Solar powered, eco friendly micro car coming soon to U.S.

One of the world’s first solar-powered cars is coming to the U.S. in January.

The Squad solar electric city car is a small, golf-cart shaped vehicle from Dutch company Squad Mobility. The vehicle, which the automaker labels as a micro-car, will debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at Las Vegas in the early weeks of January, after which it will be commercially available for $6250.

Squad Mobility markets the vehicle as an eco-friendly travel solution for urban and suburban environments, primarily targeting those who drive in planned communities, such as hotel grounds, resorts, neighborhoods and cities. However, while the micro-car is available for private use, the fledgeling automaker has grander ideas in store. On its website, the company advertises the vehicle’s use for sharing platforms, similar to Lyft and Uber. According to its plans, businesses or governments would own fleets of the vehicles for use in their operations or to provide transit for customers. In the long run, these larger customers stand to be far more lucrative for Squad Mobility, which is why the automaker hopes to catch the eye of big businesses at the CES next month.

The vehicle is powered via a roof-mounted solar panel, which also provide electricity to four battery packs. Alone, the panel provides roughly 19 miles of travel on clear days, but in conjunction with the batteries can last for 62 miles. For its diminutive size the vehicle can travel much faster than its golf-cart cousins, reaching speeds up to 45 mph. For comparison, most vehicles of the same size only reach 25 mph.

However, despite better performance than others in its class, the solar vehicle will still only qualify as a Low Speed Vehicle (LSV) once it hits the U.S. market, which subjects it to various state-specific limitations. Many traffic codes exclude LSVs from highways and roads with speed limits over 35. If Squad’s idea catches on, there could be a point where U.S. lawmakers would need to revisit their bylaws to accommodate increased micro-car usage.

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