Marrakech – The world's first off-road solar-powered SUV, called the Stella Terra, has been tested in Morocco as part of a project by a research team from the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands.
The technical director of the project, Bob van Ginkel – for Al Jazeera Net – explains that the team has developed this electric car that stores in its battery the energy derived from solar panels.
Van Genkel noted that the team drove the car more than a thousand kilometers between Morocco's northern coast and the Sahara desert in the south, overcoming sand dunes, meaning it could help connect remote areas, where roads are rough and power grids are unreliable.
The four-wheel drive car uses solar panels on its inclined roof to charge its electric battery, does not need charging points, so it can walk long distances fully supported by sunlight, and is able to travel off-road, but also on paved roads.
The different terrain in Morocco, provided ideal conditions for testing the electric car (Al Jazeera)
Perfect Experience
He added that the team tested the car in Morocco - in its first and only experiment so far - because there are areas with different rugged terrain that can be moved between them at reasonable distances and carry out various experiments, with the availability of sunlight for long periods, which provides an ideal place for all the difficulties that such a car can face.
The maximum speed of the vehicle allowed on the road is 145 kilometers per hour, and on a sunny day, its battery range is about 710 kilometers on the paved road, about 550 kilometers on the off-road, and in cloudy conditions, the team estimates that the distance may be 50 kilometers less.
Van Genkel points out that the car proved to be more efficient than expected in the trip, and that its lightweight design made it less likely to stumble on rough terrain, highlighting that reducing the weight of the car was essential, as the team of 22 students focused on making each element super-efficient, weighing only 1200 kilograms, about 25% less than the average mid-size SUV, because the aerodynamic design also reduces drag, and uses lightweight composite materials. And powerful for weight reduction.
He adds that the solar panels at the top enable a much smaller battery, because the charging process takes place while driving, and the car is able to travel off-road, without the need for charging points.
This SUV is suitable for sleeping and resting on long and multi-day trips, as its seats are fully tiltable to create a bed, and when the car is stationary, the solar panels can be extended to maximize charging, while doubling its use as a sun umbrella.
The student team worked with self-potential over the course of a year to produce the car (Al Jazeera)
Test conditions
After unveiling the SUV prototype last September, the team travelled to Morocco to test the car in a range of rough terrain, starting from Tangier and passing through the rugged Rif mountain range, where the rapid ascent and descent tested for Stella Terra in her first off-road challenge.
Heading south through Fez, the team tested the car on the mountain trails of Midelt, one of Morocco's highest cities, and ended their journey in the Moroccan Sahara in Merzouga, on more difficult sandy trails.
Timmy Boseman, the team's communications officer, said the highlight of the trip was the huge range of landscapes, as the driving pleasure varied from place to place, and for the team the trip was amazing.
Boseman stresses that the team of students, who worked on their own for a year, demonstrated that it is possible to make an electric car with acceptable specifications, using only solar energy, that can be an inspiration for large companies, and that the main challenge now is to turn the concept car into a mass-produced car, highlighting that it is now up to the market, which has the resources and power to quickly change the use of non-polluting cars.
Sales of electric vehicles will continue their significant growth this year to reach nearly a fifth of the global market, according to the International Energy Agency, highlighting that the current trend towards the use of electric cars will have significant repercussions on the energy sector, as oil demand will fall by 5 million barrels per day by 2030.
According to the study, more than 10 million electric vehicles were sold worldwide in 2022, and sales are expected to increase further this year by 35% to 14 million.
According to the Paris-based agency's latest forecast, this significant growth means that the market share of electric vehicles has increased from 4% in 2020 to 14% in 2022, and is expected to rise further to 18% this year.