80TH GENEVA INT MOTORSHOW: PROTON'S EMAS

I went to the 80th Geneva International Motorshow last Saturday.

Being a patriotic me, I was excited since Proton unveiled what was touted as a revolutionary hybrid concept cars, the EMAS (Eco Mobility Advance Solution) there. And to witness such landmark thing myself would be great.

Since Palexpo, the place where the motorshow is being held is just near my apartment, my family and I decided to walk. A lot of people were already there when we arrived. Tickets were priced at CHF 14.00 for adults and CHF 8.00 for children.

A bit about EMAS specification.

Emas will be powered by a 3 cylinder 1.2-litre engine developing 51 horsepower that can run on petrol, ethanol or methanol. While the electrical engine will provide a continous power of 45 kW and 75 kW peak power. This will take Emas from 0-100km/h at 14 seconds and a top speed of 170km/h.

The thing was, upon entering the huge exhibition centre, I could not locate Proton's banners or the familiar almost triangle symbol of the harimau anywhere. Honda, Toyota, Ferrari and even Skoda were visible, but no Proton. So I decided to slowly tawaf the place trying to find the EMAS, and in the process, snapped pics of the many other interesting cars.

It took me about 3 hours to finish my round, and still no EMAS. I was about to give up when my daughter spotted someone familiar in our Geneva circles of friend inside one of the booth. And lo and behold its the EMAS stall. No wonder I cannot find it at first since its under the ITALDESIGN-GIUGIARO banner, and I was looking for PROTON's. Made me goes "Huh"? But no matter, I found it at last.

I cannot write a review of EMAS, since obviously I am not qualified. But my patriotic spirits were somewhat dented by the fact that its not even exhibited under Proton's own stall and banners. Sort of tumpang the Italian designer's since its was design by it. And the brouhaha over its launching? Suffice to say that I was a bit disappointed.

Anyway, here are some pics of the EMAS.