Inventor shows off DIY solar-powered vehicle
By Donald Melanson 
posted March 21st 2007 11:36AM
posted March 21st 2007 11:36AM
It may not boast quite the same futuristic styling we've come to expect from some other enviro-friendly vehicles, but inventor Saqr Bin Saif's solar-powered vehicle here looks like it could outlast many of them on the road, and quite possibly run over some of them. It won't be getting anywhere very fast, however, as Bin Saif says the car can only reach a top speed of 50 kilometers per hour (about 30 mph), with four 170 watt solar panels supplying all the power and two batteries storing the energy. Then again, that's not too shabby for a DIY vehicle, which apparently took three months to build after four months of planning. While Bin Saif doesn't have any future plans for this particular vehicle, he doesn't seem to be giving up on the idea all together, saying he's now moving on to a new car that'll be smaller and faster.[Via Autoblog Green]
And we want a 30mph (full battery, peak sun) 2 person box why? I'd rather ride my bicycle.
Where in this article did you get the impression that this vehicle was going to be offered to you, us, or "we" in any way? The article plainly states that there are no future plans for that vehicle. The continuation of that remark says that the inventor wants to go on to build a smaller, faster vehicle; this is pretty normal sutff for bright people - have an idea, spend some time refining it, come up with some plans, build a prototype, refine it, perfect it, and when its ready, take it to market. Evident from the text, this is a prototype. I can just imagine someone with your myopic outlook back in the Wright brothers day.. "and we want a huge, awkward, expensive, dangerous machine that can only float a couple hundred feet into wind on a breezy day ... why? Id rather ride your bicyles..."
good luck getting anywhere with your ALMOST 1 full HP of solar power!
bravo... i applaud your work...
Aww come on guys, it's a start, don't see you creating solar cars. I will say however, it would be great to see solar panels used on cars such as the Tesla Sports car. Something that allows you to charge your batteries while driving. Since you can't get the best efficiency just yet with solar, you'd have to stop at points, but it would be nice not to have to turn back at the halfway point to go home for a charge. Here's to the future of no oil! (P.S. Solar panels on top of tracker trailers??? Wouldn't that be the perfect use of space!)
Who cares about the car what's the model's name????
Where's the vehicle? They didn't unveil it? I see the stage and the cute model, but were is the car? ....
LMOA
I believe the platform IS the vehicle, lol it looks kind of like a lego car, clunky and about as fast...though as said before it is only a start. The next one will be better and so on and so on. The most important thing is going for it. Keeping active in this field will yield great results over time.
Apparently this is not the first eco-friendly car - and it's certainly not the best. The problem is that they will never take off, as soon as someone develops a model worth selling oil companies buy it out. Imagine the money that they would lose if they didn't!
I hope someone decides not to sell to the oil companies. I hope they tank. Though admittedly, I do enjoy hearing the roar of my Subaru at 6k RPMs just before I pop into 5th on the highway. If they can also throw in a couple good subwoofers, and somehow sync them to the speed, so I can hear a roaring engine, I'm sold!
All seriousness though, it sucks that the only thing stopping these cars is greed. I think for now, we are stuck with "cleaner" gasoline and more GASOLINE efficient cars. I would love to see some of these come out though.