NOTE: Here's a auto technology that can positively transform
the world... not like the fossil fuel vehicles we now travel
around in.

Capital will not support this effort... and if it smells anything
remotely smelling like "success," Capital will destroy the concept
as too expensive, too defective, too impractical, too slow....

It's good to see that an environment-friendly vehicle is also
being manufactured in South Africa and Mexico. Africa/Asia/Latin
america needs this kind of technology now more than ever.


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The car that runs on air

The lightweight car car be air-filled in just three minutes
By Carolyn Dempster in Johannesburg

Urban transport could soon be revolutionised with the launching
this week in South Africa of a prototype new car which designers
say runs on air.

It is being predicted that the e.Volution will be able to travel
up to 200km (120 miles) for only 30 US cents.


With petrol and diesel prices going up, and the price of oil
subject to fluctuations, motorists might be only too happy to
"go green"

The car, which resembles a small minibus, is being promoted by
the slogan "Simple, Economic and Clean", but details of how the
vehicle will work remain sketchy.

The e.Volution prototype will be unveiled at Auto Africa Expo
2000 in Johannesburg this week and is being touted as the first
viable alternative to cars that run on conventional fuels.

Researchers have been working for many years to produce 'eco-friendly'
cars, but so far these attempts have not been successful. Some
models already in development use hydrogen as a fuel.

It is expected to sell in South Africa for about R74,000 ($10,000)
which is on a par with a medium-sized saloon car.

Specifications

Helen Brown who heads "Zero Pollution Motors", the company which
has the rights to manufacture the car locally, says it will be
ideal for urban transport.

e.Volution (photo: MDI)
First models to be on the road this year
The compression engine technology was pioneered by a former French
formula one engineer Guy Negre, who has spent years searching
for an alternative to the traditional oil-fuelled engine.

The piston engine is powered by the release of compressed air
which is stored in tanks, very similar to scuba diving tanks,
attached to the underside of the car.

The body of the vehicle weighs only 700kg, and the engine itself
is a mere 35kg.

This means that the vehicle can theoretically be driven for up
to 10 hours in an urban environment at an average speed of 80km/h.

Filling up

The designers of e.Volution say it will be possible to merely
plug the vehicle into any electrical power source to fill it
up. That could take up to four hours.

e.Volution
It could be a serious challenge to the current motor vehicle
market
But the manufacturers envisage that fleet owners could install
their own air stations, where a fill up could take as little
as three minutes.

If the e.Volution lives up to all the hype, it could offer a
serious challenge to the current motor vehicle market.

There are currently two factories in France, with the first models
expected on the streets later this year.

There are five factories planned for Mexico and Spain, with three
in Australia.

Anti-globalisation idea

But South Africa will be the second country after France to open
a factory and begin production.

Helen Brown says her company aims to set up a production line
in the province of Gauteng by next year, with the first cars
off the production line and onto the salesroom floor by early
2002.

" It's really an anti-globalisation production idea" she said.

"The aim of the project is to cut costs and create jobs locally,
serving the consumer market directly."

With petrol and diesel prices going up, and the price of oil
subject to fluctuations, the Middle East crisis and occasional
shortfalls, motorists might be only too happy to "go green" if
it means a lifetime saving on fuel costs.