The Humble One, an electric vehicle by Californian startup Humble Motors, is a solar-powered electric concept SUV built to do between 10-60 miles (16-96 km) per day on sunlight, boosting its range to a calculated 500 miles. The car will self-charge even when unplugged, thanks to its over 80 square feet of solar panels.
The company writes on its website:
Our concept SUV is designed to be liberating and grid-independent.
At Humble, we wonder: what if vehicles could be powered by what is already available all over the world? The sun.
You could drive without the need for charge stations with solar-powered electric vehicles. Grid-independent vehicles are the future.
The four-seater Humble One is modestly sized, weighing in at around 4,000 lbs (1,814 kg), about 766 lbs (348 kg) lighter than Tesla’s Model S Plaid. But it’s still plenty powerful, boasting a max 1,020 horsepower under the hood and 0.25 drag coefficient.
The selling point, however, is the solar-paneled body. As the company explains it:
…80 square feet of highly efficient and patent-pending solar cells on the roof, sidelines, passenger doors, and fold-out ‘wings’.
At the moment, there are only promo renderings of the vehicle, and they only show roof panels. There’s no preview of what the fold-out wings look like or the sidelines and passenger door panels. The roof’s size looks like it would fit only half of the 80 square feet, so the final production car might look very different from the concept pictures they’re showing now.
While it’s a lovely concept, getting only 10-60 miles knocked off isn’t enough to cover most people’s daily commuting tally. But the company argues that those miles can make all the difference in the world, pointing out that:
We are huge fans of electric vehicles. Current EVs, however, have a scaling issue. Only 3% of the world’s population has access to a public charging station within 15 miles, so most people rely on third parties to build the infrastructure necessary to use an EV. Tesla, for example, maintains over 20,000 chargers worldwide.
The renderings are attractive, and many people are on board with Humble Motors’ vision. The company has sold over $20 million worth – at $109,000 apiece, excluding taxes and options.
Production is set to start in 2024.
Another Californian company called Aptera Motors is also designing solar-powered cars. Its car – the Aptera – is much smaller and costs only about $36,000-$59,000. The company plans to have 10,000 vehicles made by 2022.
