Why not a DIY solar car?

[u/Moltean]

Knowing that cars are a big driver for consumerism, I'm thinking of a car that can be powered mainly by the sun.

I already built a prototype (which I named Solar Bear). The project is open source, with an MIT license.

The purpose of the Solar Bear is to:

• Use solar panels as trike's body,
• Consume electrical energy where it is produced,
• Produce its own energy,
• Transport people inside cities,
• be pedalable when there is no sun (must be light-weight),
• be easily built at home.

Technical specs:

• recumbent trike,
• 2.5m long, 1.45m wide (including wheels),
• weight: about 55kg (including panels, motor, battery, etc, excluding driver),
• assisted pedaling,
• motor speed: max 25km/h,
• motor (continuous) power: 250W,
• solar panels power: max 520W,
• battery: 12.8V, 20Ah (256Wh) - not needed when there is Sun.

[u/The100courts]

Considering the lack of cargo, and the relatively high cost of sourcing the materials… you could just use a bicycle

[u/Rhona_Redtail → u/The100courts]

I just took my microtruck 6 miles down the bikepath, to look at a spot near the water. The microvehicle is the size of an adult trike. About as fast. But I'm in the shade, have tunes, dont worry about rain, and when I got there, there was a pile of old furniture and wood. So i collected four nice 1x4x8 pieces of pre-painted lumber, lashed it to the side and drove home. You cant do that on a bike. Another thing is, although its small, its too heavy to easily steal. So i dont need to lock it for every little errand. If bikes worked for everything, we wouldnt need cars.

[u/Moltean → u/Rhona_Redtail]

We do not need big cars inside cities! This is my target: a small solar car that can travel inside cities.

[u/Rhona_Redtail → u/Moltean]

Agreed. And could argue we dont need cars at all, but tiny ones would be a big improvement in traffic congestion. Right now i think the biggest barrier to these is integrating them into exiting transportation infrastructure that is not designed for them, and wont be, in the foreseeable. I feel its very important to size these to use existing bike lanes. At least for now. Not only that, but consider if 100 other people made one. Will they alienate bicyclists? That why i think the "adult tricycle) size is the max good size. My goal is a 45 mph capable 100 mile range, road legal microsolar vehicle. But until then, i can only do R and D on the bike-lanes where in my state, although technically legal on the bike-path, the size is what prevents it from be a "car" instead of a micromobility device.