San Diego's ISE Corporation designs and builds hybrid-electric drive systems for heavy-duty vehicles such as buses and trams. Since its inception in 1994, ISE has converted a dozen types of large transportation vehicles to run on electric, hybrid-electric, or fuel cell power.

ISE also sells individual subsystems and components, including integrated battery and ultracapacitor packs, motive drive subsystems, auxiliary power units, electrically-driven accessories, and hybrid vehicle control systems.

I learned recently that electric vehicles such as the Chevy Volt are an ideal stepping stone to the hydrogen economy. The Volt is an electrical vehicle with as gas-powered electrical generator backup that can extend the Volt's range beyond 100 miles. The backup could just as easily be a tank of hydrogen with a fuel cell or some other renewable zero emissions system.

In light of this good news, ISE is paving the way to the hydrogen economy future for mass transit. For more information, visit the ISE web site, www.isecorp.com