This is probably the beginning of the end for petrol-powered cars. A Japanese company called Genepax, dedicated to finding ways to turn water into power, has unveiled what it calls the first practical car to run solely on water. The firm claims putting just one litre of water is enough to keep its automobile going for 60 minutes at a respectable speed of 80 kph. And the water can be from the tap, falling rain or even from rivers.
BMW let loose their designers to create the weirdest possible concept car, and they came up with the GINA Light Visionary Model. GINA stands for “Geometry and Functions in ‘N’ Adaptations” and the car’s single most interesting feature is its outer skin, which is made entirely out of textile fabric, pulled tightly around a frame of metal parts and carbon-fibre wires. The best part of this BMW Z4 lookalike is that it can change shape.
The Kia Mohave is apparently for sale in the GCC already. We only find out about local Kia news through third-party sources, since the Kia’s regional reps generally suck at communication. I found out through a billboard on the street. We also believe the truck-based offroadable Mohave is only available in “280 hp” 3.8-litre V6 form. We already reported on the Mohave before. Anyway, I am using this opportunity to announce that from now on, I’ll start replacing the term “4WD” with the term “SUV” in reference to such vehicles.
Dubai’s Road & Transport Authority (RTA) has, over the last few weeks, come up with various ideas that they are going to implement over the coming months. Some of these ideas seem to be confidential in nature, but Gulf News somehow always gets their hands on official sources.
I usually don’t bother responding to racist jerks who send me insulting comments while assuming that I am “Indian.” I am a Muslim first, but I am also a Bangladeshi, and I won’t deny my heritage if asked. The forward-thinking nation of Bahrain has banned issuing work visas to all 90,000 Bangladeshis in the country, because one of them murdered a Bahraini a few weeks ago, and another killed a woman last year. Since we are such serial killers, this probably means I will not be able to go to the Bahrain F1, or any manufacturer events that might be held there,
TAG Heuer just signed up local hero Mohammed Bin Sulayem to endorse their watches in print ads. The interesting bit is that Sulayem said he will donate all the money he makes from the deal to charity.
Around town, unregulated diesel prices have gone up to Dhs 17 per gallon in Dubai, and expected to go higher. Meanwhile, ADNOC in Abu Dhabi continues to sell diesel at Dhs 8.6 per gallon.
In other news, in an attempt to appear commuter-friendly, Dubai’s RTA has announced that they will “allow” people to carry passengers to work or wherever,
While we live in the City Of Gold, where the actual taxi service refuses to pick up passengers, the papers are reporting that out at the Gaza Strip, the ruling Hamas outfit has started using police cars to ferry Palestinians around because of severe fuel shortages.
In our last few attempts to get advertising for this website, it was subtly hinted by some marketing reps that we are not very advertiser-friendly. This website certainly sucks more than Wheels when it comes to advertising priorities. Our site looks so bare without ads that I’ve decided to create my own ads, promoting various cars, all for free.
So there I was, people-watching from my apartment window as usual, seeing taxis speeding by tired brown people, spotting RTA guys hand out tickets, and counting the number of passing Land Cruisers (202.4 per hour at last calculation). And then I spotted this unique-looking five-door wagon. It had a sharp profile, with cool details such as lights on the hood and big red rear lights. The overall shape reminded me of a Nissan GT-R. And then it hit me — is this an early prototype of a secret GT-R sportwagon hot-weather-testing in Dubai?
UAE-based newspaper Gulf News conducted a survey to determine the types of transportation that people in the UAE use. Among the results, the most revealing is that 85% of the people who answered the survey have been refused a taxi journey based on their choice of destination, although there probably is more to those numbers than the newspaper is ready to admit. 15% are happy with the taxi service?