fuel crisis

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CHAN: As the fuel crisis in Gaza continues, two engineers develop a way to keep cars on the road. Here's more on the story. STORY: A Palestinian-designed electric car drew admiring stares in Gaza on Tuesday. Like everywhere else Gaza is feeling then pinch of high prices for fuel. Two electrical engineers from Gaza City, hooked up an engine to 32 batteries enabling their small car to be driven through the streets of Gaza city. [Fayez Annan, Electric Car Engineer]: “This idea has been initiated by Wasim al-Khuzundar, three months ago. The idea gained momentum and was put into place after the fuel shortage in the strip. So we had a better situation in which to execute this idea, the one (car) that you see in front of you.” The vehicle can travel up to one hundred twenty miles on a single charge. Israel has reduced the quantity of fuel it pumps into the Gaza Strip.  Local fuel distributors have been on strike in protest against the Israeli cutbacks, forcing the closure of many petrol stations.  Motorists are turning to cooking gas and cooking oil to power their cars. Annan says his motivation is to overcome the fuel crisis, but naturally hopes his creation will be successful. [Fayez Annan, Electric Car Engineer]: “There is no one that doesn't wish for a successful project. But the purpose of it is to show the world that we are capable of creating something out of nothing....Meaning if the fuel is cut off, we will have substitute. So every human being looks for profit but the objective was not to create a profitable project." Annan puts the cost of the project at twenty-five hundred dollars but says the price of converting a car to electric power would vary in accordance to its size.