/ 3 July 2008

On a wing and a Prius

As oil prices reach record highs and consumers watch their wallets empty at the petrol pump, cars that use less petrol or none at all become more and more attractive.

New technologies are aimed at reducing the costs of personal ­transportation and easing our addiction to oil.

As South African consumers face petrol prices pushing towards R10 a litre, people are talking more about hybrid vehicles.

The Toyota Prius is the only hybrid available in South Africa and is said to average about 5,23litres/100kms, but given that it is priced from R277 100, it’s not for the first-time buyer.

Electric cars, powered by batteries and electric motors, have been around for some time, but until now have tended to look like toasters on wheels or are limited by their golf-cart size. But this is changing. In March, Tesla Motors (based in California), began shipping its flagship model, the Roadster, which is a fully electric vehicle, across United States borders.

Tesla has opted to deliberately change mindsets about electric cars by creating a high performance sports car. The Roadster is sleek and streamlined, far removed from boxy electric car stereotypes, and Tesla boasts that it will reach speeds of 201kph while accelerating from 0 to 100kph in 4 seconds. Most importantly, it will travel 350km on a single charge. Unsurprisingly, the price tag on this powerhouse is steep, coming in at about $100 000 and all the Roadsters made this year have already been sold.

Having conquered the top end of the market, Tesla plans to release a middle-range sedan, code-named WhiteStar, in 2010. This still mostly secret vehicle should compete with the likes of luxury sedans such as the Mercedes-Benz E-Class or the BMW 5-Series, and rumour has it that it will be available at about half the price of the Roadster.

Another Californian company, Aptera, is looking to offer perhaps the most radical-looking vehicle on the road. The Aptera Typ-1 has an aerodynamic shape which either makes it look like a spaceship out of The Jetsons or a giant white egg, depending on who you ask.

Looks aside though, Aptera is claiming some astonishing efficiency figures, stating that the hybrid version of the Typ-1 will use 0,8-litres of fuel to drive 100km. At current South African fuel prices, that works out to R7,86 per 100km. The Typ-1 will also be available in a fully electric version and both also include a rooftop solar panel, which will charge the batteries when the car is parked in the sun.

Aptera plans to begin selling the Typ-1 at the end of this year in California and will then roll out the vehicle across the US. The rest of the world (as usual) will have to wait for some time before Apteras are available in other countries.

Further south, Brazilian consumers are helping to reduce both their country’s dependence on foreign oil and its carbon footprint by filling up their cars with ethanol, produced locally from sugar cane.

Brazil began developing ethanol technology in the Seventies, after oil shocks sent petrol prices soaring. Now the country makes enough ethanol to make it cheaper than petrol with enough left over to export to countries such as Japan and Sweden.

Cars made by companies including Ford and Volkswagen use “flex fuel” technology, with a small, built-in computer that constantly calculates the ratios of petrol and ethanol being fed to the engine, and adjusts the mixture accordingly, allowing drivers to fill up with any amount of the two fuels.

Unfortunately, it will still be some time before South Africans see more hybrids on our roads and that is primarily because manufacturers say there isn’t enough demand for hybrids here. And while Lexus has been advertising hybrid vehicles, it hasn’t released information on when these cars might be available.

However, there is a local company, based in Cape Town, which is said to be working on an electric vehicle for South Africans, but it will only release details of whatever it is working on in the next two to three months.

What the big manufacturers are up to
Established car manufacturers are scrambling to jump on to the fuel-efficiency bandwagon, in some instances dumping their big gas-guzzlers for smaller, fuel-efficient models.

Honda has recently announced that it will be leasing its first hydrogen powered car, the FCX Clarity, available only in select cities in California and Japan. The costs to build these experimental models are still very high so the Japanese company is choosing to test this technology in established markets before making it available worldwide.

Toyota has a head start with the Prius hybrid already being a big seller internationally and the company has just announced plans for two new hybrid models, which will join an updated Prius in 2010. All three models may be powered by next generation lithium ion batteries, which will be lighter and more powerful.

Across the Pacific, struggling American manufacturer General Motors is pinning its hopes on the Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid that was announced last year, but should only roll out on to the roads at the end of 2010. GM claims the Volt will have impressive performance, with a top speed of 190kph and a range of 60kms when using just the electric motor or 630 kms with the petrol and electric engines combined.

Ford has opted to not completely reinvent the wheel and has already been making hybrid versions of its Escape SUV since 2004. The company has, however, recently announced a new plug-in hybrid version, experimenting, again in California, with a fleet of cars that can supply electricity to local grids when not in use.

French manufacturer Renault isn’t putting all its eggs in one basket and has chosen to back a few different technologies. It has begun selling a Hi-Flex Clio, which can run on either petrol or ethanol or any mixture of the two, and is aimed at the Brazilian market. Renault is also testing a new system in Tel Aviv, Israel, where electric cars will be supported by stations where drivers can ‘fill up” by exchanging depleted batteries for fully charged ones.

Volkswagen has focused it s fuel efficiency efforts on making existing technology as efficient as possible. VW’s 1L concept car is a tandem two-seater made from very lightweight materials and aims to achieve a 100km range on only a litre of fuel. The total weight of the car is only 290kg and it is designed to be highly aerodynamic, slipping through the air with little resistance. VW plans to begin limited production of the 1L by 2010.

Indian carmaker Tata has also joined the fray, backing an original technology in it’s OneCAT, a vehicle powered by compressed air. The car has airtanks, which would be filled by plugging the car into an electrical outlet. Once charged, the OneCAT would have a 90km range at speeds of up to 100kph. The OneCAT should go on sale in India, Spain and Australia next year.