Man Makes Solar-Powered Car From e-Bikes
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
All you apparently need is a couple of e-bikes, some sustainable energy add-ons, and a little bit of soldering know-how to engineer a delightfully innovative two-person solar car.
Whilst the Aptera looks set to become the first solar-powered car to be produced in volume, that has not stopped one man from creating his own micro-car that's powered solely by the sun's rays. It's even four-wheel drive and can hit 30 mph. YouTuber Simon Sörensen is the man behind the innovative vehicle. “What’s cool about this particular setup is that I have a 1000W hub motor in each wheel,” he told SupercarBlondie.
To create the car, Sörensen took apart two e-bikes for their powertrains - the components that generate and deliver power to a road surface - and integrated them into a steel-tubing chassis frame. The steering relies on Ackermann geometry, a system devised by German carriage builder Georg Lankensperger in 1816. Initially created for horse-drawn buggies, the arrangement is now most often seen in high speed vehicles like Formula 1 racers, which require extremely tight and precise turns. Remarkably, Sörensen even enabled the ride to swap between front-wheel, rear-wheel, and four-wheel drive, reports Popular Mechanics.
The car roof has a trio of lightweight solar panels that collect 300 watts of power that funnels into a 48-volt battery. In good weather conditions, Sörensen can drive the vehicle almost 20 miles on solar power alone before using the battery.
Sörensen’s creation cruises at a top speed of nearly 30 miles per hour. Not bad for a backyard project. And, no doubt, his almost one million followers on YouTube were impressed too. Want to find out more and see the car in action? Here's Sörensen’s video...