Just when it looked like EVs had reached the point of no return against internal combustion engines, startup Chinese car company Kaile Automotive, based in Jiangxi, could be about to disrupt the market once again. The company’s new “Hūxī” system needs nothing more than the air around us for fuel, promising cost-free motoring that isn’t just carbon neutral, but carbon negative.
Hūxī works by ingesting the local atmosphere to extract the oxygen and CO2 to use as fuel. Thanks to an advanced carbon capture based on plant photosynthesis, Hūxī produces more than enough energy to drive a family car and never needs to be filled up with fuel or charged. The only outputs are bricks of solid carbon that must be removed periodically but can be used in construction. One early adopter in China has managed to accumulate enough carbon bricks to build a new house after just 80,000km of driving.
“Our Hūxī system is even better than a hydrogen fuel cell,” said Kaile Automotive Chairman, Fèihuà Wei. “That still releases water into the atmosphere. Water can create a greenhouse effect – just look at the condensation on the windows of greenhouses. Our system can give our customers free motoring for the lifetime of the vehicle – and it can help solve the housing crisis with the carbon brick output at the same time!”
The first Kaile Automotive vehicle is the “Kuàilè fèi”, which translates into English as the “Happy Lung”. The compact SUV, a direct competitor to the globally bestselling Tesla Model Y, is already undergoing on-the-road trials in China. The dual-motor Happy Lung produces 570hp and can accelerate to 100km/h in 2.4 seconds. Thanks to its air-breathing technology, the car’s range is unlimited – solving one of the key problems with BEVs. The first model is expected to go on sale in China for 140,000 Yuan ($19,000) later this year.
The Happy Lung is set for European and US launch in 2025, with a predicted price of €25,000 and $25,000 respectively, which could lead current New Energy Vehicle leader BYD to cut its pricing still further. The UK version should follow at least a year later, thanks to Brexit, and will cost £48,000. The Hūxī system also may not operate at full efficiency in the UK, because it runs best on hot air rather than the chilly conditions often found in the British Isles.
In a joint statement, CEO of Stellantis Carlos Tavares and Toyota CEO Koji Sato said: “This just proves yet again that battery electric vehicles are rubbish. They are not the future. EV promoters talk about battery technology being clean, but in reality, it runs on the tears of children working in cobalt mines. What people really want is self-charging hybrids, which also produce energy spontaneously like the Kaile technology.”
In a statement published on his social media platform X, Elon Musk claimed that Kaile Automotive was a “plot by the Democrat party” and that its fuel-free driving could impact free speech, which he underlined “should cost at least $9.99 a month”. However, Musk is reportedly working on a new carbon negative vehicle drive system of his own for a future Tesla vehicle, powered entirely by right-wing political outrage.