Mygreenwheels

Here's a treat. A hybrid electric car from Hungary, the country that brought you the Yugo, most definitely one of the 50 worst cars of all time and memorably described in Time magazine as 'something assembled at gunpoint'.

Antro Solo from HungaryWell, at least this one looks a lot better, so that's a start, but the alarm bells start ringing when you read that this is a six-seater HEV car that splits into two smaller cars ... and it's planned to go to market by 2012. I wonder what planning planet they're on or is somebody holding the gun again.

Apparently Antro started its research on this project back in 2002 and has invested 1.5 million euros in the R&D of a working prototype. But guys! ... Toyota spends that every day on R&D and look where it's got them.

Anyhow, the Antro Solo concept is a three passenger car with a hybrid drive and solar cells on its roof that allegedly chuck out enough power for up to 20km a day at city speeds. If you find yourself out on the road at night it's got pedals that each passenger can crank in order to charge the battery. Fred Flintstone, anyone?

OK, the Antro's not strictly an electric car, so I wouldn't normally be writing about it here, but lately the EVs have been so boring with all the mainstream automakers finally getting in on the game that I needed a little light relief. Ah! That's better.