Electrical Power may not be the future of The Automotive Industry. Enter Solar Power
One of the things I was curious while researching what industries were beginning to incorporate renewable power was the Automotive Industry. As most of us know this industry has been dominated by vehicles burning fossil fuels for over the last 100 years. However due to the finite amount of fossil fuels available on the planet this industry began to look into different power sources that were not only cheaper, but better for the environment. When people think of alternative powered cars they think electric cars like Tesla or the Nissan models. But to my surprise some people have been looking down other paths for fuel, one interesting one that popped up was solar power. When researching I came across an interview with a engineering student name Martijn Lammers in 2014.
Martijn Lammers was part of a team who developed the first family size vehicle powered by only one thing the sun. Its name was Stella.
This vehicle though unsightly boasted some impressive capabilities. As stated by Lammers “It can reach up to 120 kilometers an hour. In good sun conditions and with the battery charged it can travel for about 700 kilometers. It fits four people. It’s a car you can just get in and drive away like the car you own at home.” (Hobson). Lammers also went into detail about the unique charging system incorporated into this vehicle. This solar powered car had the unique function of charging while stationary and while actually moving and continually using the energy stored in the battery.
Unfortunately cars like these will not be seen for an estimated thirty years predicted by Lammers . It was revealed that vehicles like Stella would be too expensive to produce and could not compete with electrical or even fossil fuel operated cars in the marketplace. Though the possibility of such a vehicle coming into the market place is quite interesting. When vehicles such as this are able to be produced in mass quantities they will be able to be sold at a much cheaper price than conventional cars. On top of that there is an ever rising group of people, both in companies and goverment pushing for the switch from fossil fuel operated cars. Overtime these driving factors may well be enough to change consumers mind to switch to cars that run on Solar Power. If something like that ever happens we will see a huge shift of dynamics in the major automotive manufactures. Companies like Toyota, Hummer, Ford, Cheverly will
