The Venturi Astrolab: Solar-Electric Hybrid to Hit the Market
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 10. 2.06
We’ve seen a lot of solar cars here on TreeHugger, but most of them have been record-setting specialty projects, prototypes, or one-man-and-a-dream labors of love. Venturi, the French company and maker of the Fetish, an electric sports car that came before the Tesla, has announced the unveiling of the Astrolab. Claiming that it’s the first high performance solar vehicle to be commercialized, Venturi plans to make this car available by January 2008. The two-seater (single line) is outfitted with 3.6 square meters of prismatic nano-coated solar panels, which help charge the NiMH battery pack, even while the car is in motion. With a top speed of 75 mph and an autonomy (range) of around 68 miles, the Astrolab could prove to be a practical local driver.
Technically, the Astrolab is not what we can really call a solar car, however. Venturi bills the Astrolab more appropriately as an “electro-solar hybrid,” a plug-in electric car with a generous serving of solar power onboard for support. It is the charge from the plug (standard European outlet) that provides most of the juice for the Astrolab’s batteries, while the solar panels contributes a lesser 11 miles of driving per day. Venturi’s new permutation of hybrid will be on the market next year, running around 92,000 Euros (117,000 USD). :: Venturi via Gizmodo
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That thing would last about 8 hours in my neighborhood before someone trashed it.
Hope it doesn't get caught in a hailstorm. Guess one also has to forgo garage parking.
"the Astrolab could prove to be a practical local driver. " -- huh? Are you kidding? Practical?
Surely it would make more sense to have solar panels in a static position, say for example on your roof or garage, and then plug a normal electric car into it? This would be massively cheaper, save a considerable amount of weight from the car, and would also mean that PVs could be oriented for optimal energy capture.
Fugly, stick the panels on the garage roof and spare our eyes. There is such a thing as visual polution too. :-)
Sorry but a tandam seat roadster should be all swoopy curves, not a box with some cutouts.
Fugly? I love it!
yeah i think the point is to demonstrate how impractical electric/solar is so we just shrug our shoulders and keep buying good old nutritious gasoline. job done.
If it were enclosed and had some carrying capacity, it might be practical for someone who has no place to plug a car in and drives one or two days a week, I guess. Seems like a toy for rich people who want to have an eco-image.
There already was an article on here about someone who put solar panels on his Toyota Prius, but it was set up only to charge when parked.
Would it really be that hard for Toyota to incorporate solar panels into a Prius (if only as an option)?
Now, that would be a real life practical solution.
I think cars like these are very interesting as a 'proof of concept'. Maybe still not so practicle today, but an important step in technology development. Technology development does not happen overnight. Technology develops in small steps.
Don't diss it because it ain't perfect.
By the way, solar panels can withstand hailstorms.
The solar panels contribute 18 km to its range of 110 km. Without them the range is 92 km (110-18). Adding the solar panels increases it's range 19.6 percent (18/92), NOT an insignificant improvement.
It is masked by the electric motor and the solar panels but the real genius of this car is it's ultra light weight. On the Venturi website they say that the "weight empty" is 280 kg., that's 616 lbs. A Prius weighs 2932 lbs., a ton and a half, nearly 5 times as much.
But then a Prius has more than two seats, a roof, windows, somewhere to put your lugage and a crash test certificate.
hello me and my wife just but one of thes for about 14mill i think all i no is that it is the best car ive ever ownd be fore
Stop with the fugly comments. It's a proof of concept. It's where you get something to actually work, THEN refine the aesthetics.
I commute about ten miles a day with a large laptop case and a mug of coffee. If I could afford the car, I could go completely solar with this thing. Never another gas station, and so what if I forget to plug it in.
And EVERYONE where I work would INSIST I let them drive it, of this I am certain.
The Astrolab's panels do not weigh an awful lot. Of the 616 lbs. of car, the panels make up probably 20 lbs. And anyway, if you want a solar-electric car with enclosure and carrying capacity, buy the Eclectic from the same company next year when it's available. The Astrolab can carry a couple of suitcases or grocery bags in the second seat.