TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Gas prices soared over $4.00/gallon in Arizona within the last few weeks. It's a problem we all feel every time we fuel up at the pump.
In today's discovery, I found a local startup that isn't looking to reinvent the wheel; just boost your own set of wheels with better fuel economy to save you money.
Hitting the road lately hits different with your family budget and one look at the bright red West Coast of the AAA Fuel Prices map matches the anger and frustration of how it feels to fuel up with sky high prices. David Riggs wants to make the inevitable trip to the pump less of a pain with a new product. His Tucson-based company Wybridge Technologies developed the EZM or Emissions Zero Module; a small box that attaches to your battery to essentially make your car run better. It wasn't overnight. David showed me the half dozen versions of the box that's meant to boost what your car already does; burn fuel to get you down the road.
"It maximizes the current that goes to your ignition system which creates a higher currency than without it," David told me.
He says the EZM doesn't overhaul your engine or really change anything about the operation. It just utilizes power that otherwise might go to waste.
"We're just raising the level of efficiency and current flow so that there's a maximum amount of power delivered to the ignition system at all times."
If you take the 15% more efficient claim in dollars and cents, the average American drives 1,200 miles a month. David claims his car improved by four miles per gallon from 26 to 30 with the EZM.
Which means he'd have to buy 6 fewer gallons of gas saving $24 a month, which could mean $300 in savings a year.
Aftermarket products that promise big savings have come and gone and David's aware of the cynics and savvy savers who will scoff at these claims.
But after five years and more than $2,000,000 of initial investment, research, development and testing, Wybridge wants the world to take an EZM for a spin.
"The internal cumbustion engine isn't going anywhere," David told me.
"If you're saving 2 - 3 miles per gallon on a fleet of 200 cars, and you're saving $30 per vehicle per peek, in a year long budget that's a significant number."
To kick start the actual production beyond beta testing, dozens have pledged more than $14,000 but there's a long way to go.
"You've got to make them and you've got to make them before you sell them," David said.
David told me testing is ongoing with real world results in Kansas City, Kansas' municipal fleet.
"If they were putting less gas as an average, that's all they cared about. Because the gas meant money."
And for Dave, seeing is believing.
"I've seen it work. I know that it works. And it's not a silver bullet."
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Dan Spindle co-anchors Good Morning Tucson on KGUN 9 and is an award-winning storyteller whose work has earned him honors from the Rocky Mountain Southwest Emmys, the Associated Press and the Utah Society of Professional Journalists for both anchoring and reporting. Dan is passionate about history and loves to explore the Grand Canyon State. Share your story ideas with Dan by emailing dan.spindle@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, or X.
