Spartan Daily - Serving San Jose State University since 1934

If it is easy to park on Main Street, I'm ready to buy it. How soon might they be available?
It is a much better concept than what I imagined in my dreams for an under $5K local-errand-car. Eco-friendly batteries (unlike the Prius). solar and pedal power are all pluses. Drive train technology sounds great.
Curious about specs for road grade, to know how level the ground has to be for a good condition senior citizen to pedal.

I find this article very interesting, thanks for sharing!

I applaud the work of this team in designing and creating a functional prototype of this ZEM. As for their claim that it is the first solar electric vehicle that can also be pedaled, they are mistaken, since I built drove a similar vehicle back in 2000. I even publicized the Sunmobile (and a similar concept vehicle, the SunVee) on a website that is still accessible online: www.sunvee.com.

I hope that the ZEM receives a better reception from the business environment than I received in my attempt to market the SunVee. I still have that marketing plan up on the website, while I am no longer actively trying to market the idea. Hopefully some day the idea of a truly practical solar electric vehicle will become a reality.

While the Sunmobile can be pedaled, I found that this was an arduous task at best, and rarely went very far in that mode. I mainly used the pedaling option as a boost in power when climbing steep hills.

I drove the Sunmobile around my neighborhood for several years, going to the post office and doing other light errands. It was never plugged into the power grid, getting all of its charge directly from the sun. It is a great feeling to drive a totally clean vehicle!