If a solar-powered car can drive 32,000 miles (52,000 kilometers) around the globe without using a drop of oil, perhaps it can be forgiven for not having a coffee cup holder.
Or maybe that makes Swiss adventurer Louis Palmer’s journey even more remarkable.
Palmer rolled into the U.N. climate conference in his solar car, a man with a mission: To prove that the world can continue its love affair with the car without burning any polluting fossil fuels and still enjoy a smooth ride.
“Here at the conference, we are talking about reducing emissions by 10 or 20 percent,” Palmer said. “I want to show that we can reduce emissions by 100 percent — and that’s what we need for the future.”
“This is the first time in history that a solar-powered car has traveled all the way around the world without using a single drop of petrol,” he said, adding that he lost only two days to breakdowns.
Although he tried to avoid what he called “dinosaur technology,” his steering wheel was from a Renault, his windshield wipers from a Fiat and his wheels were from a Smart car, the Daimler AG two-seater that is ubiquitous in many European cities.
Hawaii this week unveiled plans to build a network of charging stations for electric cars and to provide recharged batteries. There are also plans to offer similar services in Australia, Denmark and Israel.
Palmer says there’s no reason why car companies couldn’t make a much better version of his solar-powered car if they set their mind to it.
“These new technologies are ready,” he said. “It’s ecological, it’s economical, it is absolutely reliable. We can stop global warning.”
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