The new hybrid car Catecar Dragonfly, developed in Switzerland, will be manufactured in Tunisia from autumn this year. The car is highlighted by some very promising solutions.
After years of evolution seems to be that the new hybrid city car presented by the Swiss company Catecar is ready for series production starting in the fall of this year. With dimensions of 1.5 meters in both width and height, and slightly more than three meters long, the Catecar is very compact. It combines an electric motor technology, a small range-extender based on a conventional engine, and as a novelty, the most modern photovoltaic roof panels, built in the curvature of the roof, capable of powering to 20 kilometers on a sunny day in Switzerland.
The electric motor located in the rear develops between 5 and 15 kW, the conventional engine, which lies between the wheels before, develops an additional 15 kW. Indeed batteries are lightweight, the LiFePO4 (lithium ion polymer) only 12 kg (the lead-acid batteries about 36 kg), and the body is also super light, bringing plant fiber panels in the side part. The information that the car will have a range of about 1000 kilometers, calculating a consumption of 1.5 liters per 100 km for the conventional engine, which will carry a fuel tank of 15 liters, looks like going a bit far. It is estimated that the solar panel can recover 300 watts in one hour in the sun.
Another peculiarity is that the concept city car will be produced in a plant in Sousse in Tunisia, where they have already found the skilled labor that can produce this car at a lower cost than plants in Europe. Tunisians are happy because the project will create about 200 direct jobs and 800 indirect job.
Catecar was established in 2008 as a result of purchasing the production license of a tiny car powered by compressed air, Airpod, developed by the company MDI. Catecar waited for a valid compressed air technology to manufacture this vehicle; but the lack of results led the Swiss company ignored the contract. Since then the company works on the Dragonfly.
