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Why electric vehicles?

It is unlikely that you'll ever buy a real car that resembles today's solar car. They seat 1 person, they are hard to get in and out of, they are not a practical vehicle.

It is also unlikely you'll be buying cars that have a solar panel attached to them until there is a leap forward in the technology of solar cell technology. Current solar panels are expensive and fragile. With continued research into Solar Cell technology someone may discover a way to build a cheap, sturdy and effective solar cell that can be laminated or painted onto the outside of a car. This probably won't be the only power source of your car but will supplement whatever other power source is used.

Current Solar Vehicles have Solar Arrays that generate 1-2 Kilowatts of power. This is about the same power required to run a hair dryer. The leading solar cars can sustain speeds of 90-100km/h on this power. Running off their battery reserves using the full power of their 8 Kilowatt motor, the leading cars can achieve speeds of approximately 150km/h.

A small motorbike has a motor in the 25-30 Kilowatt range. A small car has an engine in the 60-80 Kilowatt range. A large family car has an engine in the 120-150 Kilowatt range.

Every kilometre driven by every Internal Combustion Engine powered vehicle generates exhaust fumes. These exhaust fumes are generally acknowledged as being very bad for people. Electric vehicles generate no exhaust fumes while being driven. They use power obtained from other sources to recharge their batteries. Because the electricity grid provides a layer of abstraction, there is the flexibility to generate the power for these vehicles in a variety of ways.

Some people claim that electric vehicles simply move the pollution from the cars to the power station. Even if this is true, at least the pollution being generated is at a location away from most of the people getting the benefit of the power and you can change your power sources to more environmentally friendly methods.

The Sungroper Team would like to prove that electric vehicles do have a place in our state. When major car manufacturers field tested prototype electric vehicles designed to replace cars, 70-80% of people driving vehicles said that the electric vehicle with a 200km range they test drove for 2 weeks would be sufficient for their needs. There is a place for electric vehicles and we aim to improve their profile.

Electric Vehicles are a step in the right direction.