Greenlings: Why don’t we use solar to power our electric cars?

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Solar, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Greenlings

Venturi Astrolab concept – Click above for high-res image gallery

For years, we’ve been watching as solar-powered race cars travel at relatively high rates of speed for hours on end – as long as the sun happens to be shining, of course. In fact, the World Solar Challenge has been taking place in Australia every few years since 1987, and the actual vehicles competing in the event got so fast that race organizers eventually had to alter the rules in the name of safety back in 2005. Since these solar-powered racers had gotten so fast and capable that in 2007 the World Solar Challenge altered its mission in the hopes that more real-world solar cars could hopefully benefit from the lessons learned during the competition.

But there is a problem with most of these solar racing vehicles. In the name of maximum efficiency, solar racers force their single drivers to lie in all sorts of convoluted positions, lack any sort of active safety systems (like airbags, anti-lock brakes or crumple zones) and are made from extremely expensive, high-tech materials. In other words, none of these solar-powered race cars will ever be construed as something you could possibly drive to work. What’s the problem? Why can’t we build a workable solar car?

That’s the subject of today’s Greenlings post. Click past the break to read all about solar-powered cars.

Gallery: Venturi Astrolab concept