Sept. 16, 2008 - You probably won't be parking one of these in your garage anytime soon, but the pyramid-shaped electric vehicle known as the Dream Car 123 now drives up to 250 miles on just five bucks of juice. (via Gizmodo)

Looking more like a 1960’s spaceship than a 21st century eco-mobile, the Dream Car 123 has recently undergone a redesign. It now takes just three and a half hours to charge and can reach speeds of up to 200mph, according to its designer Greg Zanis. That's quite a jump from the 45mph max it was reaching before.

"Each motor runs on a four-pack of batteries, and when that four-pack of batteries goes 65 miles, that switches over to another four-pack. It can do that continually," Zanis said in an interview with CBS news.

Though energy efficiency is a key component of the car, issues around safety were also taken into consideration in the design, says Zanis on his website. Surrounded in steel, and covered in bullet-proof plexiglass, a half inch thick, Zanis says makes the car, “impenetrable”. Inside the driver is protected by a three-inch layer of clear plastic, bubblewrap-like material which surrounds the entire interior of the car, including the instrument panel. Zanis believes his bubble-wrap nesting is safer than an airbag because "it is pre-inflated and already there to save your life," he says.

The car currently costs about $8,000 to build, according to Zanis, who expects it to retail for $24,000. Depending on government alternative fuel incentives, consumers could spend as little as $16,000 for a Dream Car 123.

Zanis has joined the race, with some pretty big contenders, for designing the most energy efficient car. Lotus’ new "Eco Elise" has been built 70 pounds lighter to boost its fuel efficiency, while Toyota is installing solar panels on some its Prius models to power some of the air conditioning.

To find out more about the Dream Car 123, click here.