European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 13, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Future Shock continued from Page 15 years to work out any kinks. Mercedes Benz Lor years synonymous with Large powerful cars driven by conventional combustion engines also is developing a quiet compact electric automobile. The Mercedes 190 electro replaces the combustion engine a along with the clutch Flywheel transmission propeller Shaft and differential a with two High torque electric motors acting directly on the rear wheels by Means of rigid shafts. The Driver would Only need to move a lever to Quot Forward Quot or Quot reverse Quot and step on the Quot Gas Quot to Start the Zero emission trip. The top Speed of the five seat electro would be 115 Kwh a 71 Mph a with an operating Range of up to 150 Kilometres or 93 Miles. The main problem still to be worked out for the Mercedes As Well As other electric cars is the drive Battery. Even the most advanced Lead acid batteries available Are too Large and heavy it the electric car is to have a practical operating Range. The average life of the batteries also needs to be extended so far the life of the batteries available in the electro is about 25,000 Kilometres or about 15 months which the company Calls unsatisfactory. Mercedes wants to develop a Battery with a service life of at least five years or 40,000 Kilometres. Advanced sodium Sulphur batteries Are one possibility for extending an electric s Range. Nickel cadmium batteries Are also lighter a although both still Are prohibitively expensive because of the electrics compact build safety is another Issue that manufacturers will have to address for a sceptical Public. The compact dimensions of these City cars Means that they cannot afford to have big Quot crumple zones Quot at front and rear. Bow which describes its e1 electric As Quot unmatched in safety and class Quot says the front and rear have been specially reinforced to absorb impacts. Other tha my Neal City a recharged each night. Us Kim go org safety measures in the e1 include a protective knee pad below the dashboard and airbags Lor Driver and front passenger. Also on exhibit at the show is Ford in Europe s escort express with electric drive. A a Ford says its electric escort has a Range of almost 100 Miles acceleration from 0 to 50 Mph in 14 seconds and a six hour recharge time for a sodium Sulphur Battery a Pilot Fleet of 70 to 100 cars will be tested in 1992 while the major car makers still Are experimenting several smaller producers already offer electric cars for Sale several Are on display in Frankfurt including the mini Al City a a three wheel one seat car that looks something like a Sidecar to a police motorcycle. The danish made mini which uses a solar Battery for a recharging must be charged every 50 Kilometres a 31 Miles a and has a maximum Speed of about 50 Mph it Sells for 12,000 Marks $7,300but the t,000-Watt solar Battery costs 25,000 Marks $15,150. The Battery however lasts 25 to 30 years said sales director Holger Kunsch. Another available electric is Par car a Golf Carl spinoff produced by the firm s. Brustas a Mph in Wiesbaden Germany. Quot we Are of the opinion that most people trying to develop electric cars right now Are simply recreating the wheel Quot said Samuel Brustas president of the firm. With a maximum Speed of about 30 Mph Par car is Only for City driving Brustas emphasized. It needs recharging every 62 Miles. The car Sells for 14,000 Marks $8,500. The Rush to build a recyclable car by David Tarrant staff writer Green clearly is emerging As the favorite color of car manufacturers at this year s Frankfurt Auto show that s the Hue of the environmentalists who Are having the biggest Impact on the 1992 models at the show. Volkswagen Audi opel Ford of Europe and Bow All announced this week that they will take Back Many of their 1992 models after their final mile to Recycle most if not All parts a in some cases right Down to the keys . Car makers appear to be lagging behind on the environmental Issue general motors the world s largest car manufacturer has not raised the Issue of a recycling plan nor has . Ford. Chrysler however has a concept car on display Thal is recyclable recycling cars is no longer just a Nice thought but increasingly necessary in Small densely populated countries like Germany where a Mountain of wasted cars has been piling up. In 1989, about 2 million cars Weie scrapped in West Germany alone. Old unusable cars Are a problem in some european countries where owners Otten must pay junk dealers to take the worn out wrecks Volkswagen a chairman Carl h Hahn said at a news conference tuesday that his company would take Back 1992 golfs and 1992 Audi 80s free of charge once they Are ready for the junk pile. In addition the company plans to extend the recycling program to two vow subsidiaries a seat of Spain and the recently acquired Skoda in Czechoslovakia. Quot we intend to extend the take Back guarantee for scrap vehicles progressively throughout Europe at least taking account of National circumstances Quot Hahn said several other car makers rushed to match the vow announcement including the Cologne Germany based Ford subsidiary in Europe which said it would take Back its 1992 escort and Orion models. At a Bow news conference Eberhard von Kuhnheim said his company also would take Back All its 1992 models unless they had been modified by customers. And Bow distributed a Glossy 10-Page brochure touting the company s past efforts to Recycle car parts the brochure also looks at several new Bow programs under study including the use of Hydrogen lulled engines and electric motors Mercedes Benz said that its cars were 75 percent recyclable already and that the company s engineers were working on increasing that percentage. Meanwhile Chrysler says that every component of its concept car the Dodge Neon is made up of or can be recycled into reusable parts i Kwh cml to a Cut away vib Wortha Quot racy Tabtab  action Lin merchants explains Check cashing policy my question is about Check cashing toes charged by the Community Bank at Rhein Mam a Germany i have a savings account Al this facility with a current balance of $235 51 i have been cashing my cafes payroll Check at this facility Lor Over 10 years i have been served by All the tellers who work at that facility my problem is that there is one Teller who always tells me she must Check the balance in my savings account before she will Cash my cafes paycheck now. Twice this year she and the assistant manager a formed me that i had to pay a $2 Lee to Cash my paycheck the balance in my savings account was less than the amount of my paycheck. I have on a couple of occasions cashed my paycheck at the Community Bank s Frankfurt Branch and no one Ever told me they had to Check my savings account balance before cashing my Check a what does my savings account balance have to do with my cafes paycheck in t cafes an instrumentality of the  government talking to other cafes employees who have savings accounts at various branches no one looks to see it they have a certain amount in their accounts is this a Correct change or a misinterpretation of their regulations hopefully i can get a Clear answer to this matter your help would be greatly appreciated Peter c. Corbett Rhein main a Germany a Yvonne Wise manager Public Media relations merchants National Bank amp Trust co., replies our tellers have been instructed to charge $2 to Cash cafes and other known paychecks if the balance in the customer s account does not cover the Check. There is no charge if you choose to Deposit your cafes paycheck to a merchants account. To write us readers action line is the readers a court of last resort striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues Lor answers Are not readily available. If you have a question and Don t know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the stars and stapes. Apo 09211-4211. All letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers. Page 16 a the stars and stripes Friday. September 13, 1991