Cooler Planet

Treehugger.com recently reported on an intriguing new car prototype. Designed by the former lead designer at Volkswagen, Murat Günak, and financed by Swiss millionaire, Lorenzo Schmid the team has created Mindset Six50 – an electric car with built-in solar panels on top.

The team purposely designed the car to be lightweight and spunky. The current prototype has an aluminum frame and plastic body and weighs roughly 1,800 pounds. The car uses lithium ion batteries, and the solar panels built into the roof help charge the batteries. Its purported range is 62 miles on a full charge.

For speedsters, the Six50’s light chassis and 95-horse power motor should propel the car at up to 75 mph and go from 0 to 62 miles per hour in under 6-seconds.

Automotive News published an interview with Günak who explained his green car venture in pure business terms, “today’s demand for ultra-low emission cars comes from mainstream buyers [as opposed to traditional environmentalists] who understand the changing world. For them a zero-emission car means status.” Günak went on to say that the Six50 is a “realistic and very usable vehicle with sufficient performance, and with series production in mind. We think we can sell 10,000 a year.”

The car won’t be cheap. Treehugger.com says the vehicle’s projected price tag hovers around 50,000 Euros (close to $79,000) when it hits the streets in 2009.

Summer is almost here.  The longer days and, hopefully, sunny weather makes it a good time to test some of the solar gadgets out there.  All you bikers (bicycle or motor), runners, and beach-goers might want to try the HYmini or miniSOLAR panel.  These devices use the wind or sun to charge your cell phone and other handheld products.  So while you’re biking, you can capture the wind; or capture the sun while you lie on the beach and keep your Nintendo DX or iPod working all day long. 

There’s a plethora of solar powered toys on the market these days.  The crafty toymaker Klutz offers a solar-powered car kit, and there are some fun solar robots out there from Robotikits. 

One of the coolest kits I’ve seen comes from the United Kingdom — a Lego-like solar powered helicopter.  Though it won’t actually fly once it’s assembled, the rotors do turn.  Plus once you’ve had your fill of the helicopter, you can use the Lego-compatible rotor blade and motor to power your own creation.   Check out:  www.outdoorgb.com/solar_lego_style_helicopter/