WHAT'S there to dislike about this futuristic car that's in the development pipeline?

Little it seems, if details released by Malaysian national carmaker Proton Holdings on Monday are anything to go by.

Unlike hybrid cars, which run on fuel, this new electrical car model doesn't rely on petrol, but on a rechargeable battery.

It is set to be commercially available next year.

Thanks to technology developed in the UK, simply by charging its battery for six hours, the car can run for 36hours or 320km.

The Malaysian government praised the electrical car initiative as an innovative way to help citizens cope with rising fuel costs.

While it was not revealed how much this energy-efficient model would cost, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the car would run at a low cost.

He said, after test driving an electric Lotus car model, that the technology meant that each kilometre would cost just 18 sen (7.5 cents).

Datuk Seri Abdullah spoke to reporters after chairing a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Inflation.

He noted that the advancement would continue to try out such unconventional measures 'from time to time' to deal with high oil prices.

He said: 'The government will continue to find alternative resources so that we will not be too dependent on combustible gas, petrol or diesel.'

The committee had also been briefed on the use of electric cars to replace gas, petrol or diesel, reported the New Straits Times.

Proton has been given the green light to carry out in-depth validation and testing of cars using electric batteries.

FINE-TUNE

The carmaker will work alongside two other companies, The Detroit Electric and PRO Dis-T, to fine-tune the car.

Said Mr Abdullah: 'The cooperation will be meaningful for future Proton models.

'If it can be commercialised, then Proton can use it for all its cars. It is my hope that Proton will cooperate with the companies as this will benefit all car owners in the country.'