SQUAD unveils the world’s first Solar City Car

Amsterdam start-up SQUAD Mobility has unveiled the world's first Solar City Car which will be available in 2022.

Robert Hoevers, CEO of Squad Mobility: “Keeping a free-floating fleet charged is one of the main operational costs of an EV sharing fleet operator. The automatic, wireless and free solar charging is of course a wonderful solution.” 

“Cities are looking for zero emission mobility solutions with a small space footprint. We have achieved both. A per capita energy consumption lower than public transport and a space footprint comparable to a bicycle. And all this, while offering the flexibility of personal transport and the comfort of a car”.

SQUAD is designed to withstand the wear and tear of heavy use and the company say that recycled materials are used where possible. 

Next to solar charging, the SQUAD features swappable and portable batteries. Squad will offer a smart charging and swapping station for reserve batteries to fleet operators. Other charging options include charging from a regular power socket and DC charging directly from locally installed solar panels.

Chris Klok, Chief of Design, said: “Remote control means we take extra capabilities into account in the design, such as the application of remote actuation of the steering and the possibility to relay data from the CAN bus to the operator and back in a secure way.”

“In the longer term, we envision the use of autonomous technology to control the fleet in the city, for example to move vehicles back to places with high demand or more sunshine for charging."

This comes after Arrival and LeasePlan announced they have joined forces to bring revolutionary electric vans to European cities.