MERCEDES-Benz is making a greener, hybrid Popemobile for Benedict XVI.
However, a Vatican spokesman denied a newspaper's prediction that
it should be ready for Benedict's visit to his native Germany in
September.
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According to the report, the new Popemobile will be
based on the four-wheel-drive M Class Mercedes with a hybrid
electric-gas motor.
The rechargeable lithiumion battery will allow it to drive 16 miles (30 kilometres) without any polluting emissions.
The
pope would not be allowed to use a purely electric car because the
Popemobile must have the capacity to take off swiftly in case of
emergency, according to the report.
A Mercedes-Benz spokesman said the group could give no details on its private clients "for reasons of confidentiality".
Mercedes has provided the special cars to successive popes since
the 1980s.
The large-windowed, reinforced glass design allows for
maximum viewing with high levels of security.
Last December,
Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, the president of the governorate of Vatican
City State, suggested that Benedict was "prepared to use an electric
Popemobile" as long as it was efficient and reliable.
Benedict
XVI, sometimes labeled "the green pope" in the Italian press, has
emphasised the defence of "God's works" and therefore the need to
protect the environment.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said
that while the project for the new car was under development, it was not
yet finalised and that the vehicle would not be ready before the end of
the year.