Johnston Inventor's Imagination Fueled By High Gas Prices

MICRO, N.C. — High gas prices can only help a Johnston County inventor's dream take off.

Raymond Perry, of Micro, has a new patent on a car.

Perry's four-wheel invention combines the elements of a gas engine, air flow, generators and electricity. It does not even have to be plugged in.

The electric motor, along with fans powered by outside air flow, do most of the work. Perry said the gas engine only gets things started.

"We don't have a transmission. We don't need one," Perry said. "It's a pretty smooth ride. You don't feel anything but movement. It idles at any speed, 30 miles or 60 miles an hour. The gasoline engine just idles."

Perry said that he has tested the car on a track, but cannot take it out on public roads yet. He said that a four-gallon tank of gas will get him just as far as most cars that carry 20 gallons.