European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 21, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday november 21, 1994 automotive the stars and stripes Page 11 like the Loo of a new Taurus or win Star but maybe not what comes out of the tailpipe then Ford will sell you one without a tailpipe or Muffler catalytic converter engine fuel pump or Gas tank for that matter. But Only if you motor co. Announced that it i negotiating with . Electrical inc., a company in Santa Rosa calif., that currently converts Geo prizes and Chevrolet s-10 pickups to electric Power. . Electrical and similar companies buy the gasoline powered vehicles Complete and then rip out the engines and associated parts which can represent 30 percent of the vehicle s Cost. The electric versions sell for about $35,000, More than twice what the gasoline models Cost. Ford wants to establish guideline for Selling gliders bodies Complete with wheels and brakes but without engines Drivet Rainsjr fuel systems. So far no Large car manufacturer does that. The companies did not say which models were involved or what the Selling prices would be. AV.-, a new Low Cost solar Energy technology tested at Georgia Power co s solar research Center Nea Atlanta has set a world record for commercial scale conversion of sunlight into say it s a Milestone that brings Large scale use of the technology within reach. Although solar photovoltaic cells have been used to generate electric Power for decades the new technology is one of the first to tap sunlight on a scale Large enough and at sufficiently Low Cost to make it a realistic alternative to Oil Coal an natural Gas. During 12 months of operation at Georgia Power s Shenandoah environment and education Center. 25 Miles South of Atlanta an Monix solar array chalked up conversion efficiencies greater than 20 percent turning one fifth of the incoming solar Energy into electricity. The two Story honeycomb like array generated up to 2,000 Watts roughly enough to operate the lights and television set in a typical residential Home. " alter decades of relying almost exclusively on the bicycle for family transport China is preparing to abandon its old standby for higher economic horizons the family car. Last week the world s major automakers were doing everything they could to win a Chance to lend a helping hand and grab a stake in what could become the world s largest 22 foreign car makers gathered in Beijing at the Chin family car symposium for what amounts to a Marathon brainstorming session and Trade show for China Industrial planners and automakers. Given China s population this Market is going to be huge Sai Yukihisa Kayashima a manager at Nissan motor co. We have great s policy makers have set their sights on developing an Auto Industry on a Par with those of the unite states Germany and Japan. Given the Competition overseas they know the Only Way to find a Large enough Market to make the Effort worthwhile is to encourage private ownership of cars among their 1.2 billion people from wire reports japanese engineers take creativity Orv a Road less travelled by Kevin Raff first London observer service Tokyo the japanese smarting under the claim that they can copy any thing but never have an original idea recently filled an exhibition Hall with some of the strangest vehicles Ever seen. There was a car that can travel in any direction a ski car a suitcase car a car on legs and a car that imitates a Hon. The criteria for the technology festival organized by the engineers at Toyota were sophistication and creativity rather than practicality and the names of the 3,600 entries lived up to this. Among the vehicles demonstrated were Aladdin s crawling carpet space Escargot stinger jellyfish strange crab Haco Short for Handy commuter and motor skiing. The occasion was what Toyota Calls its idea olympics a technology festival organized by the company s 30,000-Mcmber engineering society. Its members Are challenged to show off their imagination by creating innovative and even Wacky vehicles. -. ./.\. A ,." one of the most expensive cars shown at the festival earlier this month in Toyota was yellow Eros a vehicle that crouches rears up and roars its head lights and front Grill flashing. It was made from a top of the line Toyota soared Coupe which was Cut in half and activated by a computer to simulate a lion. Stinger jellyfish features an air filled transparent dome and floats Over land or water. Is twin has two rotating Drums allowing movement in any direction and stranger crab s four extending tags give it the same Freedom. Haco an electric vehicle the size of a thin suitcase that can be folded and stored is designed for the 21st-Century executive. Its solar powered batteries can be plugged into its storage Box for re charging making it environmentally Friendly. Although most of the inventions have Little practical use both Haco and the Winner motor skiing Are potentially marketable. Motor skiing which has a 50-cubic a three legged vehicle that moves like Caterpillar Worms its Way through Demon stration routine during to you i idea olympics in Toyota Japan earlier this month. Centimetre engine and travels up to 30mph, is operated by moving the hips for Ward to accelerate and Back to Brake. I am an instructor with the Japan ski society and wanted to create something that would be Good for practice and for fun said Kohashi Kato its 27-year-old designer. He has been a vehicle testing Engineer with Toyota for three years. He believes his vehicle with optional skis for balance could be helpful in teaching the essentials of skiing with out venturing onto the slopes. It is most important in skiing As in other sports to work with the hips and not with the Knees he noted. It took Kato two months to make motor skiing and Cost him $4,800, but he believes that mass production would bring the Price Down. Distributed by scrupps Howard new ser tee old cars enjoying heyday in . By Stephen Post Washington take a look Dow Ferndale Street in Kensington my. There s John Pagan s 1975 Oldsmobile Delta 88, still plugging away after 220,000 Miles. Down the Street is Alice Gibson anther 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon with 91,000 Miles. You used to look out on the Street and see the new cars. Not Are keeping their cars longer said Gibson 56, who has lived on Fern Dale for about 30.years. Across the country the cars on the Road today Are older than Ever according to a Federal Survey. Just As the average age of the . Population is going up Sois that of America s automobiles. The average age of the nation s 186 million automobiles is almost 8 years ago the average age was 5. Almost half the total Miles no driven each year Are in vehicles at least 6 years old compared with a Quarter of the total Miles driven in vehicles at least that old in 1969. The problems associated with aging automobiles analysts said Are enormous. Most older cars Burn More fuel per mile than newer ones. The older cars also give off More pollution creating emissions at time when Many Urban areas Are under Federal orders to reduce such older cars generally Are less Safe lacking features such As air bags and anti lock brakes. The implications for accidents injuries and deaths Are almost frightening said Alan e. Pisarski a transportation consultant who examined the demographics of the . Vehicle Fleet for the Federal Highway administration. The Survey was based on 48,385 interviews conducted in 1990. The typical car s age is up primarily be cause of the higher prices of new cars and the increased durability of older average Price of a new car is $18,500, and monthly payments now often stretch Over five years. At the same time cars made in the last several years Are lasting longer. The typical vehicle today can last 10years or More which was almost unheard of in the 60s," Pisarski said. Pisarski whose 1990 Plymouth Wagon is one of the newest cars in his neighbourhood said the transportation Survey also found that a greater share of the older cars arc in the Mountain and Pacific states where dry hot condition minimize corrosion of vehicles. Those states also have larger shares of trucks which last longer than cars. Women drive More of the newer vehicles than men which the Survey said was an indication that parents want the spouse who most often drives the Chil Dren to have the safer car. Although there Are More cars an trucks on the Road every year the Survey said it in t because of a Boom in new vehicle sales. The Rise in the total number of vehicles is almost exclusively because of the increasing number of older cars. Although new car sales have been re bounding about 16.3 million used cars and trucks were sold last year compare with 13.9 million new models. The number of vehicles 10 years or older for example jumped by More than 40 million from 1969 to 1990, a sixfold in crease
