Chinese Company Unveils $5,560 Solar-Powered Electric Car
The Chinese company Zhejiang 001 Group has debuted an amazing new product at the 29th Zhejiang International Bicycles and Electric-powered Cars Exhibition last week - a solar-powered electric car capable of going 90 miles on a full charge with a retail price of only $5,560.
The car is nearly identical to China’s popular economy vehicle, the Cherry QQ, which is pictured above. Only ten of the solar cars have been manufactured so far, but more production is planned. Unfortunately, you won’t have much luck finding one outside of China.
The solar panels themselves are not integrated into the electric car, but sit on top of the car in a roof-rack configuration - see the picture below. The car takes about 30 hours to fully charge, but the batteries will charge enough in just one hour in the sun to provide a three-mile trip.
Sheng Gangxiang, an engineer at the Zhejiang 001 Group, told reporters that the vehicles have solar panels on their roofs that turn the sun’s rays into energy to get them going. The car can absorb 95 percent of the solar energy it takes in, however, it can only transform 14 to 17 percent of that into electricity.
We think the low price and the renewable nature of this vehicle will lend it perfectly to impoverished areas that cannot afford gasoline-powered motorized vehicles.
This Post via AutoblogGreen and Gas2.org
Tags: chery, electric car, solar car, solar-powered car
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No flame intended here… but it seems a little strange to see this story being picked up by Gas 2.0 and bunch without much critical thought. A $5K car is not likely a very sustainable car on every level of materials/batteries/mfg process used. I can’t imagine the car costs only $5K would run more than a few months without falling to pieces. Add in solar cells hacked onto a roof rack which don’t actually provide enough power density, this is really just a web story gimmick for Digg hits. I’ve yet to see an article about this news story that really reflects critical thought of energy science and auto engineering. So, frustrated, I wrote a post on what is really needed to make the transition to an era of electric vehicles– energy density via chemical bonds.
http://www.theenergyroadmap.com/futureblogger/show/1054-this-solar-powered-chinese-car-is-more-of-a-gimmick-than-a-revolution
Thanks for the site..! No flame intended! I am just disappointed in the lack of insight coverage on this story out of China.
Garry G
Editor
The Energy Roadmap.com
http://www.theenergyroadmap.com
Garry, you expect the revolution to happen overnight and according to your vision? If the car has value in the market while offsetting rates of emissions and consumption of natural resources, whats wrong with that? It’s a step forward if nothing else.