Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Solar, Volkswagen
VIDEO: The solar-powered Volts Wagen classic Beetle
When you've got (the name), flaunt it. The video above is of the Volts Wagen, a homemade EV that should turn a few heads.The car isn't a new EV miracle - it's got basic converted stats (40 miles on a charge, 65 mph top speed) - but it's got plenty of style.
"My question is simple: Why aren't we all driving on electricity? Actually, I'll do you one better than that," the host says, and proceeds to explain his home solar set up. With it, he can drive his yellow bug in a totally green way.
I want this car, or one like it. Also, the host in the video makes a great ambassador for battery-powered electric cars.
[Source: YouTube, thanks to Domenick for the tip]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim 2:06PM (7/23/2007)
"Why aren't we all driving on sunlight?" I have an answer for him... upfront cost, return on investment, insufficient electron storage technology and most importantly... Big Oil supports the campaigns of successful politicians on both sides of the isle who vote for subsidies for oil producers including $Trillions for nation building in oil rich areas of the world. These same politicians also discourage alternatives. See www.internalcombustionbook.com
He who controls the energy, controls the world. If we could gather our own electrons direct from the sun, we would be free and that’s why they are so desperate to change our addiction from oil to hydrogen which comes from their other product… natural gas.
Demand plug-in hybrids and then install thin film solar panels. http://www.nanosolar.com/economic.htm
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GoodCheer 2:27PM (7/23/2007)
I love this guy.
And I think Tim is right: We need subsidies for PV to drive up demand, which will drive down prices, which will eliminate the need for subsidies. With car makers and big oil in charge of the government, all this has to happen the hard way; one electric santa-clause at a time.
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ug 3:30PM (7/23/2007)
We are going to see a lot of EV conversions like these down the road because the car industry is not delivering on new EVs. I want to convert my 1971 SAAB 96. I'm waiting for the next generation of batteries for greater range and longevity.
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AlexNC 4:07PM (7/23/2007)
Yep, I think it really comes down to battery technology, and of course solar panel effieciency/cost). The only way to make electric vehicles work is to have batteries that are light, last a long time, are safe, and are affordable. It looks like Lithium Polymer batteries may be the golden ticket, assuming manufacturers can get the prices down.
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Ron Fischer 5:42PM (7/23/2007)
Battery technology to make EVs suitable for the majority of driving has existed for a century: lead acid. 80% or more drivers could use simple lead-acid BEVs to commute to work. Conversions are cheap and not really too hard to do. But, very VERY few drivers will give up the convenience and support infrastructure of the gasoline car for an EV which will pretty much be laughed at. Our entire infrastructure, military, political, energy, manufacturing, insurance, banking, has evolved to perfectly support gasoline powered cars... and nothing else. Plug-in hybrids are the bridging technology that will get us there, if any automaker actually builds one, as opposed to talking about it and shifting the release date forward all the time (e.g. fuel cells).
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Bill 8:06AM (7/24/2007)
Don't gloss over battery replacement in a lead-acid fueled EV.
Lead-acid batteries barely last 3 years in a golf cart - not going to see anything better in an EV conversion.
May not be as expensive as NiMH packs, but they aren't free.
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Manu Sharma 9:37AM (7/24/2007)
In my view lead acid batteries remain the most promising energy storage for EVs thanks to the developments that increase their performance several notches while keeping the cost low as always.
I'm referring to Firefly batteries
http://www.fireflyenergy.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=3&id=23&Itemid=87
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500 11:34AM (7/24/2007)
The title is more than a little deceptive. The host states "I hope to have my solar panels installed by the end of the summer." This is NOT a solar-powered Beetle. For the time being, this is just another conventional EV with limited range and power.
An intriguing idea, for someone who has the time and money to tinker with it. But notice how much that Beetle has been chopped down in size, presumably to lower the weight. With no back seat, forget about taking your baby grandson for a ride.
A very cool little toy, but nothing groundbreaking here.
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Richard 4:17PM (7/24/2007)
Hello everyone,
I feel I should reply to some of the comments about my Volts Wagon in the YouTube/CNN site.
I've been using the car for nine years now. We call it "Sparky". I started with conventional Interstate 12 volt, deep-cycles (12 pack for a 144-volt system). I, like anyone else embarking on the personal EV conversion, soon found the limitations of an electric car---namely range. Many times in those first months I pushed the limit only to find myself standing beside the road with my thumb out. And oh! the damage I did to that first pack as I pushed the margin by crawling home those last five miles just to avoid the inconvenience of leaving the car. But in time, I did learn the car's limitations and found that it was a very reliable "All-American Short-Hop". My wife and I learned to ask ourselves if a given task could be accomplished as a short-hop. We live ten miles from Olympia, and it turns out that more than half of our trips to town can be very easily accomplished by Sparky, and we have come to use him in that fashion.
My point is this: don't wait for Detroit to build you an electric Lincoln. It's not going to happen---there simply isn't enough money in it for them. And don't wait for SuperBattery to come swooping down and give us all 500 miles on a charge at a cost of $1.00/hundred amp hours. We are in serious trouble as a species. Electric conversions of used cars is a technology that exists today that can meet the short-hop demands of 75% of us. It is something we can do now.
As for the solar component, I recognize the costs associated with flat panel technology. But the issue is not "What's in it for me?", or "I'll do it when it gets cheap enough". The issue is your garbage bill that remains unpaid. I am ashamed to say that over my lifetime, I have burned untold tons of carbon moving a variety of multi-ton vehicles over the roadways of my state. My garbage has been accumulating in the invisible overhead dump. So has yours. Each of us has an unpaid garbage bill. We can begin to pay that bill by building and driving solar-powered short-hops. In time, it will all catch on, and Sparkeys will begin to appear in mass production, SuperBattery will appear on the scene, and solar collectors will drop in price like laptop computers. But that's not going to happen until pioneers, you and me, show the way. Others will certainly follow. But in the interrim, why don't we commit to picking up our garbage. Sure, it costs. But is it fair for any of us to pretend that the bill isn't there? We can go on ignoring the issue, and just wait for the Piper, or take some personal action now. My video starts off with my grandson in my arms. He's the one the Piper's coming for.
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