Proton - emma chizzit to get into one?
The Malaysian Proton was on display at the recent motor expo
in Bangkok, and the price is certainly a draw card for this
manufacturer. The smallest “Savvy” with the 1.2 liter engine
and lowest specification trim can be yours for as little as
B. 399,000 and they were offering 5 percent deposit (B.
19,950) and if you want to go to a 72 month contract, you
will be charged 4.1 percent interest and the monthly
repayments will be B. 6,560. (Let’s hope that they will last
six years.)
Proton
Neo
The “Neo”, which is actually a good looking vehicle, starts
at B. 499,000 (top of the range is B. 564,000) and the entry
level can be yours for B. 24,950 deposit and B. 8,204 per
month for six years.
The third Proton on offer was the Gen2 with the entry
vehicle B. 549,000, yours for B. 27,450 deposit and drip
feed of B. 9,026 for the 72 months.
If you are prepared to put down more as your initial
deposit, the interest percentage drops down as low as 2.8
percent.
Some differences over
EV’s
Dear Editor,
I refer to a couple patent untruths published in
“Electrifying Subaru”, Auto Mania, by Dr (certainly not
science) Corness.
1. He states: “Only electric vehicles have the ability not
to pollute the planet”. Fact is they are far worse polluters
than liquid fuel propelled ones, as the electrical energy
that fills the battery is generally produced in coal or gas
fired power stations. Apart from that, even the most
efficient battery system delivers only a fraction of the
energy that goes to “fill” it. Pollution occurs but well
away from where the car is used. Worse still; the CO2
produced is also far greater than in a liquid fuel driven
vehicle.
2. It is cheaper. Well yes and no. If it weren’t for the
inordinate amount of tax that goes into the cost of liquid
fuel, I venture to say that they would be cheaper per km
than electrically propelled ones.
3. It doesn’t need an “expensive fuel delivery system”. The
electricity grid is just as much a “fuel delivery system”
and believe you me, it isn’t all that “cheap”.
A further point, not mentioned by the Dr. whereas it takes
just 1 or 2 minutes to recharge the car’s fuel tank for the
next 200 to 300 km, the best battery systems take 10’s of
minutes, or more commonly, an overnight charge to be
refilled.
Powering vehicles by rechargeable batteries makes sense only
if the electricity grid delivers electricity derived from
nuclear, or other non polluting sources. It makes no sense
otherwise.
The main point to remember: whenever something is moved,
energy is involved and more often than not that means
burning carbon as the prime source of fuel.
Adrian Gaemers
Dear Adrian, Welcome to the letting off steam page in
Automania, remembering that steam was the automotive power
of choice more than 100 years ago – but it has been
superseded!
With all due respects, your postulation that electric
vehicles are far worse polluters than liquid fuel propelled
ones, because the electrical energy that fills the battery
is “generally produced in coal or gas fired power stations”,
is faulty. There are many ways to produce electricity,
including hydro-electric power, wind turbines and even tidal
– the winds of change are upon us. Non-polluting production
of energy is well advanced. That goes for your CO2
production as well. The EV does not produce it, whilst the
liquid fuel vehicle does. Using your logic, mobile phones
should be banned as they are also polluting as they recharge
from the grid.
As far as “battery system delivers only a fraction of the
energy that goes to ‘fill’ it”, I would query that
statement, as batteries are a clear winner in the
grid-to-wheels efficiency battle. Conventional Lithium-ion
batteries charge at about 93 percent efficiency and operate
at about the same efficiency, leading to an overall
efficiency of over 85 percent.
Price? As the price of crude oil escalates (now almost $100
per barrel), the cost of liquid automotive fuel also goes
up, while electricity costs have risen far less
proportionally.
Incidentally, never mind about running out of fossil fuels,
the oil industry is pricing itself out of the market. So
where are we heading? There are two alternatives, and they
are hydrogen and battery electric, and as time marches on,
the decision appears to be coming down more on the battery
side than the hydrogen fuel cell concept.
I also wrote, “As battery technology seems to be advancing
rapidly, these electric concepts already look more than
viable for the majority of commuters, and could possibly be
seen in a showroom of a major manufacturer in the not too
distant future.” Note I used the words “concepts” and
“commuters” and “not too distant future”. The thought behind
the item was one of commuter transport tomorrow.
Finally, I would query your assertion that I am a “Dr
(certainly not science).” As a medical doctor, I was trained
in ‘science’ and I gave up using leeches and trephining many
years ago, ditto magic spells.
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week I asked who built a “wonder battery”
for cars and said it would put the petrol cars out of
business. Clue: it was the beginning of the 20th century. It
was Thomas Edison, and who knows, he might just be correct,
but a long time after he thought it would happen.
So to this week. A transverse engine and front wheel drive
immediately brings Sir Alex Issigonis’ Mini to mind. This
came out in 1959 and stunned the world. But he was not the
first with this concept. In what and when did this first
appear?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
Honda Racing Fest
Saturday December 15
The final round of this year’s Honda Racing Fest
will be held at the Bira Circuit (Highway 36) on Saturday
December 15. This has been a most successful promotion by
Honda, with the spectator car park absolutely full for every
meeting. The racing has been close, helped by stringent
scrutineering, but I do wish they would remove the mufflers,
as instead of a throaty roar, they go past with a very quiet
‘whoosh’ and some tyre noise.
Honda
Fit Club
The other classes include sedans up to 1.6 liters and up to
2 liters. Other categories include the Honda Pro Club cars
(any racing cars provided they have an “H” on the front and
then the Club Cars, which are daily transport road cars
(with some safety equipment).
Note again these are Saturday events, as opposed to the
usual Sunday meetings. Action will begin about 10 a.m. and
go through till 4 p.m. and generally there is a pit walk
around noon.
The case for biodiesel
Our fossil fuel is coming to an end, so we are
told. As stocks dwindle with our need for oil unabated, the
principle of supply and demand continues. As demand goes up,
so does the price.
Commercial
biodiesel
If you want to know the ‘real’ facts in this world, read the
financial pages of your local newspapers. “Follow the money”
should be everyone’s motto. Did you know, for example, that
the poor oil companies who are scratching around, trying to
get us motorists enough gasoline to last for the rest of the
decade, because they are really nice guys, and who so
reluctantly have had to increase the price of their product,
just recorded the greatest profits in their history? Read
the financial pages and follow the money! The price went up,
and so did the profits. Somebody is making a killing here,
and it isn’t us. We are the losers. No prizes for guessing
who are the winners!
However, we are stuck with the situation, and I believe that
market forces will see the motoring world adopt different
energy sources, because they will be cheaper. Diesels are
already more cost efficient than the current crop of purple
petrol eaters.
For many industrial operators, biodiesel is seen as the path
to follow, and many governments are legislating to make this
a favored option. Even in Thailand, there are government
moves towards assisting in the planting of oil palms as
forerunners of a biodiesel push, while up in the north of
Thailand in Chiang Mai, the university there is running
small waste oil recycling plants to produce biodiesel from
discarded cooking oil. It seems that we can be more
efficient, if not self-sufficient.
It should also not be forgotten that Rudolf Diesel’s first
successful variant of his engine ran on peanut oil! We are
not dealing with some new technology. The idea of putting
pure, natural vegetable oil – like the oil we fry chips in –
into the fuel tanks of diesel vehicles is as old as diesel
technology itself. Natural vegetable oils such as canola oil
are CO2-neutral, sulfur-free and non-toxic and research
shows that fuel consumption and engine performance are the
same as in conventional diesel operations.
The biological origin of biodiesel is what really makes it
attractive because, unlike fossil-derived fuels, the CO2
emitted from bio-derived fuels is not subjected to any
environmental regulation.
Putting the above very simply, scientific studies show that
biodiesel works and even low percentages of biodiesel added
to ‘ordinary’ petrodiesel is beneficial. Again, this is
nothing really new!
HM the King of Thailand, in his birthday address to the
powers that be, and the nation at large, stated that
biodiesel would assist in removing our dependence on
imported oil, and already some police departments have
looked into their own biodiesel recycling plant, using old
cooking oil. It was also interesting to note that the total
plantation area of tobacco has become smaller, as tobacco
farmers are changing to palm oil for biodiesel.
In essence, we need not be the losers in the fuel crisis.
Biodiesel works, it can be made commercially viable for the
growers, and all it needs is a push from central
authorities. The petroleum industry may not like it, but our
bank accounts will. For your next car think Euro-diesel
engines powered by biodiesel.
This is where we have to change our thinking. The new
Euro-diesel engines are quiet, powerful and inexpensive to
run, compared to petrol engines. Ford, BMW, VW and Mercedes
Benz have been offering diesel examples of their range for
many years. Time we really looked at it too.
