Small Business Solutions - Azhar Hussain

Alex fees: I am Alex Fees on Small Business Television. We are coming to you from SEMA '08 that Specialty Equipment Market Association in Las Vegas,Nevada and joining me here now is Azhar Hussain. Azhar, good to meet you. Azhar Hussain: Hello there. Alex fees: He is one of the principals in a company called TTXGP, is that right? Azhar Hussain: That's right! Alex fees: You have a race, characterize it for me here Azhar, the world first Clean Emission Grand Prix? Azhar Hussain: We have all of the Autobahn which is 100 year old event now. It's a tremendously large race; we have got 40,000 track side. Alex Fees: Where? Where is this happening? Azhar Hussain: It's happens in the Autobahn which is just off the coast of England if you don't know where that is. It's a tremendous event, real festival of speed, endurance motor sport, it's probably one of the most challenging world races in the world. In fact, this year it's the 50th anniversary of Honda's involvement in that race. As a racer, really Honda develop their whole motorcycle innovation in technology and engineering. So next year, the first time ever, we are having a race within our bigger TT event which is zero carbon proportion and zero toxic emission and the idea is to get around 100,000 of our course which is 37 three quarter miles of some of the most famous road motor sport Tomahawk and to win. Alex fees: You cannot use biodiesel fuel, is that right? Azhar Hussain: No, No -- frankly if you are going to innovate, you must make the big jump. So the vision is really to take - affect that you take gasoline out of the loop. So we are focused on looking a motor sport innovation which is -- doesn't use carbon, which is based around chemistry, lithium, variants of hydrogen, variants of a - we also allow hybrid so you can have a hybrid fuel cell running in a generator, running your bike and one of the great things where I will be focus on bikes is that today, the technology is good enough for you to have a grown for experience on a two wheel vehicle. It's probably not quite there yet to get something as big as a car to get around the course. But a motorcycle can and so the teams that we have got coming in most of them will be doing 100 mph on this race. Alex fees: So again, nothing in, and nothing out. I mean no petroleum products, no biodiesel fuels to energize these vehicles and no emissions or waste products, right? Azhar Hussain: Correct, so the focus is really on developing technology and proportion systems which can take us forward and we really are focused on the vehicle right now. So of course, you know, we all got there, we have a carbon footprint, there is a power station, that's what it does, but right now, step one, just focus on the vehicle and let's build that innovation at first. Alex Fees: And again you are hoping this will call attention to this and sort of move forward the afford for not only alternative fuels but for zero emissions, huh? Azhar Hussain: Well one of the really powerful things about alternative energy is when you innovate in a combustion environment, the combustion engine environment, really your market is other combustion engine applications. So if I develop a new valve that does whatever, then I am only going to sell that to other people who use valves in a nutshell. When you innovate an alternative energy, my market isn't just transport, my market is anything that has requirements for mobile power. So the new Tesla car, for example, you may have covered that. So that's being run by laptop batteries. Now think about that. A laptop battery manufacture who by the way, has a tremendous amount of experience of getting any higher amount of energy into a very small space and at a price that make sense, that manufacturer can now, suddenly, enter the transport market and vice-versa. So I think there is a great opportunity for innovators to look at the whole opportunity here which is much bigger than just transport. Alex fees :And Azhar, because of that innovation, you see in opportunity for small businesses, correct? Azhar Hussain: Without a doubt. I mean one of the big benefits here is that it's such a destructive thing to move from combustion to non-combustion. It's very hard for a established manufacturer, who already has their supply chains, their work, their factory, their this, their that, how is someone like that going to suddenly take a left turn and by the way, destroy themselves, rebuild themselves, and then go in different direction. It's just - it will happen overtime but every time they set destruction of such a magnitude, what you get is some people die, new people are born, and you are looking at that kind of step change leap event. But one of the great things about our opportunity is that I said, it's a live industry application. So you can have a small business who would do really great things because a nature of our technology, no you don't need, if you are building a big engine block, you know, that requires -- Alex fees: Yeah efficiencies of skill and things of that nature. Azhar Hussain: Efficiencies skill, your tremendous energy efficiency is there firstly in the system, electric proportion is inherently simpler because all the work is being done at electric magnetic level for proportion and it's being done at chemistry level for the power but you don't have lots of moving parts and all these stresses of engine or whatever. So it needs - it's easier to engineer if you like, I mean there are still challenges, but there are not, they are more IQ, kind of, soluble rather than I need to build the new press or I need to develop some -- Alex Fees: Sure, it's a little more easy for small business to be more agile. Azhar Hussain: Absolutely. Alex Fees: When is this race that you are talking about? Azhar Hussain: The race will happen in June 12, '09. It's our first event. We currently have around 52 teams representing around 20 countries. I am proud to say the US is the second largest contentions in terms of teams entering. In fact one of the teams we have got here who is exhibiting at the SEMA show is Brembo who gave us the -- and they know, they have a bike which they are currently developing but we've got some very, very exciting products and one of the things that we have done is that we have really striped down the rules. So the current motor sport rules were, kind of, developed over many generation, or decades - but they really favored the whole combustion engine. So what we've come along is not only are we innovating at the proportion end but for example, we are allowing zero drive traction. So potentially you can have a motorbike which has a LML off-traction in the front wheel which, if you are taking bends or there is some kind of it would changing be with dynamics. Also recapturing technology for the braking. One of the great things about motorcycles from my perspective is that when the alternative energy comes out into the market, you are comparing it to a technology with the combustion engine which is at 100 years to develop and millions of man hours, billions of miles, that's going to develop that. So now it's not fair that you start something new and then they will say, well my Chevy gives me whatever it does, this thing doesn't go very far. What we have been able to achieve wit motorcycles is that if you look at your total, kind of, life user experience, I could give you today, a bike which would give you 100 miles per hour for 80 miles. Now for vast majority of people, for vast majority of time, that's actually good enough. So if we are just worried about the little incremental time it doesn't work, well that's okay. At least we solve most of our problem, and give us time, we will solve that too and eventually you will be able to cover the entire thing. The other great thing about our event is that the technology, the commonality between two-wheels and four-wheels is very small - sorry the jump is very small. The commonality is very large, so where is -- Alex Fees: Right. The difference between two is very small. Azhar Hussain: Difference is very, very small because the traction, the drive trains, the system, they are virtually identical. So when you have a large car today which has x cylinders and has a gearbox, all that , kind of, stuff, and then you look at a motorcycle, the technology that you've got between the two is vast. So you have a manufacturer who is good at one thing. They may not necessarily going to be good at the other thing. But when you start to talk about alternative energy, you are basically just talking about power system and a drive system, they are now gauged, you need to worry about. In electric, you more or less get 100% of the torque 100% of the time. The Tesla, for example, I think I am right to say, so don't quote me but I think it only has six moving parts because it doesn't need a lot of that stuff, right. You don't have a maximum RPM you need to get to where you engage your gears, it's just goes. Alex fees: Well Azhar, tell me about your involvement here at SEMA. What kind of reaction are you going to get in SEMA regarding your race? Azhar Hussain: It has been incredibly positive. We've got a number of - US teams have come here to see, as I said, one of our teams are exhibiting here. We are big part of the Green Zone they have done, so these themes have been great. Alex Fees: Azhar, tell me the name of the race again. Azhar Hussain: TTXGP June 12, 2009, Isle of Man. Alex Fess : And where do people, SBTV.com viewers, where they would go to get more information about it? Azhar Hussain: You can Google us but we have got big website at www.ttxgp.com and there is lots of information out in the web if you just Google us and then get it from there. Alex Fees: TTXGP.com Azhar Hussain: TTXGP.com Alex Fees: Alright, again. Here is Azhar Hussain. Azhar Hussain: Thank you very much. Alex Fees: I appreciate you being here. I am Alex Fees you are watching Small Business Television. We are coming to you from SEMA '08 in Las Vegas. You are logged on SBTV.com.