The shape of cars to come

A four-seater car that sells for an export price of only $2,200 is the only vehicle we are aware of that comes close to meeting the strictest government ‘Band A’ requirement – emitting less than 100g CO2/km – without being either a battery electric vehicle or a hybrid. The Alif Car, Bay Pickup and Bay Delivery Van have been developed by the Transmission Motor Company (TMC) of Karachi, Pakistan. All are powered by a water-cooled 200cc 4-stroke Chinese-made engine with a built-in 4-speed transmission, initially developed to power motorcycles. The vehicles achieve this through their minimalist design. They weigh 450kg and do not go very fast. Maximum power output at 7,500rpm is 14kW. It was intended mainly as a replacement for scooter rickshaws. When run on petrol, it consumes only 4 litres per 100km, slightly better than Toyota Prius hybrid – which consumes 4.3 litres/100km and emits 104g/km CO2, but costs up to £20,000. The Alif’s performance should bring it very close to the magic 100g/km figure. The compressed natural gas version, popular in Pakistan but rare in the UK, should put it well below the limit and into the zone where cars in Britain presently pay no excise duty. Whether it meets European Union crash requirements, is not known, but it is made with a reinforced ladder type steel chassis with a bolt on steel body and comes with seat belts. CEO Fasih Agha told Eureka: “We purchased the rights of the concept in China three years ago, but have developed it a lot since and it is now 67% of the components in it are locally produced. We are currently talking to a major European company who have contacted us about possibly developing and producing an electric version.” The layout is a fairly conventional front engine, rear wheel drive, with a McPherson strut with coil spring front suspension and rear leaf springs and shock absorbers. The vehicles have re-circulating ball type steering and hydraulic drum brakes on the four wheels. The production target for the first year is 5,000 units but the company is already having to increase capacity. The $2,200 price tag is FOB Karachi. Development is still continuing, says Agha. “The car is light but not as light as we would like it to be. We took the original Chinese design and road tested it and kept on improving it. Pakistan has extreme temperatures and some terrible roads, so that in our part of the world, new vehicle designs are truly put to the test. We did not do a lot of CAD analysis on this project but we are now working on new designs with a local design consultancy and we are doing a lot of analysis aimed at optimising the design and reducing weight. Manufacturability also has to be kept in mind.” Despite the interest shown by a European manufacturer, most interest has come from elsewhere. “Even before launch, we had received orders from Sudan, and had exported trial orders to Qatar and Chile,” says Agha. “We are presently negotiating with many countries in Africa.” Transmission Motor Company Pointers * Fuel consumption is 4litres/100km putting it close to the Band A up to 100g CO2/km limit * Run on compressed natural gas, it may fall within the requirements of Band A, possibly the only 4-seater car in the world to do so apart from battery electric vehicles and hybrids