Testing with the prototype of a new hybrid car has claimed two lives. The car, equipped with technology on an experimental basis, suddenly caught fire. A 66-year-old researcher and a 25-year-old colleague suffered fatal injuries.
National Research Council member Maria Vittoria Prati and Fulvio Filace, a mechanical engineering graduate, worked on the so-called Life Save project. This is funded by EU funds and aims to convert cars with conventional internal combustion engines into hybrid vehicles that are at least partly powered by solar energy. As part of the project, production vehicles will be equipped with additional electric motors, charged by a battery and solar panels on the roof and hood.
Investigator: Cylinder must have exploded
According to the initial investigation results, a cylinder of the test vehicle, a VW Polo, may have exploded. The accident happened Friday. For days, the two victims of the fire fought for their lives. But this fight ended tragically: Prati died as a result of the explosion of the vehicle she was riding in near Naples, it was said on Thursday. Filace succumbed to his injuries Thursday evening, a spokesman for Naples’ Cardarelli Hospital said.
The CNR center expressed condolences to the families of the victims and announced an internal investigation. The project’s website is temporarily disabled.
Source: Krone
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