Solar taxi in Pasadena

I think this item ran on our website over the weekend, so if anyone missed it, photographer Walt Mancini checked out a solar car making a visit to Pasadena, and shot some video. Louis Palmer, of Switzerland, is driving the car around the world to make a point about green technology.

I located the web page of the solar taxi voyage to look at some stats of the car. The key ones:

Freedom: To drive up to 400 km with the latest ZEBRA battery technology.
Max. speed: 90 km/h

That is about 250 miles, and 55 mph. Not bad at all. The only downside is the recharging process:

The battery can be charged on every regular 110 or 220 V power outlet. By using a quick charge it's possible to fill 50% of the whole capacity in 30 mins. The regular charging process takes 6 to 8 hours.

So basically you only go about 250 miles a day on this thing... nice leisurely trip around the world. But in terms of a commuting/local car, the stats are very good.

Of course, right now I wouldn't want to guess how much it would cost to actually manufacture commercially, and I can't imagine that trailer of solar cells the thing is dragging navigates well on city streets. But it's a start.