As if all that weren’t enough, the supposedly retired executive now has been pulled back to work for a vehicle tech startup, Propitious Technologies LLC.
Propitious announced this month that de Nysschen has become CEO of the Phoenix company, “responsible for articulating the vision of Propitious’ patent-pending emissions reduction technology, architecting the product rollout plan, securing funds to fuel company growth, and negotiating with potential acquisition partners.”
De Nysschen describes the new technology as a green alternative to the big diesel generators that keep the nation’s fleet of some half-million refrigerated trucks cold. In a nutshell, it works by capturing kinetic energy. As a truck rumbles down the highway, a power-generating suspension system mated to an electric generator produces the power for refrigeration. A secondary compact battery-storage unit can store enough of the charge to keep working when the truck is parked at night for the driver to sleep.
In other words, it is an electric power plant that gets its juice from the normal rumbling and bouncing and jostling that takes place on the road, harvesting the energy produced by the slight up and down movement of the trailer on the suspension.
De Nysschen said he’s enthusiastic for the technology because it’s green, replacing what is largely unregulated diesel emissions with a device that works through what he calls “undulating mass.”
The same kind of emissions reduction might be achieved through a large battery, he acknowledged. But it would need to be about four tons worth of battery costing some $200,000.
De Nysschen estimates the Propitious system will come in at about 1,800 pounds and cost about $20,000.
“It’s a massively compelling opportunity,” he said. “It was enough to bring me out of retirement, and I find it incredibly energizing and intellectually stimulating.
“I don’t have time to play golf.”
