Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) are considered as the ultimate solution to reduce the significant amount of emissions by the transport sector. One of the first counter-argument of BEV critics is the challenge of charging electric vehicles with renewable energy sources, such as hydropower, wind or solar. The latter is the essential corner stone of "Squad", the world's first solar city car for sharing and private use. The Squad charges on solar energy with the solar panel on the roof of the car. Even without the solar charging, the Squad uses less energy per km per person than a train.
Whereas major car brands are focusing on larger vehicles that are an equivalent to SUVs, Squad is trying to enter the market of micro-vehicles, which allows to park the vehicle vertical to the other parked cars and therefore only occupying 1/3 of a conventional parking spot - the so-called cross-parking. The rollcage and a dedicated platform are providing a good level of security of the driver of the vehicle with a maximum range of up to 100km.
More information about the Dutch start-up is available on their homepage, or on Twitter or Instagram.
Netherlands