i escape

Combining solar power with electric power to run eco-friendly cars seem to be the new "in" thing to do, what with gas prices making driving a downright painful experience these days. Despite the fact that solar panels aren't really efficient enough to give much power to a car, auto makers will probably start slapping them on vehicles to make people think they'll be more fuel efficient.

The latest entry in this new genre is the Six50 by the Swiss company Mindset AG, designed by a former Volkswagen designer. It's still a prototype, but they plan on pumping out about 10,000 of these guys next year, each costing about $78,000. That's pretty steep for an untested model, but hey, your mileage may (literally) vary.

[dvice]

The SkyHook JHL-40 is a Boeing rotorcraft that "will be able to reach where no other kind of transport can go, at a fraction of the cost, with less environmental impact, and without danger to the crew."

[techeblog]

Designed and developed by Dennis Ingemansson, the Dubai Sea Limousine is an idea based on the “The World”- a man-made archipelago of 300 islands constructed in the shape of a world map and located 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) off the coast of Dubai. The society comprises of a series of artificial islands which are currently under construction and this ambitious new taxi service seeks to become the sort of marine transportation between artificial islands. The discrete sea limousine draws on luxury yacht design and comes powered with solar cells integrated in the windows skin and moves forward with the help of a hovercraft. The vehicle is controlled by a satellite navigation system and needs no human pilot which makes this whole concept truly futuristic.

[bornrich]

Hungary is not the first place that comes to mind when thinking about cutting edge green vehicles, yet. If the creators of the Antro Solo have their way, the country will be synonymous with green machines by 2012. The Antro Solo is a solar, human and gas-electric hybrid vehicle. It looks like nothing else out there, and has a fuel efficiency of more than 150 miles per gallon!

The Antro Solo is a three seat gas-electric hybrid prototype made entirely out of carbon fiber. This material choice allowed the graphic designers to lower the weight of the vehicle to a measly 270kg. This also allowed them to achieve phenomenal fuel efficiency and a pretty decent top speed of 87mph. All of this is impressive enough, but the Solo’s designers were not content to stop there.

In order to maximize the efficiency of the vehicle, the designers installed solar panels on the roof. These solar panels store energy in the car’s batteries which can be used for short 15-25km trips. If there hasn’t been enough sun to power the batteries, each passenger’s seat comes equipped with pedals that can power the vehicles generator. If you are by yourself, or everyone gets tired, the car can switch to its small combustion engine that is capable of running on petrol or ethanol.

The prototype was shown at the Budapest Museum of Transport. It is set to go into production in 2012, and expected to cost around $20,000 dollars.