Eco Factor: Low-emission car powered by an electric engine.
An upstart engineering team from Winnipeg is claiming to have sorted out the mysteries of efficient transportation and will showcase their ride at the Progressive Automotive X-Prize competition. Dubbed Ubree, short for Urban Electric Car with Ethanol Backup, aims to be the world’s most efficient car and win the team a $10 million prize.
The team describes their vehicle as a three-wheeled all-electric city car that can hit a top speed of 64kph in city driving mode and 112kph when cruising on a highway. The car’s front wheels are driven by electric motors that are fueled by onboard batteries.
The car also carries a single-cylinder piston engine that is used as a backup source of power. This engine is designed to run on low carbon fuels such as ethanol. Though the design is still a carved piece of wood, the designers hope to build the first working prototype by next spring.
Via: CBC
