DC fits fleet of EVs with bogus gadget promising 60% range boost

The District of Columbia has signed a $680,000 contract for an impossible-sounding gadget that claims to increase the range of an electric vehicle by 60 percent. The contract was signed in May, but it mostly slipped under the radar until it was picked up by WUSA9 this month.

The gadget in question is called an Energy Management Module, and it's made by a company called Mullen, which has recently been acquiring struggling electric vehicle startups like Bollinger and Electric Last Mile Solutions. In April, Mullen published a press release claiming that fitting the EMM gadget to one of the company's prototype cargo vans "showed more than a 75 percent increase in range for the 42-kWh lithium-ion battery pack."

DC's Department of Public Works became aware of the EMM device at last year's Washington Auto Show, according to WUSA9. "We have been investigating new technology that would extend their life, make us work more efficiently, and keep our maintenance expenses down," the department told the news channel.