Solar-powered taxi seeks to go around world

Alister Doyle, Reuters 5 Dec 07;

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Louis Palmer's taxi cost as much as two Ferraris, has a top speed of 90 kms (55 miles) per hour yet could make history as the first solar-powered car to drive around the world.

Palmer, a Swiss teacher who set off from Lucerne in July, is having a stop-off in Bali, Indonesia, to help environment ministers and others among 10,000 delegates get around at a December 3-14 U.N. climate conference in a luxury beach resort.

"This is the first time in history that a car is driving around the world without using a single drop of petrol," he told Reuters by the blue and white three-wheeled car, which tows a flat-topped trailer with 6 sq meters (65 sq ft) of solar panels.

"This car is driving entirely with solar energy," he said. So far he has driven 14,400 km (8,950 miles) through 17 nations including Romania, Turkey, Syria and India.

That is about a third of the way through a trip meant to take him across Australia, parts of Latin America, the United States, north Africa and back home in about a year's time.

The distance covered on land will be more than around the equator. Palmer is relying, however, on oil-powered ships for some stretches, such as from India to Indonesia. And he also has a petrol-fuelled vehicle for support, including repairs.

Palmer, 35, has a "taxi" sign on the roof -- he is willing to pick up passengers for free in the low-slung two-seater car.

"I had a drunk hitch-hiker in Hungary but also had Prince Hassan of Jordan inside," he said. In Bali, one job will be to pick up the head of the U.N. Environment Program, Achim Steiner, from the airport.

"I want to make people aware that there is global warming but you also have solutions," Palmer said. His car is an example of new ways to curb use of fossil fuels at the U.N. talks, which is trying to widen a fight against global warming.

He reckons the car would cost around 6,000 euros ($8,900) if mass produced. But factoring in work by sponsors and friends the car would be the cost of two Ferraris. "The top speed is 90, but in city traffic the Ferraris go 50. So do I."

The car is nine meters (30 feet) long including the trailer and weighs 700 kg (1,500 lb). Palmer admits he cheats if daily trips exceed 100 kms -- he then needs to use a back-up battery, charged by electricity from solar panels.

After a car crashed into his trailer in Syria "the transport minister decided to give us a police export. Wherever I went...I had a police escort with motorcycles and flashing lights."

(Editing by David Fogarty)

Feeling guilty over climate change? Call the solar taxi
Yahoo News 9 Dec 07;

Delegates at a key climate change summit feeling guilty about exhaust-spewing taxis have another solution -- call a solar taxi that has travelled over land to Asia all the way from Switzerland.

Cheery Swiss national Louis Palmer fulfilled a childhood dream when he set off from his home country on July 3, travelling over desert, city and sea in 17 countries to reach the conference in Bali, Indonesia.

"In 1986, I was a 14-year-old boy, I was dreaming that when I will be an adult, I want to drive around the world," he told AFP.

"Then it came to my mind, how can I travel around the world and enjoy the beauty of this world with a car that is polluting the world? Then I thought the perfect car would be a solar car."

His car, which has become a major attraction at the gates of the summit of some 188 nations, was built in three years with scientific help from four universities and 15 Swiss companies.

The car pulls a trailer with six squares metres (64 square feet) of solar panels which soak up the sun. The electricity is fed into the battery which powers the car, and can run for up to 100 kilometres (62 miles) a day.

Surplus electricity created by panels back at base in Switzerland is also fed back into the grid, so when Palmer travels by night or on a cloudy day, he can plug into the electricity supply and withdraw his earlier deposits.

"It's the first time in history that a car is driving around the world without a single drop of petrol," boasted Palmer, a teacher by training.

His epic solar journey is not his first adventure -- he traversed Africa on a bicycle and North America in a light aircraft.

Getting to Bali, however, has thrown up its own challenges. Traffic conditions in India were a nightmare, he said, while Saudi Arabia insisted on a police escort as he made his way across the desert.

So far, Palmer has gone by land through Europe and the Middle East, then by sea to India and on to Indonesia.

In one year from now, after traversing much of Asia, Australia, North America and Africa, he will return to Switzerland to try and drum up support for the commercial possibilities of solar cars.

For the moment, he has his hands full, with more curious customers waiting to take a ride in his unique automobile which, he said, "works like a Swiss clock."