Green and speed

. Star of the Pakistan focussed area in Hall 4 of this year’s Hannover Fair was undoubtedly the Zed01 concept car, designed by AEDesign in Lahore. CEO Zaafir Waheed told us that through, “Working with Audi and BMW”, it only weighs 656kg so that its 2 litre Honda engine is able to get it from 0 to 60mph in 4 seconds. The concept has a steel tube frame that has been fully crash optimised and a GRP body. Production rights have been sold to Karakoram Motors in Karachi, where the current lack of a top is not an issue since it rarely rains there. Most motorists in Pakistan, however, are concerned about fuel costs, and according to Rumi Moiz, managing director of the Research & Development Engineering Company, “The majority of cars in Pakistan are now converted to CNG because the cost is about one third of that of petrol”. His company was particularly happy with this because, “We make parts and flow control devices for the dispensers”. The Government of Pakistan has a strong green agenda, and according to that morning’s Financial Times, is one of the prime movers pressing for climate change to be managed by the United Nations General Assembly rather than the Security Council. Moiz described this as, “A very good diplomatic move on our part”. For more information: http://www.aedesign.com.pk and http://www.r-and-d.com.pk