A new, small vehicle equipped with a solar roof will be on display next month at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Squad Mobility’s new car, the Squad solar electric vehicle, is a golf-cart-like battery-powered vehicle that can charge itself with sunlight.
Squad Mobility said the car has a 62-mile range on full battery charge, and it can source an average of about 12 miles per day from the sun with its built-in solar array. Squad is pricing its base model at $6,250.
Image: Squad Mobility
The two-passenger vehicle has a solar roof and can also be charged via a 220 V port. It has two 2 kW motors, and swappable lithium-ion batteries. Each swappable battery in the Squad has a capacity of 1.6 kWh, adding up to 6.4 kWh max. The company said it will develop “Squad Battery Walls” with pre-charged swappable batteries for fleet managers.
Image: Squad Mobility
Squad is designed for short trips, with compact and maneuverable design for navigating congested cities. It has removable doors for warmer climates.
The vehicle tops out at about 44 miles per hour, making it a city surface road navigator rather than a full-speed highway commuter. It measures 2 meters long, 1.2 meters wide, and 1.6 meters high, and has a 6-meter turning circle, creating a compact design for easy parking. The 770 lb. car has a full aluminum tubular roll cage and crash structures in the front and rear and holds up to 243 liters of storage.
Image: Squad Mobility
“Combining low CAPEX and OPEX with the capability of remote diagnosis, SQUAD provides essential vehicle data 24/7 for efficient fleet management. Both the interior and exterior are easy to clean, while broken parts are easy to replace. The wheels act as natural bumpers, preventing damage to body parts. An extra option is the SQUAD battery wall for quickly changing and charging the batteries,” said Squad Mobility.
Production is scheduled to begin in 2023, with deliveries first starting in the Netherlands, and then moving east and south through Europe.
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This would be a pretty nice little commuter for those people who would be riding a motorcycle or bicycle on city streets anyway. But many of us see the large and very real danger of being permanently injured or killed by reckless/drunk/texting drivers and won’t use those vehicles around other traffic. Bad drivers are everywhere and will kill you if you give them half a chance. But again, if you’re going to tempt fate and ride a motorcycle in city traffic anyway, this would be somewhat safer when a drunk plows into you at 40 mph.
This is illegal in the US as stated. It’ll have to be limited to 30mph as an NEV and severely restricted where it can go, not allowed to cross a 40mph road sadly.
Which is too bad these are not treated like mopeds many people could live with it as their only car.
There are many countries with a different approach to road safety – and they will use it. No need to comment always on the negative!!