The Squad Solar City Car is a very small electric four-wheeler with a rooftop solar panel that claims to provide up to 12 miles of solar range per day, as tested in Dutch conditions. It can also be mains charged in which case the makers claim a 62 mile range (that's from a maximum of four batteries, each with a capacity of 1.6kWh).
Available for pre-order now with delivery in 2023, two versions will be offered, a 28mph two-seater and a 43mph four-seater. For more on how speed limits affect legal classifications and driving licence requirements on micro vehicles such as this, check out our article on light electric vehicles you can ride in the UK.
Both are powered by a pair of 2kW rated rear wheel drive motor. As with a number of these small electric four-wheelers, they come optimised for sunnier and warmer climes. The Squad Solar City comes without doors, for example - though they are an option. The 'base' version also comes with two batteries with a claimed range of around 30 miles (discounting any solar charging effect). Euro prices start from €6,250 and Squad say they also aim to sell in the US with a $6,250 starting price tag.
Despite the prices for individual consumers, it's clear Squad have business customers firmly in their sights too - perhaps inspired by the UK's own EAV who have sold several hundred four-wheel e-bikes to businesses (seemingly including Amazon). EAV recently launched a £7.5 million funding drive which included plans for its first consumer model. The Seedrs platform will allow individual investors to back the firm with stakes priced from £20.
Still a nascent area of electric transport, micro four-wheeled EVs can clearly be difficult to raise enough capital for to get to the mass production phase. Just to give one of the most recent examples, Norweigan startup Podbike announced a scaling back of its ambition to found a €10m mass production facility, offering instead a 2023 handbuilt 'signature edition' production run - with a consequent increase in price to 9,500 euros.
