commuter car developed several years ago by Commuter Cars Corp., of Spokane, and has ordered three of the vehicles that will use that battery system, says Bryan Woodbury, Commuter Cars vice president.


Woodbury declines to say how much money Brin is investing in the project, but just the three Tango T600 cars that Brin has ordered have a current asking price of $148,000 each. Woodbury says the company also is working with a battery manufacturer to develop a nickel metal-hydride battery system for the car, which currently uses conventional lead-acid batteries.


Instead of 19 lead-acid batteries, there are 100 nickel metal-hydride batteries, and they have a battery-management system, and liquid cooling, Woodbury says. Its not normal lithium ion (like the type used in digital cameras and notebook computers). Its lithium ion iron phosphate polymer. They dont have the safety issues of regular lithium-ion batteries.


Commuter Cars hopes to complete development of both battery systems within the next few months, and Woodbury says, We have our engineers working on improving the vehicle, things like the gearbox and suspension have been improved. Its a constant work in progress.


At only 39 inches wide and eight and a half feet long, the Tango looks like a standard subcompact thats been squeezed to a narrow width in a giant hydraulic press. Despite its narrow wheelbase, its touted to have good handling and stability due to the 1,100 pounds of batteries it carries that act as ballast. As for performance, Commuter Cars says the Tango can go from zero to 60 mph in four seconds and can do the quarter-mile in 12 seconds, achieving speeds of more than 120 mph.


The 8-year-old company, which is located at 715 E. Sprague and employs just a few people, shifted from an extended prototype-development period to limited production in the fall of 2005. Thats when it sold its first Tango, to actor George Clooney, following his starring role in the movie Syriana, a political thriller dealing with oil consumption and corruption.


Its a major milestone to go from prototype to actually selling the cars, including in the eyes of potential major investors, Woodbury says, adding that the national exposure resulting from Clooneys purchase was very beneficial.


Commuter Cars has more than 100 orders in all for the Tango, including about a dozen for the T600, which is the high-end luxury model, and the rest for the still-to-be-introduced and lower-priced T200 and base model T100, he says.


Its working on six T600s right now that it hopes to deliver within a matter of months, all in mostly assembled kit form. That model has an estimated range between charges of 40 to 80 miles with the lead-acid batteries, 80 to 160 miles with the nickel metal-hydride batteries, and 160 to 320 with the lithium-ion batteries. The prices rise with the longer range, though, starting at $108,000 for the lead-acid battery-powered model and jumping $24,000 for the nickel metal-hydride model and $40,000 for the lithium-ion model.


Commuter Cars says it would need around $50 million to finish engineering work, obtain crucial Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard certification, and do the necessary tooling and preparation to begin mass-producing the car. That, it says, would enable it to lower the price of its base model to under $20,000.


Until it finds investors willing to put up that kind of money, though, it says it will continue building the cars by hand.