Rocket science on wheels

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

The Habo No 1 looks like any one of the legions of old Volkswagen sedans in China. But a peek under the hood reveals an array of chrome canisters instead of the usual engine - the Habo is fuelled not by gas but hydrogen peroxide, the stuff used at home to clean wounds and bleach hair.

"This car emits only water vapour and oxygen," said He Limei, project director for Shanghai Habo Chemical Technology Co, showing the Habo at an exhibition of ecologically friendly cars outside Shanghai. "It uses rocket technology."

Hydrogen peroxide reacts with silver to produce oxygen and heat that can be used to propel a rocket - or a car. In this case it powers a turbine that drives the car's wheels.

He Limei admitted the Habo needs a bit more work: the equipment required to run it fills the entire back seat and boot.

"We only had three months to develop this," she said. "It's somewhat lacking aesthetically."

The Habo was one of 150 experimental and advanced-technology vehicles on display at the Challenge Bibendum, an expo named for sponsor Michelin's puffy mascot.

The six-year-old annual event is an international competition for the automotive industry, testing vehicles for energy efficiency, emissions, noise, acceleration and handling.

The winning entry was Volvo's battery-powered 3CC concept, a three-seater (two in front, one in the back) conceived at Volvo's design studio in California. It picked up five gold medals, including first prizes for its design and eco-friendly performance.

Said Lars Erik Lundin, head of the studio: "We certainly achieved our goal to deliver fuel efficiency, versatility, comfort and safety in a car both exciting to look at and drive."

The event, held at the new Shanghai Formula One track, reflects China's growing awareness of the dark side of its love affair with the car - dependence on imported oil, traffic-choked roads, and cities awash in smog.

Even as booming demand has turned it into the world's fastest-growing car market, China is pushing to develop alternative fuels. Foreign carmakers are preparing to test cars and buses driven by fuel cells and petrol-electric hybrid engines.

"Using conventional internal combustion engine technology alone will be a source of huge pressure in terms of energy security and environmental protection in China," says Wan Gang, president of Shanghai's Tongji University, which has its own automotive studies institute.

Efforts to develop "clean vehicles" are accelerating as China prepares to hold the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, Wan said.

The recent surge in world crude oil prices to more than US$50 ($73) a barrel has driven home the costs of relying on oil imports. China became a net oil importer only in 1993, but skyrocketing demand means it now buys 40 per cent of its supplies abroad.

The vehicles displayed at Challenge Bibendum run on electric motors, petrol-electric hybrid engines, fuel cells and other technologies meant to cut pollution and boost fuel efficiency.

The Chinese Government began looking at alternative fuels in the 1980s and is promoting diesel and fuels made of locally abundant materials.

Despite scant progress in putting any domestically developed alternative fuel technologies into commercial use, 43 Chinese-developed vehicles - 20 of them two-wheelers - were among the models displayed by both local and foreign carmakers at the Bibendum.

China proclaimed its ambitions to build a world-class automotive industry more than a decade ago and has made enormous strides in building up its own manufacturers and nurturing the market for private cars.

Last year sales jumped 75 per cent, prompting global carmakers, most of which already have sizeable stakes in China, to announce plans for billions of dollars in new investments.

But outside major cities like Shanghai and Beijing, this is still a country in transition to the automobile age, where diesel-powered three-wheelers, mule carts and bicycles share the roads with Liberation-brand trucks, luxury sedans and sports utility vehicles.

Many in the industry say China's status as a newcomer without big investments in ageing technology could be an advantage, letting it jump straight to a newer generation of technology. The country has benefited from similar leapfrogging in telecoms and other new fields.

"One thing China has going for it is its relatively young automotive industry," said David Chen, vice-president for General Motors China.

"China's automotive industry does not need to fully take the fossil fuel path. It is in an ideal position to develop alternative energy."

GM and its main Chinese partner, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp, say they plan to test a hybrid bus in Shanghai. The companies have also developed a fuel cell prototype, the Phoenix.

DaimlerChrysler AG says it plans to test three hydrogen fuel-cell buses in Beijing next year.

Toyota Motor Co intends to assemble and sell its gasoline-electric Prius hybrid in China.

Fuel cells, which fuse hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, heat and water, are considered the ultimate power source because of their efficiency and lack of pollution.

But industry executives acknowledge that developing the required networks of fuelling stations is a goal that is decades away.

Until then, the challenge will be to ease away from fossil fuels by matching new technologies with commercially viable markets, said C.C. Chan of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

"When you solve the technology, you get very excited," Chan said. "But when you look to mass production and marketing, it's cost, cost, cost."