The Blade runner electric car

Petrol prices are skyrocketing and the skies are clogged with smog. But in the Victorian country town of Harcourt, Ross Blade has come up with an audacious plan for Australia to kick the petrol habit.

He's developed what the CSIRO recognizes as Australia's first zero emissions electric car. All the power with none of the pollution, it's called the Blade Runner.

Ross and his mechanic Richard start with a standard combustion-engine-driven Hyundai Getz, and then they gut it.

"You've got your engine. The other components that come out, you've got your exhaust system there's quite a bit of weight in the exhaust system. [The] Radiator as well," Ross said.

That makes the vehicles a lot lighter, and now all they need is power.

"Well, we have the batteries in two tanks. The rear one is the largest and we fill that one, and the second battery tank is only partially filled at the moment. As we fill that our range will extend out to 120 kilometres, so we immediately have capacity to extend our range," Ross said.

An electric engine then draws power from the batteries to spin the wheels.

So how does it drive?

Well behind the wheel it is a smooth and quiet ride and the car can be charged pretty much anywhere there is a power point.

"For a standard ten amp power point it's nine hours overnight. If you use 15 amps, it's seven hours or we can get it down to one hour for a household, it just depends on the power point you have," Ross said.

The car currently has a range of 100 kilometres, which Ross argues makes it ideal as a city runabout.

Also having the run of the city is an electric motorbike, being trialled by the Melbourne City Council.

Mayor John So says it is the way of the future. The Scooter can easily do 100k and recharges in under one hour.

In the past electric models have been criticized because some power generation, especially brown coal power, is disastrous for the environment. But Ross urges his clients to power their cars using solar cells stored on their home roofs.

Or alternatively he says the cars should be run on green electricity available from most power companies for a little more than regular power. Either way it's a lot cheaper than petrol.

"Even with green power you are looking at $2.50 per hundred kilometres with one of these electric cars," Ross said.

This electric car has very few moving parts so it requires minimal servicing and Ross believes that's one reason why the major car companies have been so sluggish in coming up with their own electric alternatives.

Ross is planning to have 1000 Blade Runners on the market by 2009 selling at $35,000. With petrol and service savings, he says drivers will keep about $5,000 a year extra in their pockets.

So, we can hit the roads, save money and hopefully try and save the planet.

www.bev.com.au