Eco Factor: Car powered by solar energy developed by MIT.
The oldest solar electric student team in America, MIT’s Solar Electric Vehicle Team, has unveiled their next-gen solar car known as the “Eleanor.” Costing a whopping $243,000, the solar car will compete in the tenth World Solar Challenge, an endurance race covering nearly 2000 miles of Australian outback.
The car has been made of lightweight yet strong materials like carbon fiber, which allows it to get the most out of its solar cells. With six square meters of monocrystalline silicon solar cells, 580 cells to be precise, the car generates 1200 watts of solar electricity, which is stored in exactly 693 lithium-ion cells. The research team states that the car can run all day on a sunny day at a steady cruising speed of 55 mph. On a cloudy day the car’s battery system can still provide enough energy to get it from Boston to New York. Propulsion comes from a 10-horsepower hub-mounted motor driving a single rear wheel.
The Dark Side:
The car does show the potential of solar energy, but the overall shape and the size of the car don’t make it a practical city-driving car.
” . . . the overall shape and the size of the car don’t make it a practical city-driving car.”
Maybe, maybe not.
Remember when brake lights moved up the back of vehicles with the space to allow that? The underlying concept there may be applicable here.
Yes, the MIT car is small, so visibility is a problem, both for the driver and for other drivers. For the latter, maybe a light on a pole on top of the car might make it visible, though other drivers would have to be educated to know what such a light — which would have to be quite distinctive, so there was no confusing it for something else — represents.
It’s true the car is no Mini Cooper in length and width, but it *is* comparable in height. And I see occasional Mini’s zipping around [notorious] Bangkok streets fairly frequently.
Has anyone done any research regarding applying *concentrated* solar power to vehicles? Would that be both reasonably possible and practical — and would it improve performance?
Just a thought . . .
It doesn’t look like a car to me. let me think... Yeah, it looks more like a UFO than a car. Weird look I guess
I hope they can make for commercial. So we can reduce global warming by use this car
thanks info for UFO car
