Qatar-designed hybrid car unveiled at UN conference

A Qatar-designed low-fuel-consumption hybrid car was unveiled in Doha on Wednesday as part of the Gulf state’s hosting of the UN Climate Change Conference.

“The hybrid concept that is fully designed, built and installed in Qatar, is a landmark achievement and testament to GORD’s alignment with Qatar National Vision 2030. This indigenous product demonstrates Qatar’s capability to reduce environmental impact and to make a contribution to sustainable development,” said Dr Yousef Al Horr, chairman of the Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (GORD).

The car uses a thermoelectric generator to recover heat from exhaust gases in order to power the fuel cell. Initial test results show the fuel consumption was reduced by more than a fifth.

“Our car produces electricity at no cost by capturing thermal waste energy, reducing costs and eliminating the need for an external source of electricity. Also, bulky compressed-hydrogen cylinders are a thing of the past, as our concept accomplishes the production of hydrogen by using water through fuel cells integrated within the car,” Al Horr added.

The system is also expected to reduce pollutant emissions by more than 50 percent.

“The project will be a definitive milestone in reducing carbon emissions. Using a high-energy and zero-emission fuel such as hydrogen is an effective way for improving the performance of spark-ignited (SI) and compression- ignited (CI) engines. Produced by a unique electrolysis process, hydroxyl gas was tested as a supplementary fuel in a gasoline car, where spark timing influences the SI engine performance, without need for storage tanks,” said Dr Esam Elsarrag, Director for Research & Development at GORD.

GORD is a subsidiary of Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company.