Saturday, December 18, 2010

...ingenuity

Inventor develops electric car

By ELLSON A. QUISMORIO
December 18, 2010

MANILA, Philippines — Calling on the Department of Energy: A 54-year-old man in Navotas City claims to have the technology on hand to turn the Philippines into a hub of electricity-powered automobiles.
“It’s very efficient, emission-free and most of all, it’s cheaper compared to other electricity-run cars,” Inventor Ismael Aviso said of his favorite creation, the
At the heart of the Aviso Electric Car is the inventor’s “conversion kit,” which, when outfitted to other vehicles, would ditch a diesel or gasoline-chugging engine altogether. A DC motor and a custom-designed capacitor box, which is the size of two desktop computer central processing units (CPUs) side-by-side, comprise the conversion kit.

“If we can implement this, within three years we can convert every jeep, taxi and bus out there into electric vehicles,” Aviso boldly claimed. “Millions of jobs will be created and the government would no longer need to spend p25 billion a year to combat smoke-related diseases due to pollution.”

Although very confident of the technology that he has created, Aviso’s hopefulness is somewhat tempered by a bit of desperation. He readily admits that he is too cash-strapped to take the next step — mass-production of conversion kits — and seeks government help to change all that.

“I don’t have that much funding. This to me is a diamond, and I’m not going to keep it, I’m showing it to everyone.” The technology, which he began working on part-time in 1992 and full-time in 2003, has already cost him P11 million to develop, thE inventor said.

Inside his shop Thursday in Tumana, Navotas, Aviso keeps a test rig composed of vehicle chassis with four wheels; a simple galvanized iron body (fashioned like a passenger jeep’s); an old, rusty DC motor; a dozen capacitors; six 12-volt batteries (the ones used by tricycles) and cable wires galore. “There’s no engine. Just the capacitors and batteries,” he pointed out.

He ordered an assistant to step on the pedal, causing the wheels to turn quickly and the galvanized iron to rattle rather noisily. “This will run even if I remove the batteries. They’re just there to support the capacitors which have already been charged.”

“This is my breakthrough…to have the capacitors function in place of batteries,” Aviso said.
When compared to the electric jeepneys (e-jeepneys) that have been a familiar sight in Makati City’s Central Business District (CBD) for a couple of years now, Aviso said that his electric car is far more efficient.
“My car can travel up to 10 kilometers for every 1,000 watts, which is more than half of what the e-jeep can travel with 1,000 watts,” he said, adding that charging the capacitor, which can be done at home, will take eight to 10 hours.

As for costs, he said that the capital for each Aviso conversion kit is only $2,100, a fraction of the price of international conversion kits which could reach between $12,000 and $25,000.

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