Ex-con builds cop-funded eco-car

A villager in Tongzhou district is trying to get his latest invention, an electric mini sports car which looks like a cross between a Formula One car and a plane, to be produced by auto companies to compete with ordinary green energy automobiles.

The two-meter-long mini-car invented by 55-year-old Tang Zhenping from Banjiehe village, Yongledian township, has batteries and electric generators, a fan in the front and two "solar energy wings" on the back to support electricity generation. It took three months and 10,000 yuan ($1,587) to build the car.

"It goes at a maximum speed of 140 kilometers per hour and lasts longer than a normal electric car, which usually doesn't have generators," said Tang. The two sets of generators and batteries charge in turn while the other is working. The fan and the wings provide extra electricity when the car is in motion, and the batteries need a recharge every two or three days, he said.

"It feels good driving it, and it looks pretty interesting," said Liu Yang, a Beijing resident who visited Tang yesterday and gave the car a test drive.

"But it seems it only goes at 60 to 70 kilometers per hour," she said.

Local villagers find it intriguing, taking pictures of Tang driving it and asking him questions, but they do not have a close relationship with him.

Tang, who only has a high-school education, developed an interest in physics and mechanics in childhood. He became obsessed with electric cars years ago, before he was sent to jail 15 years back for a financial crime that Tang still says he is innocent of.

"My wife asked for a divorce after I went to jail. My two children, who I didn't attend to while I was in jail, feel kind of distant to me now," Tang said. His daughter, who works at a Beijing hospital, told the Global Times that villagers keep away from Tang after his release in August 2011, and he has been living alone in a 10-square-meter house with a 500-yuan monthly government allowance.

"He felt more pressure after media reported his story, and has been staying up working to improve the car everyday," she said.

Grass-roots inventors in China have received a lot of public attention with their bold ideas. Tao Xiangli, a farmer from Anhui Province tested his home-made submarine in Beijing on September 3, 2009. A man towing a home-made airplane was stopped on the road in Zhejiang Province by highway police, according to a Shenzhen Evening News report on April 13.

Tang said he wants to get some engineers or automobile manufacturers to work with him to produce his car, but no one has contacted him yet. He has invented other devices in the past, he said, including one while in prison. He said the investment for the car came from several police friends he made while in jail.

But the car will not be allowed in motor lanes on the main roads, especially in downtown Beijing, even though the invention does look nice, said Liu Yongsheng, a police officer with Tongzhou district traffic management team.

"We can't be sure whether the car needs a vehicle registration until we see it," said Liu. There are no uniform standards on the management of some vehicles, for example electric tricycles and the scooters driven by senior residents, he said,

"We'll send some officers to Tang's village and see," Liu said.

"Tang's invention sounds eco-friendly, but it might not be feasible on the auto market," said Jia Xinguang, an auto industry analyst.

"Some inventions, though they seem nice, can't be turned into real commercial products since it takes a long time for design modification and tests. New types of cars need a production permit from the National Development and Reform Commission," he said.

Tang intends to make a new three-wheeler model, with the fan at the back. "Companies can see which design they like better," he said.