SunVee - Solar Utility Vehicles in a Neighborhood Near You - January 31st, 2008
While some of us are watching for production models of the plug-in versions of the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape, and others are following the news of Subaru’s recently announced EV offering, the R1e, many people still see electric and solar-electric cars as something limited to the garages of hobbyists and backyard tinkers, rather than viable technology. SunVee.com shows how very wrong that notion is.
As the website explains, “SunVee” is an acronym for “Solar Utility Neighborhood Vehicle,” and while that name might conjure up images of go-carts and mopeds made out of lawnmower parts, these micro-cars go far beyond anything like that. For one thing, they’re solar powered - solar panels that form the roof of the vehicle, or are otherwise incorporated into the design, actually charge the battery pack. For another, versions of the car can actually hold two or three people, and can travel on local roads at up to 25 mph.
The site opens with an introduction of the grandfather of all neighborhood vehicles (small cars used primarily for short hops like a trip to the grocery store or café, or maybe dropping a child off at school): the SunMobile. This is a solar-electric vehicle with roots in 1999’s Y2K concerns. From there, it presents design information for the SunVee concept car - an evolution of the pedal-powered SunMobile into something more practical, more powerful, more efficient, and even (in some cases) fully enclosed.
While SunVee.com offers a business plan that explains how relatively simple it would be to start a business building and selling this solar-electric vehicle, designed for neighborhood, that information is not an attempt to solicit investors, but an offering of information. Indeed, the entire site is a wealth of information about solar-electric transportation, including an overview of similarly designed vehicles, with images, descriptions of how they work, and links to the relevant websites so interested readers can obtain purchase and/or construction details.
While SunVee.com does not offer any cars for sale, the information provided cannot help but instill a desire to own one of these solar-electric cars for personal use.
Posted on January 31st, 2008 by QueenMab
Filed under: technology, alternative fuels, buzz |
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