While electric cars and hybrids dominate talk at the big auto show in Detroit, a Michigan inventor says his flying saucer would make such discussions moot.

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Alfie Carrington, 59, says he is in the home stretch of the design and construction of the saucer, which is more specifically a perpetual flying machine that creates its own magnetic field and never needs refueling.

"People think I'm nuts," Carrington conceded to The Detroit News during an interview in his barn in Clinton Township outside Detroit.

But the News said Tuesday that the stakes are high for America and its earthbound auto industry because a perpetual flying saucer could replace cars and eliminate the need for gasoline.

"Think of it as something like a flying car," Carrington said. "It would have space capabilities too, but when I mention that, people treat me like I'm crazy."

Space travel has, indeed, not done much for Carrington's marketing efforts. He told the News his efforts to secure funding have, thus far, failed and he wasn't invited to pitch his technology at the North American International Auto Show.