A micro electric car project aiming to develop a vehicle for urbanites vehicle that can travel 20 km/day purely on power supplied by solar energy has been deemed a success.
The four-seat, street-legal P-MOB weighs less than 600 kilograms without the battery pack and has a top speed of over 100 km/h.
‘The design has met the highest safety ranking, a low footprint and extremely low energy consumption, making the vehicle ideal for most people’s needs in cities as well as suburban roads,’ says Dr Pietro Perlo; who helped oversee the development of P-MOB .
The vehicle is the first with a two-motor power train with one motor per axle and has extremely low aerodynamic drag; reportedly approximately 30 % lower than other vehicles of the same dimensions.
The ICT-based control systems allow for the operation of two motors and two differentials, providing effective four-wheel drive.
Like most electric vehicles, the P-MOB prototype can be recharged from the mains grid, but its flexible high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon solar cells means it can also be powered purely by the sun -and can even act as a grid-connected system; exporting surplus power to grid. Self-adapting electronics incorporated into the vehicle minimise loss of electricity generation caused by shadows or a single malfunctioning cell
The P-MOB will continue to be developed within the EU-MOBY research and development platform, supported by the European Commission.
The future of electric cars in Europe looks bright; with a small to mid-sized vehicle with a range of 250 kilometres per charge expected to drop from EUR 20,000 to EUR 15,000 within four years. Development of more eco-friendly cars is becoming increasingly critical, with a million additional cars hitting Europe’s every 50 days.
Transport accounts for more than 70 % of total oil consumption in the EU, most of which is imported from abroad.
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