A ‘Soft, Safe, Sexy Auto’ named ‘Spria’ Set to Make Impact on Pattaya Roads

This remarkably strong vehicle has 15 centimeters of soft foam on all sides. The estimated 1 billion tiny foam air bags in the auto’s exterior and interior make this vehicle safe. It has a 30 pound foam composite top which is easily removed to become a sexy convertible. Spira’s motto is ‘Soft, Safe, Sexy’.

The first Spira model was built in Hemaraj Industrial Estate. It is a low cost, simple 3-wheel vehicle that achieves 42 kpl using an 110cc power plant. The Spira uses reinforcing fibers and aluminum to provide a strong protective cage covered with soft foam on both the outside and inside. This sleek utilitarian vehicle that measures 3 meters long, is a great choice for any commuter along with being a safe replacement for a motorcycle with all weather protection.

Spira’s patent pending technology may revolutionize the way vehicles are designed and produced. The systems used to fabricate the Spira can
make any vehicle safer, more fuel efficient, and have less of an environmental impact. Every once in a while innovation will spark transformational improvements in an industry and our lives. The company hopes the energy absorption, light weight, and fuel efficiency of foam will make our world safer and greener.

Pattaya Times got the opportunity to interview one of the masterminds behind the creation of the ‘Spira’, Mr. Doug Ballard, brother of the inventor and also the Director of Special Projects.

“I have been living in Pattaya for a very long time and have been involved in many of the Nova Group projects. My brother and I invented the first Spira in October 2008 at our factory in the Hemaraj Industrial Estate,” said Mr. Ballard.

Our biggest achievement to date is the Spira is one of the finalist for the $10,000,000 usd Progressive Insurance Auto X Prize competition for vehicles that can achieve 100 mpg fuel economy.

“We are now opening a factory in Naklua. The reason we choose Naklua is because it is close to the automotive industries where we will be getting our supplies from. We hope to be selling our products around the Eastern Seaboard area beginning with Pattaya. The Spira will be on sale late this year or beginning of next year at only 150,000 baht,” added Mr. Ballard.

An innovation like the Spira is great because it uses materials from local suppliers with an end result that benefits the local people with a ‘Soft, Safe, and Sexy’ vehicle.