BUDDING entrepreneur Lim Kian Wee, 36, believes he can build a petrol-electric hybrid car that will run 40km on each litre of petrol - a third of what an average family car needs for the distance.

He has found several strangers who believe he can do it.

With no factory, no funding - other than the US$250,000 (S$370,700) he raised - and no car in sight, the Malaysia-born Singapore citizen already has 16 bookings for his yet-to-be petrol-electric hybrid vehicle.

The US$1.34 million in orders, picked up at roadshows in the United States late last year, are for 14 cars and two trucks.

They are plug-in hybrids, which, besides being operable on petrol, have batteries rechargeable by running the engine or via a home electrical socket.

Mr Lim claims his vehicles will be able to cruise for about 100km on battery power alone - four times what current petrol-electric hybrids can offer.

For the full story, read Monday's edition of The Straits Times.