We've always seen the most popular car brands - but did you know that there are cars that were created by Filipinos ?
AURELIO - The first Filipino-made sports car
The first Filipino supercar, Aurelio, was made by Pacita Fibertech of car firm Factor Aurelio Automobile by Brendan Aurelio and brothers Bryan and Kevin Factor. The younger brother, Kevin, resesarches the internal mechanics of the car. Brendan, on the other hand, is focused on designing the exterior and interior of the car. Brian is left to take after the marketing and investment because of his business experience.
The engine comes in two options: the HONDA B16A V-TEC engine and the 2.0 litre Mitsubishi 4G63T turbocharged engine. It can do a quarter mile run in under 10 seconds. The car has been fitted fiberglass, carbon fiber, 18-inch Rota wheels and a VR4 front.
The Aurelio car is priced at 1.5-1.6 million pesos and can beb contacted via their Facebook page @Aurelioconcepts. You can also view Aurelio's detailed specifications. The good news is - all of its parts can be sourced locally!
SINAG
Sinag is the first Philippine solar-powered race car whose design and construction was made by a group of faculty and students from De La Salle University in partnership with Ford Group Philippines, San Miguel Corporation, Motolite, Shell, Sun Power, Philippine Airlines, and Ventus.
It is the first Filipino car to enter the 2007 World Solar Challenge and placed 12th from 40 participants.
The car weighs 295 kilograms. The car uses a unique back-contact monocrystalline solar cells which are among the most efficient solar cells in the world.
A newly developed model, Sikat II runs on a 1.8 kilowatt motor and has a top speed of 110 kilometers per hour.
BANGKARWAYAN
The most interesting part about the Bangkarwayan is it is an solar powered amphiboius car. It's made by UP professor Benjamin Mangubat who teaches history at UP Manila. The car took six years to build and is now a common sight on the UP Manila campus.
The car is fitted with 12-volt batteries that run above 40 kilometers per hour and can seat up to six people. It's fitted with indigenous materials such as "banig" and a "bilao" or winnowing basket.
The car's name was derived from the words "bangka" which means "boat" and "kawayan" which means "bamboo".
CLIMA MOBILITY
Clima Mobility was made by Engineer Adonis Lagangan. He launched his company, Genius EMV, by working overseas to bootstrap and fund his company.
It is classified as a segment A car with a five-person seating capacity and can run up to 64 kph. The car can run up to 72 kilometers per hour and charges in four to five hours.
It's currently priced at PHP 450,000 to PHP 500,000 at a build-to-order basis. Currently, they are running a new campaign called "Electric car sharing: Manila's Green Mobilization". It will be the first electric car sharing service. Members can locate the nearest vehicle using their smartphone app, reserve a vehicle, access the vehicle using the RFID membership card, and drive-off. Once they reach the end of their journey, the car can be parked at one of the designated car pods and tap their membership card to pay the bill.
HONORABLE MENTION: KONSEPTO MILENYA
Kyx Mendiola invented Koncepto Milenya or simply Milenya, is currently developing a flying car that can seat up to 2 passengers for an hour. Currently, he is using parts from a drone to build his prototype that can carry one person for 10 to 15 minutes for up to 15 to 20 feet. Mendiola describes the car as a “flying car type of vehicle that uses drone technology or multi-copter technology to fly. It’s like a drone car.”
The car is a vehicle take-off and landing (VTOL) and was developed to cope with the heavy traffic in Manila. Traffic rules for low-flying would be less complicated than for roads. He envisions people hopping from one helipad to another, dropping people off and then charging or swapping batteries.
As of September 2018, Milenya can carry 80 to 100 kgs at 50 to 60 kilometers per hour at a height of 6.1 to 7.6 meters for 10-15 minutes at a time. It takes two and a half hours to charge the six lithium-ion batteries. An Australian company, Star 8, has expressed interest in partnering with Mendiola to develop the car for mass production.
The idea came eight years ago when the drone technology came to the Philippines when he started building drones as a hobby and for filming. Soon, his passion for tinkering electronics gave him the will to create his dream vehicle. He used up all his savings and didn't give up when things didn't go according to plan.
““I wanted it to be a sports car, a flying Lamborghini, maybe. The design was a trial and error process. Some materials burned up on use. Other materials didn’t quite work.”
When the car was finished, it was first featured in YouTube and gathered over 1.7 million views.
It was also featured in Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho: Super sasakyan na solusyon sa traffic? and garnered 1 million views.
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