Anderson start-up Bright Automotive said it has tweaked its proposed work van to travel 40 miles on battery power, up from 30 miles in an earlier experimental version.

Bright has applied for federal grants to build an assembly plant, though it has missed out on the first funding rounds this spring and summer.

Its proposed 100-miles-per-gallon truck, a full-size van called the Idea, would be a plug-in hybrid equipped with a gasoline engine, electric motor and lithium-ion battery recharged by the engine or an electric wall outlet.

Bright says the vehicle initially achieved 30 miles in pure electric mode — meaning it uses zero gasoline.

The upgraded battery back means the vehicle can now achieve 40 miles in pure electric mode, after which it would switch to “charge-sustaining mode,” in which it acts like a typical hybrid (like a Toyota Prius).

In this mode, the vehicle returns approximately 40 miles per gallon, said spokesman Aaron Rosenberg.

More coverage: Click here for a roundup of Indianapolis-area business news and state updates.

“After speaking to major fleet operators and measuring how they use their vehicles, we modified the performance of the IDEA to better suit their needs and to save them even more money,” said John Waters, CEO of Bright Automotive, in a news release. “The IDEA was created by listening to customers and developing innovative solutions to meet their needs — customers remain our top priority as we continue vehicle development.”