Two of the biggest challenges facing electric vehicles have been the question keeping those pesky batteries charged, and the concerns about using the existing coal-fired electrical infrastructure to do it. Ford has developed a concept vehicle that addresses both of these concerns in the search for new power sources. As its name suggests, this concept car uses sunlight to charge its batteries.
A special roof-mounted concentrator works like a magnifying glass, drawing the sun’s energy to the solar array on the C-Max Solar Energi’s roof Ford says a day’s worth of sunlight will deliver as much power as the C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid pulls from a home electric outlet. The solar concentrator was developed in collaboration with San Jose, CA-based SunPower Corp. and the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. The C-Max Solar Energi would help to dramatically reduce greenhouse gases while providing performance similar to the C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid.
Solar panels have traditionally been a slow and gradual way to store electrical energy, so the Georgia Institute of Technology helped to develop a way to reliably “amplify” the power of sunlight. Fresnel lenses are used to direct sunlight to the cells, making it about eight times stronger. Originally designed for use in lighthouses, the Fresnel lenses are able to track the sun as it moves across the sky. The result is equivalent to a four-hour battery charge from a standard outlet. The C-Max Solar Energi Concept can travel up to 21 miles on full-electric power, just like the plug-in hybrid, and has a six-hundred mile range at full charge. A plug has also been retained, so the batteries can be charged conventionally as well.
The C-Max Solar Energi Concept will be shown at the International CES in Las Vegas, and from there proceeds to real-world testing.
