The Sunswift eVe, currently the worlds fastest solar electric car over 500km, will soon officially be registered to be Australia's first road legal solar car, making it one of the only road legal cars in the world. Sunswift say the eVe represents a shift in solar-powered transport from conceptual, purpose-built race cars to those capable of meeting commercial vehicle standards of performance, comfort and safety.
The Immortus concept car with its seven square meters of solar panels is another car with a high perpetual speed coming out of Australia.
Raghu Das, Chief Executive of analyst IDTechEx says, "Just as Formula One gave us many components in today's cars and buses, so are we now seeing the advances in solar racers cascading down to regular vehicles. That is why IDTechEx has a newly researched report on Energy Independent Vehicles 2016 -2026 and we cover the technology in our masterclasses and conference, "Electric Vehicles: Everything is Changing" November 18-19 in Santa Clara, the optional masterclasses being November 17 and 20. Interestingly most energy independent land vehicles are homologated as micro EVs not cars because the cost is too high to homologate them as cars and many are as yet fragile with their extreme lightweighting. Micro EVs greatly interest industry because they include e-rickshaws, e-tuktuk taxis, golf cars, neighborhood electric vehicles (NEV) and a host of industrial and commercial car-like vehicles including autonomous "mules" in mining and military operations, many airport ground support equipment GSE and three wheel "cars" that Chinese farmers love to use. Sales are already over 600,000 yearly and we now project over four million made in 2026 with scope for a common platform for many and potential for even larger sales later. Our new micro EV report is, not surprisingly, one of our best sellers."
For more see the new IDTechEx Research report "Micro EVs, e-Bikes, e-Scooters, e-Motorbikes, Mobility for Disabled 2016-2026".
Top image: Sunswift eVe
Image source: PrinceArutha
