A startup auto company will bring jobs and an aura of innovation to Rochester Hills early next year.

It will also bring new life to the former Chrysler call center in the University Technological Park on Hamlin Road. That building has been empty for about a year.

Anderson, IN-based Bright Automotive has plans to open a 62,105-square-foot technical center in the first quarter of 2011 and create 204 jobs — mostly engineering positions. The tech center's focus will be engineering, research, design, development and testing for the new Bright IDEA, a 100-mpg plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.

The IDEA is a commercial fleet van with an all-electric range of 40 miles. After that distance it turns into a conventional hybrid, in which it gets about 40 mpg. Bright says drivers who travel 50 miles a day will achieve a fuel efficiency of about 150 mpg while those who travel up to 120 miles a day will average about 50 mpg in fuel savings.

"The primary goal of the IDEA is to provide a cheaper and better total cost of ownership equation for the customer through significant fuel savings," said Mike Donoughe, chief operating officer of Bright Automotive. "We want to deliver economic and efficiency solutions to business and government customers.

"IDEA will strengthen American companies, move our nation toward energy independence and reduce CO2 emissions."

The Bright IDEA is not a passenger car, but a mid-sized aluminum van a little bigger than a minivan that will target fleet, delivery, utility and service markets such as Comcast, Detroit Edison, AT&T and Frito Lay, said Sean Conway, the company's director of special projects.

Although Bright executives would not forecast production volumes or launch dates for the IDEA, industry experts are expecting 50,000 hybrid vehicles annually with production to begin in the next three to four years. A manufacturing site has not been selected yet.

Funding, tax credits, tax exemptions

"What impresses me about this company is that they're experienced automotive guys that really know their stuff," auto analyst John McElroy said. "The IDEA is extremely well executed. But Bright Automotive has not received the attention like Tesla Motors or Fisker Automotive have."

That tide may be turning for Bright. The company is getting private financial and government backing to help get it up and running.

"A $5 million investment from General Motors' new venture capital arm in July has given us a positive boost," said Donoughe, a former Tesla and Chrysler executive. "That money will be used to help fund our design and development efforts."

The Michigan Economic Growth Authority granted Bright Automotive $4.3 million in tax credits over five years to relocate to the state. The MEGA tax credit required a match from the local community; the Rochester Hills City Council recently authorized a personal property tax exemption for Bright for a period of two years, beginning Dec. 30, 2011.

The city conducted an analysis on the impact of either a tax abatement or a personal property exemption and found the impact to be about the same; the city allowed Bright to choose one, and it selected tax exemption. This is the first time the city has ever considered a tax exemption under this program, said Dan Casey, the city's manager of economic development.

"We choose the exemption because as a start-up company, cash burn rate is very important to us," Donoughe explained. "The tax exemption is of more value to us."

The project is estimated to generate new taxes from a planned $12 million investment in personal property — computers, software and other equipment — in the city.

"There are a lot of communities in southeast Michigan that would be happy to be in our position," Casey said.

Bright Automotive has also applied for a $450 million low-interest loan from the Department of Energy to help mass produce the IDEA.

Post office contract

In addition to targeting commercial fleets, Bright is making inroads with government contracts.

"We were awarded a contract by the United States Postal Service to develop and test an all-electric postal delivery vehicle," said Conway, who lives in Royal Oak and has been commuting to Anderson.

Under the contract, Bright Automotive's eSolutions team successfully retrofitted a standard USPS long-life vehicle with its integrated electric drive train. It will soon put the vehicle in real-world service in the Washington, DC, area for one year.

Bright Automotive was spun out of the Rocky Mountain Institute in 2008. The company headquarters will remain in Anderson.

Bright Automotive's website lists 12 job categories, including engineers, marketing and sales, that are being hired in Rochester Hills. Click here to read descriptions and apply.