Remember last year when we posted the video Infinity Miles per Gallon? In that video, Art Haines of Applied Robotics Company set out to build a solar powered electric car ... and succeeded. At the time, we lauded the independent thinking that Haines clearly showed in the project. The story was far from over, however, as Haines is now offering his unique solar NEV in kit form from his website, sunnev.com. So far, five of the kits have been ordered and Haines is working to get them shipped out now. One of those kits, a sedan with a trunk, is headed to an all-girls school in London, and another, a pickup, is on its way to La Grange, Texas.

If you are interested in reading more about the SUNN EV, visit the official website. Pricing is currently broken down into major component packages and can be found here. After assembled, an MSO will allow the vehicle to be registered in your state and the vehicle would qualify as an NEV. We're pretty high on this idea and hope that these kits find happy owners who'll enjoy never filling up their city errand-runner.

[Source: SUNN EV, Morning Sentinel]

Have you ever dreamed of designing and building your own automobile? If you are anything like me, then the answer is a definite yes. Again, if you are anything like me (and you might be if you're reading this site), you also dream of cleaner transportation. So, what's holding you back? For me, it's funds and spousal approval, you know... I like to keep some sort of peace in the family. But, none of those things stopped Art Haines from building his own car; and not just a car, but a solar car at that! He set out certain goals which had to be met, like the range, size and speed, and made the design using nothing more than rough sketches at first, and then onto the computer. Pretty cool stuff indeed. If you'd like to know more, you should watch the video above.

Treehugger asks the question, if this vehicle can be built by one engineer and a class of students, why can't the big manufacturers make more progress in the field. The answer may have something to do with the fact that this type of vehicle isn't really practical enough for regular public consumption, and probably not safe enough in case of an accident. Read more about that subject here.

[Source: Youtube via Treehugger]