VIDEO - A Palestinian-designed electric car drew admiring stares on Tuesday from Gazans forced to use cooking oil to power their cars because of a fuel shortage.
"At first people laughed, saying it would not work, now people are begging us to convert their cars," said Fayez Amman.
Working with fellow electrical engineer Wasim al-Khuzundar, Amman hooked up an engine to 32 batteries. Driving their small car through the streets of Gaza City, they said the vehicle could travel up to 200 km on a single charge.
Electric car displayed. (Photo: Reuters)
Israel has reduced the amount of fuel it pumps into the Gaza Strip since the terror attack onthe Nahal Oz fuel terminal in April. Local fuel distributors have been on strike in protest to the Israeli cutbacks, forcing the closure of many petrol stations, and some motorists have turned to cooking gas and cooking oil to power their cars.
"The lack of fuel, the bad smell of cooking oil and the continued siege motivated us to enhance the work until we were successful and made the car operational," Annan said. He put the cost of the project at $2,500 but said the price of converting a car to electric power would depend on its size.