Meet Stella, the solar powered
car that drives 500 miles on a SINGLE charge - and warns you when traffic
lights will change
·
The lightweight, wedge-shaped
electric car charges itself with solar cells
·
It was built at Eindhoven
University of Technology in Holland
·
It travels 500 miles (800km) on a
single charge at speeds of 80mph (130km/h)
·
This distance is increased if the
sun is shining thanks to panels on the roof
·
Car also features a tablet that
shows driver when traffic lights will change
·
And Stella's steering wheel
expands if you drive too fast
·
Stella is a prototype, but
recently drove from Los Angeles to San Francisco
A solar-powered family car has completed a drive from Los Angeles
to San Francisco fuelled entirely by sunshine - a journey covering almost 385
miles (619km).
Called Stella, the vehicle can
travel up to 500 miles (800 km) on a single charge, clocking speeds of up to
80mph (130 km).
The prototype four-seater has
solar cells on its roof to provide power while driving, and it boasts a tablet
that tracks traffic lights.
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A lightweight, wedge-shaped
electric car called Stella (shown) that charges itself with solar cells on its
roof has been built at Eindhoven University. It travels 500 miles (800km) on a
single charge at speeds of 80mph (130km/h). This distance is increased if the
sun is shining thanks to the array of solar panels on top
The vehicle was created by a
group called Solar Tam Eindhoven, based at Eindhoven University of Technology
in the Netherlands.
Stella's recent journey took it
up California's scenic Pacific Coast Highway into the centre of L.A.
STELLA'S
SPECIFICATIONS
Stella can
travel up to 500 miles (800 km) on a single charge, at speeds of 80mph (130
km).
The
1.5-kilowatt solar panels on top of the car, which cost about £2,600 ($4,260)
to produce, supply power to the car's lithium ion battery
At the
back of the car, the panels can be lifted up to reveal a boot, and other
novelties include a steering wheel that expands when a user drives too fast,
and contracts when they drive too slow.
It weighs
855lbs (390kg) and is 15ft (4.6 metres) long, while the body of the vehicle is
made of carbon fibre. Its aerodynamic shape also helps to increase its driving
range.
But the
car is less than 4ft (1.2 metres) tall, so getting in is a bit of a squeeze.
Stella can
even communicate with other cars; during an example, it relayed traffic
information to a Tesla Model S nearby.
And this
extends to traffic lights as well - a tablet screen in the car will tell the
driver how long until a light up ahead turns red or green.
And the creators of Stella hope
their vehicle might one day enter mass production, and become a common sight on
roads.
The 1.5-kilowatt array of solar
panels on top of the car, which cost about £2,600 ($4,260) to produce, supply
power to the car's lithium ion battery.
At the back of the car, the
panels can be lifted up to reveal a boot, and according toTakePart, other
novelties include a steering wheel that expands when a user drives too fast,
and contracts when they drive too slow.
It weighs 855lbs (390kg) and is
15ft (4.6 metres) long, while the body of the vehicle is made of carbon fibre.
Its aerodynamic shape also helps to increase its driving range.
But the car is less than 4ft (1.2
metres) tall, so getting in is a bit of a squeeze.
Stella can even communicate with
other cars; during an example, it relayed traffic information to a Tesla Model
S nearby.
And this extends to traffic
lights as well - a tablet screen in the car will tell the driver how long until
a light up ahead turns red or green.
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The 1.5-kilowatt array of solar
panels on top of the car (pictured), which cost about £2,600 to produce, supply
power to the car's lithium ion battery
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The car also features smart
technology, including a tablet that shows the driver when traffic lights will
change colour (pictured). It can also 'talk' to other cars
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At the back of the car,
(pictured) the panels can be lifted up to reveal a boot. Stella weighs 855lbs
(390kg) and is 15ft (4.6 metres) long, while the body of the vehicle is made of
carbon fibre. Its aerodynamic shape also helps to increase its driving range.
But it is less than 4ft (1.2 metres) tall, so getting in is a bit of a squeeze
'It was great to see all the
people looking at us; hurrying to get their smartphones out to get pictures
while we were driving,' said Lex Hoefsloot, manager of Solar Team Eindhoven
after the car had undertaken its drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
RECORD-BREAKING
ELECTRIC CAR
In July a
team of University of New South Wales students broke a 26-year-old world record
for speed, which would make their solar car the fastest electric vehicle to
travel 500km on a single battery charge.
The car,
which was built by Australia's top solar car racing team - UNSW's Sunswift -
was able to travel at an average speed of more than 100km/h, beating the
previous world record of 73km/h.
The world
record was broken on a 2.6 miles (4.2km) circular race track in Geelong -
south-west of Melbourne - in Victoria at the Australian Automotive Research
Centre.
The
vehicle to smash the record, eVe, was the fifth one built and raced by Sunswift
since the team was founded in 1996.
'I think we caused some traffic
jams and we were worried some drivers might run into us while trying to take
pictures.'
Hoefsloot is one of the students
at Eindhoven University of Technology who designed and built Stella in what
grew into a school-wide project that won a World Solar Car challenge race
across Australia in 2013.
Stella launched a US tour in
Detroit at the Intelligent Transportation Society World Congress in early
September.
The team drove to San Francisco
to join sponsor NXP Semiconductors of The Netherlands in an event focused on a
future in which roads are made safer and air pollution reduced by cars that 'talk'
to one another as well as traffic signals.
'We think it is possible to make
these cars and have them in a showroom in five to 10 years, but it is a big
dream and something we have to really work on,' said Hoefsloot.
The technology in Stella is not new
and if the solar cars were mass-produced like gas-guzzling models they could be
similarly affordable, according to the student.
But big auto-makers have had
little contact with the team because 'they think it is too far-fetched,'
Hoefsloot told AFP.
'We think otherwise, of course,'
he said.
'It is the first family car that
is powered by solar energy, it just doesn't have a family yet.'
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Stella also has a steering wheel
(pictured) that expands if a users drive too fast, and or contracts if they go
too slow. The car is a prototype at the moment but recently completed a drive
from Los Angeles to San Francisco
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The body of the vehicle is made
of carbon fibre. Its aerodynamic shape also helps to increase its driving
range. Stella (pictured) launched a US tour in Detroit at the Intelligent
Transportation Society World Congress in early September
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