Swiss adventurer Louis Palmer drives a custom made solar-powered vehicle coined the 'Solar Taxi'. It is equipped with a ZEBRA battery and pulls a trailer with 6 square meters of solar panels. This allows Louis Palmer to drive up to 400 km at a maximum speed of 90 km/h.
WAVE (World Advanced Vehicle Expedition)
Louis Palmer is organizing the World Advanced Vehicle Expedition (WAVE), an event in which vehicles like his will travel around the world in 80 days. Participating vehicles will start at the UNFCCC World Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, December 2009. They will drive over land to Hong Kong, be shipped to Los Angeles, drive over Mexico City to Montreal, to be shipped to Lissabon, in order to complete the journey within 80 days and finish at the Geneva Motor Show, March 2010.
There will be participants from various universities from across the world and there will be prizes in several categories as well as an overall winner. Developments have started at universities in Australia, New Zealand and Europe, while discussions with universities in Asia are making progress.
The Altjira Project
In Australia, a team of students at the Australian National University, Canberra, has been designing a solar-powered electric vehicle over the past six months, with the aim of participating in the World Advanced Vehicle Expedition.
Altjira is the name of the Aboriginal god who created Earth and retired to the sky. The Altjira design is for a two-seater vehicle similar to Louis Palmer's Solar Taxi, with a similar range and a top speed of 100 km/h. Instead of a having solar panels on a trailer, the Altjira is to be powered by a solar array on the vehicle's rooftop.
The idea is that the daily driving needs of most people in Canberra can be catered for by such a rooftop solar panel, when the vehicle remains outside and the electricity generated during the day is stored in Lithium-ion batteries. Additionally, the Altjira will have a plug-in facility, in case extra charging from the grid is needed.
Wheelchair Access
One of the team members is Huy Nguyen, a 23 year-old student who is confined to a wheelchair. As one of its special features, Huy Nguyen has designed the Altjira to provide easy access to the driver's seat from and to a wheelchair, as well as to allow the wheelchair to be carried along in the vehicle.
Sponsorship
Fellow team member is 22 year-old student Lawrence McIntosh who is seeking sponsors to help fund the Altjira project. There's room on the Altjira's website for sponsors, there's space on the body of the car and there's plenty of exposure to be obtained from further promotion of the project and the activities and publicity around the World Advanced Vehicle Expedition. Sponsors can contact the team through an email address at the website.
Louis Palmer's Solar Taxi
http://www.topnews.in/louis-palmer-s-solar-taxi-arrives-down-under-219768
http://www.solartaxi.com/press/presskit/
Singapore WAVE Team
http://www.swissnexsingapore.org/pdf/Solartaxi_Report_swissnexsg.pdf
The Altjira Project - Australian WAVE Team
http://www.projectAltjira.com
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Comments: 12
It may be a good idea to approach Danish shipping company A.P. Møller-Mærs, which is responsible for a substantial part of Denmark's emissions. They may be willing to sponsor a hydrogen-powered ship, to transport the vehicles between continents. After all, the expedition is to start in Denmark, which is well-positioned to convert surplus wind energy at night into hydrogen.
Can you imagine every car in America with a solar panel trailer??? *chuckle*
I don't think some of these people are operating on all cylinders, so to speak....
Blessings ~
Rene
At last Thursday's meeting of the Canberra Electric Vehicles group, Sasha showed his electric Toyota to assembled members. On the compilation photo below, Sasha shows the batteries on the side and the motor in front.