Solar-Powered Car Looks Awesome

It’s hard to look at this and not say to yourself, “Now that’s cool.”

Let’s look at some numbers:  Looks like ~20 square meters = 20kW of incident sunshine times 25% efficiency = 5kW = 7 HP.  That’s not a lot, but it’s not nothing, either; that’s what all cars from the early 20th Century had under the hood.

On a flat surface with very little friction, I have no doubts that this thing positively screams if you give it enough time to build up speed.

Having said that, regular conditions that include uphill climbs are going to be fiercely tough.  Then you need batteries, and batteries add weight.