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A local solution to a global problem?
Have Australian scientists and engineers already found a practical solution for replacing the petrol-driven car?
With long-term petrol prices unlikely to go anywhere else but up and petrol emissions harming both health and the climate, Australia's own hybrid vehicle, the aXcessaustralia, is looking increasingly viable as a replacement.
When the prototype was given its world premier five years ago, the problems of petrol prices and global warming were not seen as so great. Now the CSIRO, which together with 100 local companies put the prototype together, has started promoting some of aXcessaustralia's still-groundbreaking technology.
In particular it has been giving new publicity to the hybrid's batteries. According to CSIRO, aXcessaustralia's so-called "UltraBattery" weighs just 110 kilograms - making it more than four-times lighter than conventional batteries in other electric cars and both cheaper and longer-lasting.
When installed in the car, it enables the hybrid to use less than half the fuel of an equivalent conventional car - and produce 50% less pollution. David Lamb, who heads CSIRO's low emissions project says a version of the car could still be manufactured in Australia - but he does not rule out the idea of it being made overseas.
He told TransScan that when aXcessaustralia was first unveiled, a Korean company made an approach to mass-produce the vehicle in North Korea, but "nothing eventuated". When CSIRO did its original calculations, it worked out that a mass-produced aXcessaustralia could be turned out from an Australian production line at just $2000-to-$3000 more than a conventional car of equivalent size and appointments.
"However, the car was based on a mass-production model made in Europe in the late 90s," Mr Lamb said. "It would make more sense to base a project on a current model small car."
