Canadian prototype three-wheeler is frugal and fast

Montreal (dBTechno) - The unique feature of this car however is a turbocharged 1.5-litre Honda engine adapted to run on fuel vapour ­ a much leaner mixture of fuel and air than is used in proprietary engines. In test runs the Alé achieved 92 miles per US gallon with extremely low CO2 emissions to match. The engine is mounted between the two 18 inch front wheels, with the rear wheel attached to a swinging arm.

Instead of burning fuel at a ratio of 14.7 parts of air to one part of petrol, like most current engines, the Alé uses fuel vapour ratio of 20:1.

The engineering textbooks say such a fuel mixture is too lean to enable a conventional internal combustion engine to start up properly but the manufacturers claim to have overcome this problem. Inventor George Parker says details of the technology remain under wraps until his patents are confirmed.

With the lightweight body tipping the scales at 635 kilos, the Alé can bound from zero to 100 kilometres an hour (62 miles) in a sizzling 5 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 225 km/h (140 mph).

For more information see the FuelVapor website at: http://www.fuelvaporcar.com