Morgan Lifecar

The development of green technologies seems to be mirroring the development of the car industry as a whole: the Japanese boldly leading the way; Americans following with a slightly confused look on their faces.

But fear not, Brits, for we're in on the green game too, in our own small and defiantly eccentric manner.

This odd-looking specimen is the Morgan LIFEcar. That's LIFEcar for Lighweight Fuel Efficient car (see what they did there?), the product of a £1.9 million collaboration between Morgan and a range of British companies.

Part-funded by the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI), the LIFECAR is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell built by defence experts QinetiQ.

The advantages of fuel cells are well-known - they're clean, quiet and only emit water - but so are the disadvantages, with critics citing their weight and cost of production.

But Morgan reckons that the fuel cell used in the LIFEcar could change all that. The cells powers four electric motors - one in each wheel - and needs only produce 24kW to power the vehicle, compared to around 85kW from most competitors' vehicles.

This efficiency has been achieved through regeneration of surplus energy and keeping the LIFEcar - which is based on the Aero 8's chassis - as lightweight as possible.

"LIFECar is about catching the first big wave in the energy revolution, which is set to transform the motoring industry in the same way that the computer industry was transformed by the PC decades ago," says Ian Whiting of Qinetiq.

A noble aim indeed, but one which should be taken with a pinch of salt - especially when Charles Morgan describes the LIFEcar as "beautiful".

We'll back loony Britishness to the hilt, Charles, but let's have at least a pinch of realism in here. The LIFEcar looks like a misshapen shoe. Green it may be, but sexy it ain't.

© Source: topgear
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